Page 3 of Lost Kingdom

“Oh please.” She slows her steps, at least, so we’re moving at a reasonable pace. “You say you want nothing to do with the family business, but youalsoexpect to be treated like the King of New York while you’re here. You can’t have it both ways.”

“I didn’t say Iwantedto be treated like anything. I just said Iamtreated a certain way. But then there’s you, busting my balls and bossing me around.”

“Guess that’s because you don’t scare me.” She glances up from the corner of beautiful brown eyes, the glint in them playful and taunting.

I know why my brother fell in love. It’s easy to see.

“You’re pretty big,” she continues. “Tall. Broad. Annoyingly grumpy when some of us just want to be served coffee in the quiet before work. Your behavior could be considered intimidating. Which is potentially why the people here treat you a certain way.”

“First of all, I run a bar. Not a fuckin’ coffee shop. Nine might be the start ofyourworkday, but it’s the middle of the night for me. Get your caffeine fix someplace else.”

“See?” She reaches out and grabs the heavy wooden door as we come to stop on one side, dragging it open to reveal a whole ass wedding just waiting to begin. “Serve the coffee. Do it quietly. Then neither of us has to talk more than necessary.”

“You’re lucky there’s a fuckin’ priest standing right beside me,” Felix snaps loudly. “Or I’d tell you exactly what I think about you being the reason I’m not married yet. Asshole.”

“You just swore,” Archer murmurs from his place beside the others. “In front of the priest.”

“Stop avoiding responsibility,” Minka adds, just loud enough for my ears. “They’re waiting for the best man. Can’t start till you arrive.”

“Notthebest man.Oneof them.” I unravel our arms, but I walk by her side all the way to the front of the room, filled only with folks we spend time with on a personal level. There are several hundred bodies, businessmen, and glittering dates inside this building, waiting for the reception. For the meal. Anticipating their chance to kiss Felix’s ass and gift him a toaster… or some shit. But only the truly special get to be inthisroom. Cato, the baby of the family. Still only eighteen years old.DetectiveArcher Malone—the first Malone rebel—and his fierce medical examiner wife. Micah, the brother who stayed in New York to protect Felix, and Tiia, the woman he would burn the world for.

Christabelle Cannon, the stunning bride to be.

And then there’s Aubree Emeri. The bane of my fucking existence. The beat of my heart. The world, as I know it.

“Micah’s paired up with Tiia,” Minka whispers slyly. “Me with Archer. Cato prefers his own palm. That makes Aubree yours, handsome. Go stand with her so we can get this wedding started.”

“You’re setting her up for trouble.”

“Am I?” She flicks my hand away and sashays to her husband’s side, smirking when Felix’s green eyes sparkle with temper. And fun. And playfulness. And murder, if anyone dares to delay his wedding for a moment longer. “Go.” She wiggles her fingers, a small gesturing motion until finally, I do what I’ve managed to avoid all day long.

I look into the beautiful, heart aching, world shifting, life altering, bright blue eyes of a woman better than all the rest of us.

Combined.

Aubree Grace Emeri; proof I’m not like my father.

Because fuck, I love her more than I’ve loved anyone else in my life.

She stands at five-feet and five-inches tall, though a pair of heels gives her a little more height, and waits patiently as I slowly, almost grudgingly, make my way closer. She wears gold, too. An official member of the wedding party, though fuck knows, she can’t stand the groom.

She’d drop him in the ocean, secured with a pair of cement shoes, if given half the chance.

Blonde hair, pink highlights, blue eyes, fire-engine-red lips, and a smile that sets my heart on fire every single time she gifts me with one.

“Hey.” She’s equal parts shy and outgoing, depending on the day and weather, I think. Though today, in her stunning dress and professional makeup, it seems she’s choosing the former. Warmth floods her cheeks as I come to a stop on her left.

A mistake, I realize, when I catch sight of the back of her hair and the brooch I gifted her in the summer.

“Nice of you to join us.” Not entirely pleased with my tardiness, she keeps her gaze and words down as Felix and Christabelle turn to their priest to get this show started. I hear the, ‘thank you all for being here today’ and the, ‘celebrating love.’ Lord knows, I’m probably supposed to be paying attention, but it’s Aubree whose existence keeps me enthralled.

Always. Wherever we are. Whoever we’re with. No matter what the consequences.

“Had somewhere better to be?” she drawls.

“No. Took a phone call in the hall and got turned around while I was wandering.” Ignoring the, ‘we’re gathered here today to…’ I lean back, placing my weight on my heels, and sneak another glimpse of the hair clip holding her style half up-half down. Just like the last, and first, time she wore it. “I thought I’d never see that thing again.”

“This?” Her hand comes up to finger the gold frame, her bottom lip, plump from good genetics, trapped between her teeth as her fingertips brush the spray of emeralds. It was my gift to her. My declaration of forever, whether she wants it or not.

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