Page 95 of Love Me, I Dare You

Bailey pushes past me, getting between her brother and I. “Nash, what is Jase talking about? What threats?” She swallows back the tears brimming in her red, swollen eyes as her gaze flicks between her brother and I.

I take two steps in his direction and am oddly proud he doesn’t cower down. This man right here, the one who was my best friend, who loved unconditionally and with all of him, is a man I would be proud to call family. But something about the way he and Monroe went behind all our backs and did this seems wrong. I know it makes me a hypocrite, but I can’t help the bitter taste it leaves me with.

Especially when I regretted my betrayal more than anything. “You expected me to have fought back against the beloved King family? Think I stood a chance against the most powerful man in all of Crossroads? Hell, the fucking state of North Carolina, for that matter. Or are you going to stand here and pretend he didn’t tell you what he did?”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Nash?” This time it’s Jase who asks looking confused, only further confirming my suspicion. He genuinely had nothing to do with the threats and ultimatum his father gave me that kept me away for so long.

This is the moment the truth has no chance against me. I’m no longer in control of my emotions or actions. Without caring who I hurt, I let it all come to light. “About how Daddy King approached me after you left. Appeared out of nowhere or had been tipped off by one of his goonies that always lurked around our property. He made good on those useless threats you spewed. Threatened not only my livelihood but my family’s. How he single-handedly threatened to ruin Monty and Monroe’s lives in Crossroads if I didn’t leave. How he shoved a hundred thousand dollar check in my face and told me never to step foot in Crossroads again.”

Bailey, along with everyone else who’s still watching gasps as a thick and palpable silence follows, allowing those around us to process what’s been revealed.

“You did take the money?” she whispers, though I hear it. She knew, of course, she did. Last night, Bismarck King was determined to make sure I stayed away from his daughter. It’s no surprise he would have told her the truth just to ensure she did.

“Fuck no I didn’t.” For the first time since this argument started, I direct my attention directly at Bailey. “You really think I’d do something like that, Angel?”

Her eyes soften slightly, though the tension in her expression doesn’t ease away. “What do you want me to say, Nash? I don’t know what to believe anymore,” she admits, her voice tinged with both doubt but hope as well. She wants to believe me. Believe I wouldn’t betray her, use her in such a deplorable way, yet she can’t allow herself to fully trust me.

It’s then I know she knows more than what she’s letting on. Bailey had to have heard the conversation between her father and me last night. Maybe he’d told her something different, something that had given her a reason to doubt me.

I take a deep breath, trying to ease the tension inside me and calm the whirlwind of emotions barreling through me. “Believe what you want. I was never good enough for your family, Bailey. Just a pity project, much like they’ve turned Monroe into. Us Bishops will never be seen as anything more than the fucking peasants we are to a King.”

“What on earth is this commotion all about?” Mayor King shouts as he barrels through the crowd and reaches us. The instant regret that crosses his face makes all of this fucking worth it.

“Oh, who do we have here, the man of the hour himself? Maybe Daddy King can clear this all up for us once and for all.”

The man’s features tighten, stiffer than I’ve ever seen him as his fingers tighten into fists at his side. The wrinkles around his eyes deepen as he scowls. “Nash, I think it’s best you and I talk somewhere private before someone, multiple people, are hurt by your stupidity.”

Monty slams a hand down on my shoulder. “Nash, I think Mayor King is right.” He knows it’s coming, they both do. My oldest, wisest brother is the only one of all of us who knows the truth—the secret I’ve kept for so long but can’t stand the thought of staying quiet one second longer. Even if this will hurt so many of the people I love and care about.

“Oh, we’re far beyond the point of no return, Bismarck. Can I call you Bismarck? It seems our blood runs through the streets of this town. We’re practically family. I’m fucking your daughter, your son’s fucking my sister, and wait, you fucked our mom too, so there’s that.”

“What?” The question is so loud I know it came from multiple sources.

“Nash, I suggest you…” King continues, but I’m done allowing him to talk over me.

“What, keep my mouth shut? Too late for that. Here’s another story time for you all. Once upon a time…”

“Nash, please stop,” Bailey pleads, tears flowing out of her eyes making me feel like a total asshole, but this goes far beyond just the two of us. I can’t keep quiet about this, not anymore. Not when it affects so many of us.

“No, Bailey. I won’t. Because if this thing between us is ever going to amount to something more than it is, we need all these goddamn secrets and lies put to rest. The reason for the rivalry between the Bishop’s and the King’s is because your father had an affair with our mother. More than that, they had a child—a brother the two of us share.”

“I thought it was you,” Mayor King shouts, shoving his fist into my jaw. The gesture catches me off guard and makes me stumble back, but before I can retaliate, Monty’s arm comes around my neck and holds me back.

“Get it together, Nash. Don’t fucking do something you’ll regret.” There’s that voice of reason again. Monty is too damn virtuous for his own good.

His statement catches me off guard, something I wasn’t expecting to hear. I wipe at the blood pooling on my lower lip. “You thought I was your son? The son you had with my mother?”

“Delia didn’t tell me until after you were all born. I didn’t…She wouldn’t tell me which one of you it was. I thought maybethat’s why you’d been drawn to Jase, but when I heard what happened between you and Bailey,” he pauses, clearly disturbed by the thought. “I felt fucking sick to my stomach at the possibility?—”

“That we were siblings,” Bailey answers for him.

“Holy shit,” someone gasps, and holy shit is correct. That’s why he forced me to leave. He couldn’t stand the fact that there was a possibility I was his son, and I’d fucked his daughter—my sister.

From the corner of my eye, I can see that sometime during all the chaos, the rest of the King family had joined us. Brynn stands beside her mother and oldest brother, staring unbelieving at what’s unfolding before their eyes, though Magnolia King doesn’t seem shocked in the slightest.

Of course she knew, a good wife always knows. She should be scathing that her bastard husband had a child with another woman, but of course a woman with a reputation as hers would never react that way. Sweep things under the rug to keep up appearances. Though the mortification that’s hidden beneath her composed expression isn’t because of the truths coming to light, but the fact it’s happening in the middle of town for all to see and judge.

“That’s why Jase freaked out when he discovered Monroe was pregnant,” Billie says, reminding us she’s here. So the girl knew her bestie's secret and kept it from Bailey. “He thought he not only shared a baby with her, but also a sibling.” She glances over at Bailey apologetically, who still has her arm wrapped around Monroe. Bailey nods in understanding.

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