Page 97 of The Broken Queen
I tilted my head, so we kissed, and when it turned heated, where he pulled me into his lap, we finally broke apart. “Fucking you outside where it’s raining and cold is where I draw the line.”
He laughed and helped me stand. “Fine. Come inside and let me feed you then. Besides, Kingston has a surprise for you.”
I was toldto shower and eat something warm.
Taking my time with my morning routine, I did exactly that while the boys prepared whatever the surprise was for me. Hours seemed to pass when I finally heard them call from downstairs, “Pres, come down here!”
Elated, I grabbed my phone and jogged down the steps, only to freeze on the bottom one.
He sat there, patiently like the best boy in the whole world, and even began to whine the second he saw me. My eyes instantly filled with tears.
“What’s going on?”
Kingston cleared his throat first, brushing his hand over the top of Reaper’s head.
“He belongs with you. Always has. If Gio or I can’t protect you, we want to know you have an extra pair of eyes on you.”
Wetness tracked down my face as I got to my knees in front of Scotty’s most favored dog. His brown eyes shifted as he watched me, and then he began licking my face.
“But what about you?” My voice cracked, even asmy fingers sank into Reaper’s glossy fur. There was no way Kingston would be okay with living with the animal he’d witnessed rip someone’s throat out. It had caused him so much trauma.
Kinston knelt down next to me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “He’s a lot like you, Pres. Forced to become a weapon when all he wanted was to be a friend. I think he’d probably love being on the farm, don’t you?”
A sob crept up my throat as I leaned in and pressed my head to Reaper’s neck. “Thank you for this.”
Reaper licked the side of my face before Gio called for him to follow him outside. That’s when Kingston wrapped me in his arms, and he let me sob into his neck. I cried for my life, the fractured pieces that still weren’t whole. I cried for Scotty, and the person I had grown up thinking he was. I cried for how different things were going to be, and while it was a good thing, it undoubtedly would be hard.
“I love you.” I kissed King’s throat.
He hummed while brushing my hair aside. “I’ll keep finding ways to prove that I love you, too. One day you’ll wake up and completely forget that I was a total piece of shit. One day you’ll wake up and you’ll know you’ve always been mine.”
A laugh tumbled out of me. “You’re such an idiot. I already do wake up knowing I’ve always been yours. I wake up feeling loved and cherished and like this was what you both had been trying to tell me all those years.”
“Well, good, that will save us some time.”
“Time for what?” I asked, searching his face.
His smile was perfect when he whispered, “Our next surprise.”
One Week Later
“This house is so freakingcute, I’m obsessed.” Carter gushed over the details of the kitchen while munching on an apple. She’d decided to come visit now that things had somewhat calmed down. I knew her parents had settled in New York, but Carter hadn’t decided where she wanted to land just yet.
She’d mentioned wanting to be closer to family, so perhaps we’d be seeing more of her.
Alex walked in, holding a basket of eggs.
“Okay, some of these have actual poop on them, and I’m not sure we’ll be able to use them.”
Carter’s mouth twisted. “Ew, that’s disgusting. Farm life could never be for me.”
I giggled while I took the basket from her. “We’ll just wash it, and it’ll be fine.”
They both watched me as I filled a bowl with water, and I knew they were going to ask about them.
“So, Pres,” Carter started while glancing at Alex, then back at me, “I couldn’t help but notice those two new tattoos on your finger.”
“Oh, those?” I twisted my left hand, inspecting the ring finger.
