Page 144 of Guarded King

His lips thin and he shakes his head. “He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.”

“Oh, Roman.” I rush over and wrap my arms tightly around him.

Their relationship had never been good, and yes, the man was a criminal and an asshole, but he was still his father.

His body remains taut, and although he hugs me back, he doesn’t relax into me.

I press my hands to his back, smoothing them over the tense muscles before craning my neck to peer up at him. “Are you okay?”

His expression is distant. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Gently, I touch his cheek, forcing him to focus on me. “Because your father died. Regardless of how you feel about him, it’s a shock. It’s okay to be upset.”

He regards me for a long moment, the tightness around his eyes easing slightly. When he finally draws me closer and rests his chin on my head, I exhale a silent sigh of relief.

“I don’t know how the fuck to feel. I should feel nothing, but…” His arms tighten around me. “Whatever this is, it’s not that.”

I lay my head against his chest, listening to the rapid pound of his heart. “You don’t have to figure it out now. Just know I’m here, whatever you need.”

He raises my chin and feathers his lips over mine, a silent thank you. “I have to go to Cole’s place. The family’s meeting there to talk about what needs to happen next. I’ll have Phillip drop you off at home.”

It takes effort, but I fight the instinctive urge to react. Of course I can’t go with him. No one knows about us—not even his family. So I can’t be by his side, can’t hold his hand or wrap my arms around him the way Violet and Delilah can with Tate and Cole.

It’s another painful reminder of just how difficult this situation is. How the line we were trying not to cross hasn’t disappeared—it’s just moved. While it separated us before, it now lies between us and everyone else.

I swallow past the hard lump in my throat, forcing a reassuring smile as I step back. The last thing Roman needs right now is for me to make this about my feelings. “I’ll get my purse.”

As I turn away, the backs of my eyes sting. The fear of change I wrestled with a week ago suddenly feels a lot less scary than the possibility that there might never be a change at all.

CHAPTER FIFTY

ROMAN

It’s been three days since Dad died. The night we got the news, my brothers and I convened at Cole’s place to talk through what to do. We organized the public announcement, arranged a press conference for the next day, and settled on as small a funeral as we can get away with.

I still don’t know how I feel. The man who cast his shadow over all of us is just… gone. It feels like the punchline to a bad joke.

A knock sounds, and Chloe steps inside with her usual quiet grace.

I want to go to her, wrap my arms around her, kiss her until she’s the only thing filling my mind. But I hold back. Since Dad died, an unspoken distance has settled between us. One I don’t know how to bridge.

We just have to make it through the funeral. Hopefully once the media reporting of his death dies down, things will go back to the way they were.

She walks gracefully toward me and hands me a stack of newspapers. “Here are all the dailies you asked for.”

I stroke my thumb over her fingers as I take them. “Thank you.”

“Is there anything else?”

Yes. Lock the damn door and let me taste you. Strip and let me worship your body—make you scream my name.

Except that’s not what I say, because the headline on the front of the paper has caught my eye.

Disgraced Former CEO Dies in Prison, Casting Shadow on King Group.

I grit my teeth. Even in death, Dad finds a way to screw us over.

“That’s all,” I mutter, turning to the next paper.

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