Page 74 of King of Hearts

Mal’s hand flew again, this time on the other side of his face.

“Jesus Christ! Will you stop?” Kyle’s palm came up to cradle his other cheek.

She pointed at me. “Tell me you had nothing to do with that psycho breaking into Juan’s house and pulling her up by her hair while his men watched. She’s pregnant, Kyle. Fucking PREGNANT!”

I flinched at how loudly she screamed. Kyle’s red face only worsened as Decker stepped up to stand behind his wife. She was crying; somehow I’d missed it, but tears streamed down her face.

“Scotty told me we had to go…it was a way to secure our place. I didn’t know it was Juan’s house, or that Taylor would be there.”

Decker let out a few muttered curse words while running a hand through his hair. “Why were you with Scotty at all? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to get involved with that shit?”

Mallory’s arms were a band of tight steel in front of her chest. Her lips thinned, and her gaze bounced between her husband and Kyle.

“Sorry if I’m not exactly worried about your safety at the moment, Kyle. You put my sister and her child at risk. If Juan hadn’t been there, what would have happened to her?”

Kyle winced, ducking his head. “We had no idea she was pregnant, or that the kid was his…we wouldn’t have broken in if we knew who he was. He would have come for us…”

“What is that supposed to mean…” Mallory’s dark brows wrinkled while she glanced at Decker then looked back at Kyle. “What do you mean about not knowing who Juan was?”

Shit. I absently rubbed my forehead, wishing I was positioned right to kick Kyle so he didn’t say anything.

Kyle glanced at Mallory then me.

“Juan is the son of Manny Vasquez.”

Decker’s face twisted in confusion, and Mal looked anxiously between them.

“Who is that? What does that mean?”

My heart rate tripled, my panic flaring out of control. He wanted to protect them, and I’d fucked it up.

“Manny was the leader of the largest gang this side of the country. It started as a cartel down in Mexico, and it’s called El Peligro. They’re more dangerous than any outfit this side of the Atlantic Ocean, save for ours.”

“Why the fuck do you keep saying that? It isn’t yours,” Decker snapped, smacking his brother in the back of the head.

“Because whether you like it or not, Iampart of it. I’m a part ofhim,” Kyle yelled back, his throat straining to contain the rage he had rolling through him.

I yelled back before anyone else could. “No,I’ma part of him. You have no idea what you’re doing, or how far into this you really are, or what is going to happen the first time you choose not to kill a child, or kill a mother…have you ever killed before, Kyle? I promise if you haven’t, you will, and that sort of damage to your brain, to your heart…it won’t ever go away.”

I stared at Kyle, my fists clenched tight in my lap, my baby kicking furiously at my abdomen. One of the kicks was so hard I nearly lost my breath, but I gritted my teeth and kept a straight face. Decker shook his head, stalking off toward a different part of the patio. Mallory glared at Kyle before following after her husband, leaving the two of us alone.

The sun was out, shining down in a way that made the awkward silence stretching between the boy next to me and myself not as horrible. Still, it didn’t change the fact that there were some unspoken things between us that needed to be cleared up.

“So, are you going to tell him I’m here?”

Kyle leaned forward on his elbows, resting them on the tips of his knees, then he tilted his head until he was peering over his wide, round shoulder.

“You’re my family, Taylor. I wouldn’t hurt you…I know you can’t ever know if I’m telling the truth, but if Juan hadn’t shown up, I would have stepped in. There’s no way I would have let Ivan hurt you.”

That made me feel better. A marginal amount, but at least it was something. I turned in my seat, ignoring the cramping in my stomach.

“Then help me…I need to set up a meeting, and I need to do it without my fiancé knowing.”

Kyle smiled, laughing as if I had told a joke.

My brows caved at what might be so funny. Maybe it was the mention of fiancé in light of the swap with Markos and Juan.

I was too curious not to know.

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