Page 82 of Broken King

As much as I enjoy seeing her in anything, I do love her in that dress. “If I promise not to ruin it, will you wear it? I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Oh, really? How’s that?” she asks, teasing me.

Matthias, Ava, and Theo come walking toward me, so I can’t tell her exactly what I plan to do that will make her eyes roll back in her head. “Gotta go now. See you at eight. Wear that dress.”

“You’re so demanding, but I’ll wear it.”

I end the call just as my brother and his family sit down around the table. Ava looks around and then asks me, “Where is Sabrina?”

With a shrug, I say, “Not sure. She went into the house a few minutes ago and hasn’t come back.”

She and Matthias exchange glances, and he asks me, “You didn’t say anything to upset her or offend her, did you? I know how you can be. She might not get your sense of humor, Marius.”

I glance down at Matty still enjoying his time in the stroller and then at my brother. “Trust me. She understood exactly what I was talking about, but no worries. By the way, I was considering sticking around for a little while longer. I know Ronan is good, but I have some things I want to do here. Do you mind?”

Again, my brother and his wife look at each other and then me. “Sure!” Ava answers, and then adds, “Maybe we should have a party since you’re in town. Ronan can invite Kate since I hear they’re together now.”

“You don’t mind being the odd man out again, do you?” Matthias asks, referring to my never having a date for their get-togethers.

I grin, knowing the truth even though they don’t. “I’m a perpetual bachelor, big brother. I’m fine with being a single in a world full of couples.”

“Then it’s settled,” Ava says full of excitement. “You know my friend Eden is going to be there, right?”

I shrug again. “As always. She doesn’t bother me.”

Ava pouts and starts typing into her phone. “Doesn’t bother you. It must be nice to have people adoring you and you get to be so blasé about it.”

It’s good to be me.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Kate

Ronan holdsthe steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turn white, but I don’t want to say anything to him about it. He doesn’t need caution now. If he’s ever going to truly be himself again, he has to conquer any fears he has about driving.

He could have chosen anyone to do this with. I’m sure his brothers have been hoping he’d try driving again, so they would have jumped at the chance to be sitting beside him as he gets behind the wheel for the first time.

But he chose me to accompany him, so I want to support that decision as best as I can.

We’ve only driven on side roads until this point, but I see him look at the sign for the Taconic as we pass it. I don’t know if he’s ready to tackle that yet. He needs to know I’m here for him for that too.

“Feel free to drive wherever you want to, Ronan.”

He pulls the car off to the side of the road and puts it in park. I can’t tell if what I said upset him, but it can’t be good that we’ve stopped.

As much as I want to ask if he’s okay, I don’t. I just give him time to say what he needs to. If that means sitting here all day in silence, then that’s fine.

Whatever he needs, I’m here for him.

Finally after a minute or so of complete silence, he turns to look at me. His voice low and unsure, he winces like he’s in pain when he says, “I don’t know if I’m ready to drive on that road yet.”

I smile and lean over to kiss him softly on the cheek. “It’s your call. Wherever you want to go, I’m good.”

“I’m just not sure…”

He stops and takes a deep breath before continuing. “What if I screw it up? I’d never forgive myself if you got hurt, Kate.”

Fear fills his dark eyes, making me wish I knew what to say to make that disappear. I can only imagine the terror he experiences whenever he remembers that horrible night that changed his life forever. I want to help, but I don’t know what to do.

---