Page 79 of King of Pain

“Anything.”

“I need to speak with Arabella, but I don’t have my phone. I’m shit with numbers.”

She gives me a smile and pulls out her phone. She hits two buttons and the phone is ringing.

“Char?” I hear Arabella’s voice and the tension in my shoulders unwinds.

“No, bug. It’s me. Luke.”

“Luke!” she cries. “It’s been way too long.”

“It has,” I smile. “Listen. I’m going to New York for a while and before I go...”

“Are you visiting me?”

My brows lift and Charlotte gives me a quizzical stare. Right. Probably something I should have known. “Soon. I’m planning on staying for a while.”

“What about Kincaid Enterprises?” she asks.

“I’ll explain when I see you, but right now, I need a small favor. Can you call Roman and tell him I’m all right? He’ll want to know.”

“Sure,” Ari’s sweet voice fills the phone. “Of course I can.”

“Thanks, bug,” I say. “I love you.”

“Okay, now you’re just being weird.”

That makes me smile. “I think I’m going to ask a woman to marry me.”

Arabella squeals. “That’s amazing. Do I get to be a bridesmaid again? Never mind. No pressure on your girl. I’m so happy for you.”

Charlotte is smiling too, but Charlotte is Mason’s wife, and she likely knows far more about what’s going on, which means there is a tension in her eyes that her smile can’t hide. I hang up with Arabella and hand Charlotte her phone back. “Listen. I could use some phone numbers, but Mason isn’t going to like it.”

“My husband will deal,” she answers, taking my phone from me. “And I’ll give you all the numbers you want after you explain. Who are you marrying and how did you end up here? Last time I heard, your blood was in the back of a car.”

“Yeah.” Then I take a deep breath. “Actually, Kate might do a better job of explaining than me. Want to meet her?”

Kate should start meeting my family and Mason might not understand the importance of winning over the female family members instead of screwing them over, but I sure as shit do.

“Of course, I do,”

“Warning, though. Mason has been a real prick to both of us.”

Charlotte’s mouth purses into a fine line. “He has been acting strangely since he went back to Vegas.”

That is not my problem. Not right now.

Right now, I need to make sure that Kate gets to New York and to her future.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Kate

I wake to the sunrise,the first rays just lighting the room, as I stretch against Luke, his arms wrapped tight around me.

He tightens his arms, snuggling his nose into the crown of my hair. “Good morning,” he murmurs.

I smile burrowing deeper. “Good morning.”

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