Page 42 of Lost Kingdom

Minka: quiet rage.

Cato: giddy happiness.

“Everything…” He brings his focus back to me. “Okay?”

“He tried to grab my ass,” Minka lies, yanking her hand from Cato’s mouth and wiping her palm on his jacket. Then she claps his cheek and holds on, leading him away from the wall and around to the door so Tim is forced to choose: step back and let them out, or step in… and still let them out. “He lacks impulse control.” She smiles when Tim chooses the latter, moving into the room and clearing the doorway for her to pass. “But we knew this about him. You look handsome, Malone. Have fun out there. I’ll be taking this one back to the zoo now.”

“You’re being mean!” Cato wrestles with her in the hall. Sort of. It’s gentle and playful. “Stop manhandling me or I’m telling Christabelle.”

“She isn’t here, coward. Move your ass.”

“What was that about?” Tim slowly closes the door, leaving his baby brother to the perils of an extremely dangerous woman. Then he turns on his heels and drops both hands into his pockets, searching my eyes and nibbling on his bottom lip. “Cato making a dick of himself?”

“That’s just a normal Saturday for him. Uh…” My throat burns dry, and my heart pounds out of control. “What are you… what are you doing in here?”

“Eli told me where I’d find you, and he said Duane hasn’t showed up yet. He was supposed to escort you down the aisle, so…” He smiles, so unbelievably relaxed. So content. “Guess who got a promotion?”

“It almost sounds convenient.” I firm my lips and turn back to the mirror to continue obsessing over things I can’t change. My height. My weight. My existential crisis and the worry I hold in my stomach for the fact my brother isoftenabsent lately. “Did you intercept Duane on the way here and pay him a hundred bucks to be late so you could escort me down the aisle?”

He meanders across the room. Long, slow steps that tell me he’s entirely calm about being here with me.Alone. He’s thrilled to be in my space, and I… am terrified. As always. And yet, entirely incapable of staying away.

“I suppose that could have been my Plan B, had I needed one.” He stops behind me, the warmth of his chest radiating against my back and his eyes burning into mine via the reflection of the mirror. His aftershave fills my lungs, and the buttery soft fabric of his suit tickles my bare back. “Turns out I didn’t need to intercept. He’s running late and Eli asked for a favor.”

“Does he realizewhohe’s asking a favor of? Owing the mob is no small detail.”

He chuckles. Soft. Almost completely silent, if not for the fact his lips hover just two inches from my ear. “This one’s a freebie, considering I benefit too.” He licks his thick lips and grins when my gaze drops to the action. “You look so fucking beautiful.”

My cheeks fill and burn red. It’s my crutch in life, a humiliating telegraph that lets a man know my secrets.

Some of them, anyway.

So I sniff and glance down to break his hungry stare. “Thanks. Are you really walking with me? I have other brothers.”

“The numbers don’t match, considering one of those brothers is getting married, and the other is AWOL. That leaves me.” He drags his hands from his pockets, trailing his fingertips over the ball of my shoulder. But then he presents his left hand in my peripherals, brandishing a velvet-covered box that instantly makes my stomach jump. “We have time before the music comes on, so I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Tim…” I spin and link my hands together in front of my hips. But my eyes remain glued to his hand. “That’s a necklace box.” I shake my head vigorously. I shake so much, it’s almost as though I plan to knock a memory or two loose. “Don’t buy me jewelry.”

“But you need a necklace to finish this outfit. And I have a necklace I’d like to give you.” He cracks the box open and presents green. Emeralds. So many beautiful gems that have tears springing to my eyes. “Have I ever told you the story of Ronan and Maeve Malone?”

“No, jackass! You haven’t. But I know the story, and I know the gift hasto have been found. Not bought. Not expensive.” I look down at the necklace again and purse my lips. “You failed tradition.”

“Or…” He carefully pinches the delicate chain between his thumb and finger and tugs it from the velvet-lined box. Setting the packaging down, he spins me again, his overly large hand wrapping around my ribs until it feels almost indecent. But he forces me to turn and holds my eyes in the mirror. “Perhaps I started a new tradition. Or updated an old one.”

“You don’t get to hijack and update someone else’s tradition. That’s rude and just not…” I close my eyes when he lays the disgustingly stunning necklace across my chest, the spray of green laid out almost like a vine, wrapped in gold and shaped almost suspiciously like a heart. “Tim…”

“I admit I paid for this.AndI didn’t find it hidden away somewhere in an antique store. But?—”

Hesitantly, I open my eyes.

“I think tradition is allowed to be bent when the woman I’m buying for has a really awesome older brother whose literal job is to create fine pieces of jewelry.”

“Eli made this?” I drop my chin and study the jewels when he finishes with the clasp and allows the necklace to sit flat on my chest. “Eli’s been busy this week, Tim! And you didn’t even know about the wedding until a few days ago. No way you had time to commission something.”

“Right.” He lowers his hands to my side, his fingertips almost touching at the front of my torso and his chest pressing against my back. “So I gave him the parameters of what I was searching for, and I told him the family story.”

“You told my brother the story before you told me?” I meet his eyes in the mirror. “Really?”

“You knew the story already. Hush. I told him what I wanted, and he knew what you’d wear it with. Luckily, he knew the wedding color palette, including your makeup. Most importantly, he knew I required emeralds, and if it wasn’t brand-new, then all the better.”

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