Page 14 of Clean Slade
Yet, for some reason, he didn’t want to accept it.
Because he didn’t know the truth. He didn’t know my father’s world like I did.
I picked up my cup and headed for the kitchen.
“Hey, King?”
I paused and looked at him.
He bit his bottom lip, staring at me before opening his mouth, but all that came out was a deep breath.
As if he wanted to ask me a question but changed his mind at the last minute.
“Nothing.”
I nodded and left the room.
Did he remember me? Was he going to ask me if we’d met before?
No, there was no chance. He didn’t remember me.
And even if he did, there was nothing we could do about it.
Because as soon as Mac woke up, we were out of here. We’d change names again, return to the mainland, hide somewhere rural like Minnesota or Wyoming. Maybe even Canada. Maybe farther than that.
I didn’t want to leave Mayberry Holm. It was our home. My friends had become my family. But I’d run anywhere to protect my daughter. Anywhere to keep her from falling into the hands of Tony Ferraro.
I’d do anything to keep her from my father.
FOUR
SLADE
Ididn’t think King would ever fall asleep, but when I checked on him and Mac a few hours later, he was fast asleep hugging his daughter.
I didn’t shut an eye.
And no, it wasn’t because I was still unsure if King was Rex from nine years ago.
I was convinced he was, but he didn’t show any signs of recognizing me, so maybe I was wrong. Maybe this guy was his doppelgänger.
No, the reason I couldn’t sleep was something he said before he retreated to his room.
“This is our home.”
For some reason, I didn’t want to see him or Mac give up the life they’d built here. It probably was the safest option. But somehow, running from the problem didn’t sit well with me. Even if said problem was a very dangerous man.
Tony Ferraro was invincible. Rumor had it their family went back generations, but it was under Tony that it had grown into an empire of drug distribution, human trafficking, and assassinations.
The FBI had been building a case against him for years, but they couldn’t pin the guy down. He was too slippery, with too many connections, to ever get caught.
It was crazy to think a man like King was being hunted by such an important man. King was the definition of boy-next-door. A striking contrast to the man I’d fucked all those years ago.
That was why part of me kept thinking they weren’t one and the same. But fear and preservation made the impossible possible.
It doesn’t matter.
Whether he was Rex or not, Mac and King deserved to not uproot their lives.
