Page 99 of Serpent King's Bride

I reached over and slipped my hand into his, our fingers weaving together. It felt grounding, like growing roots in place of the orchids that had burned at Grant Avenue. For a moment, we stood silent, two figures cast adrift amidst the chaos, finding solace in the simple touch of skin on skin.

“I wish I could give you time,” I said. “But I can’t, so how about a blowjob?”

He laughed. “You’re funny.”

“That wasn’t a joke,” I said.

He shook his head. “As much as I’d like to take you up on that, I just need a moment to process.”

I had no idea what to do for him–how to help him, what to say. Normally, we would have thrown ourselves into bed, forgotten the world while we fucked the pain away…but not tonight.

Something had changed between us.

Our relationship was deeper than ever.

“Do you ever think that maybe you should have just walked away?” Nathan asked quietly. “When we first met...do you wish it never happened?”

I turned to face him, his profile etched against the dark sky. “Not for a second,” I confessed, my words honest and bare. “There’s no place I’d rather be than right here, at your side.”

He glanced at me, his lips quirking in a humorless smile. “You’re truly psychotic, you know that?”

I smirked back. “Ditto.”

A soft exhale escaped him, as if he’d been holding his breath waiting for my answer. He seemed to relax, just a fraction, and the lines of tension around his eyes softened.

“Speaking of crazy,” he said after a moment, shifting gears with ease, “how was dinner with my mother?”

I let out a bitter laugh as my gaze darted to the glass in his hands. “I think you might need to drink all of that. Because your night is about to get a whole lot fucking weirder.”

Chapter Forty-Six: Nathan

Icouldn’t believe what I was hearing.

My head was a storm of disbelief and betrayal, each revelation Abby spilled hitting me like a punch to the gut. My mother and the Triad wives were behind the fires, the ones that had been licking at our heels for months. But worse, my own mother—sweet Ma who could do no wrong—had been carrying on with Knuckles behind Ba’s back.

And Justin...my little brother wasn’t full blood.

“I’m sorry I had to tell you right on the tail end of your dad ordering you to kill Alex, but…we have this policy of full honesty…”

“No, I’m glad you did,” I interrupted. “I just…damn. This is a lot.”

“Have you eaten anything?” Abby’s voice cut through the fog of my thoughts.

I realized I hadn’t felt hunger in hours, maybe longer. “No,” I muttered, the word barely slipping past the tightness in my throat.

“Let me make you something.” She was already moving toward the fridge, her movements sure, a stark contrast to the chaos tumbling in my mind. “Grilled cheese and tomato soup okay?”

“Sounds good,” I managed to say, grateful for her thoughtfulness amidst the wreckage of tonight’s truths.

I slumped down at the kitchen island, elbows propped up, head hanging low. I could hear the sizzle of butter on the pan, the comforting aroma began to fill the space, but it couldn’t chase away the cold realization nesting in my heart. Ma and Knuckles, an affair spanning decades—how could she?

My father was a monster—we all knew that—but it still hurt. That was a betrayal that ran deep.

“Knuckles was always around, you know?” I said, my voice hoarse with a cocktail of emotions and the whiskey that had burnt its way down my throat earlier. “Ba was away so much when we were kids. But Knuckles...he never looked twice at Ma, not that I ever saw.”

Abby paused by the stove, the spatula in her hand momentarily still. “Sometimes the things we don’t see are the most profound. They must have been very good at hiding it. But from what your mom told me, they really care about each other.”

The thought twisted in my gut. Ma with Knuckles? It made sense, and yet it was difficult to swallow. I tried to picture what life might be like if Knuckles stepped up, took charge with Ma by his side. He wasn’t like Ba, all cold orders and iron fists. Knuckles had something resembling a heart beating in his chest. And Ma, she was strong, smarter than any of them gave her credit for.

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