Page 31 of King

Thinking about how happy that would make my girl, and the shit he was getting me out of by keeping his wound a secret, I muttered, “Thank fuck for that.”

11

STELLA

“So you’re basically fluent in nine languages,” Blaze drawled.

“More like eight. I’m still not that great with Mandarin,” I corrected.

Connor had been gone for almost a month, and I missed him every minute of every day. But I’d also used the time to brush up on my language skills, something which amused Blaze to no end. Especially when I decided to try my hand at Tagalog. As the most understood language in all the Philippine regions, I’d been curious about it. But I had quickly discovered why it was a category III language. Picking it up was much more difficult than I had expected.

“And how many can you say fuck in?”

I did a mental tally. “At least a dozen.”

“Prove it.” He circled his hand in a gesture to get me going.

“Cazzo…” That was as far as I got before Matteo walked into the clubhouse and shook his head.

Blaze pointed at him. “Prospects aren’t supposed to criticize brothers, and sure as fuck not officers.”

He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t say a word.”

“You didn’t have to,” the VP grumbled.

“He takes his job of distracting me very seriously,” I explained.

Blaze shot me an amused look. “Do me a favor and don’t tell your man that, or else he might decide that our decades of friendship and me having his back all the damn time aren’t worth shit because…”

I lifted my palm. “Say no more. I get it. You don’t want to deal with the green-eyed monster when he gets back.”

We both knew I wasn’t talking about Connor’s eye color but his tendency to be possessive over me. “Fuck no.”

“Don’t blame you,” Matteo mumbled.

The beep of Blaze’s phone stopped him from replying to the prospect. Just as it had done each time he’d gotten a text or call while I was near, my stomach twisted in knots while I waited to hear if it was news from Connor. This time, it was finally what I’d been waiting for so long to hear. “King’s on his way back, and he’s got your dad.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” I breathed, bending at the waist while I tried to catch my breath. “How soon will they be here?”

“Three hours.”

It was the longest hundred and eighty minutes of my life. Knowing Connor was headed back to the compound with my dad and seeing them with my own eyes were totally different things. The relief didn’t fully hit me until they finally walked through that door.

“Dad,” I shrieked, running toward him as happy tears filled my eyes. Although I trusted Connor to do everything he could to make sure my dad came back to me, I knew things went wrong on missions all the time. Seeing the two most important men in my life, healthy and whole, meant everything to me. AndI appreciated so much that Connor held back, giving me this moment with my dad.

“Stella my bella,” he whispered, his arms tightening around me. “Love you so damn much.”

I sniffled against his chest. “You too, Daddy.”

“You did good.” He stepped back and smiled down at me. “Connor got to me in the nick of time. Saved my ass.”

“I’m glad.” I glanced over his shoulder at Connor and only caught the tail end of what my dad said next. “Pardon?”

He flung his arm over my shoulder. “There’s a silver lining to all the shit that went down. I’m out, which means I’ll have plenty of time on my hands to spend with you from now on. Maybe we can take a nice long vacation before you land a job. Enjoy some time with your dad while you still can. Once you join the rat race, you won’t have much free time.”

Connor strode over to us and gently tugged me away from my dad. “Nope.”

“What the hell?” Dad grunted, his brows drawing together.

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