Page 39 of Broken King

I pick her up and tell my night-time front desk girl we’re leaving.

When I’m locking Brynlee into her car seat, I stare at her. “Who are you? And what have you done with my baby?”

She reaches out and smooshes my cheeks between her hands. “You’re silly, Daddy. I’m Brynlee St. James. And you always say yes if I ask nice.”

I am so fucked when this kid grows up.

When Brynlee and I pull up to Sam’s house, the massive driveway is filled with cars.

Sam, Becks, and I went to school together.

We were tight back then.

We’re still tight. It just looks different now.

We all went in different directions in our twenties, but the bonds we formed as overly privileged juvenile delinquents have stayed intact. Becks and Sam both have keys to Crucible and tend to use it after-hours. Well... Sam, not as much now that he has a woman he loves in his bed and a baby to keep them both up at night.

But who can blame him?

Poker nights happened more often before Brynlee came into the picture. And they happen even less now that Sam’s got Amelia and Maddox. But as I walk into his house, with Brynlee more nervous about all the people than excited like she was earlier, I wonder how long this will last.

I also wonder whether Scarlet’s gonna be here and if she’ll be happy to see me.

We’ve been texting with the occasional FaceTime thrown in. I like to check in with her and see how she’s feeling. I have a funny feeling she’s not taking as good of care of herself as she should be. But whenever I broach the subject, I get shot down. She bailed on getting together for dinner last week. Said she had another meeting at work.

Amelia opens the door and kisses my cheek before taking Brynlee from me. “Hi, sweet girl. You haven’t stopped in for cupcakes lately.”

Brynlee smiles a hesitant smile back up at Amelia before two loud voices come bounding toward us in the form of identical twin toddler girls, washing away any hesitation Brynn may have had. Gracie and Everly Sinclair are Declan and Annabelle’s twin daughters, and as Amelia sets her on her feet, Brynlee looks like she could be the third sister.

The twins are two years old. And the three girls are not only in the same preschool class, but Brynlee takes ballet classes with them at Hart & Soul, their mother’s studio. In the next heartbeat, one of the two little blonde heads says something about cookies, and all three of them take off.

Amelia assures me they’re heading right for Nonna before I catch Annabelle waving hello as she follows behind the trio, hopefully making sure they don’t break anything. Amelia guides me further into the house, that seems to be overflowing with Kingstons, until I finally see Sam. The man born to mafia royalty holds his seven-month-old son against his shoulder, bouncing his body to calm him. And I swear to God, it’s not a sight I ever thought I’d see.

“Saint, you made it.” His son, Maddox, pops his wobbly head up at the intrusion of the loud voice, and looks around. Big blue eyes grow impossibly wider as he takes in the number of people in the large room. Then, a ridiculously loud wail of a scream is ripped from his throat before Amelia takes him from Sam.

“Prince.” I clap Sam on the back. “Not exactly like the poker nights we used to have.” Back in high school, Becks used to call me “Saint,” and Sam “Prince,” since his father was the mafia king in town. Of course, Becks dubbed himself “King,” like everything the Kingstons touch. That all changed two years ago when Sam took his father’s place. But we can’t call them both “King,” so Sammy’s stuck with “Prince.”

Sam throws his arm over my shoulder. “Saint, have you met Declan?”

Declan Sinclair is the quarterback for the Kings football team. He’s only been in Kroydon Hills for a few years, but he’s already become somewhat of a legend since he’s brought the championship home twice. I offer him my hand. “We’ve met at Hart & Soul. My daughter takes classes with Annabelle and the girls.”

His smile grows as he looks around for the girls. “She must be the third musketeer I saw running away with them a minute ago.”

“Yeah, that’s her. Sorry about that. I saw your wife. I should probably go make sure Brynlee’s behaving herself.”

I’m handed a beer. “Don’t worry about it. Belle’s not shy. If she needs you, she’ll come get you.” Declan sips his beer. “So, I hear congratulations are in order.” He tips his head toward the far corner where Scarlet and Lenny are standing.

“Thanks.” My eyes stay locked with hers. “Excuse me, guys.”

I cross the room quickly and insert myself into the women’s circle. “Ladies,” I greet and place my palm on the small of Scarlet’s back. Lenny welcomes me and then quickly excuses herself as if she’d planned it that way all along.

Scarlet watches her go before meeting my gaze. She doesn’t move away though, so I’ll count that as a small victory. “I’m surprised to see you here, Cade.” Her tired eyes scan the crowded room. “Actually, let me rephrase. I’m surprised to see everyone here. I thought this was going to be a quiet girls’ night. I guess my family had other plans.”

I cup her elbow and am grateful when she lets me guide her over to a sofa. “You feeling okay, Scarlet?”

“Is that a nice way of telling me I look tired?” She looks up at me through inky black lashes. “Because you wouldn’t be the first person to tell me that tonight.” We sit down, and she leans her head back against the arm I stretch out over the top of the sofa.

It’s so damn easy to fall back into old habits.

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