Page 45 of Vicious King

I nibble my lip, unsure what to say.

“Your child’s father, who as far as I know was deceased, showed up here less than a week ago and has turned your life upside down,” Mildred says kindly, reaching out to take my hand. “And I can see how happy you are about that. You’re not afraid of him. If I thought you were, I’d have called the cops on that first day.”

I let out a gusty breath and squeeze her back. “I’m elated, Mildred. But it’s such a long story, and I’m sorry. I never lied to you, or didn’t believe I was lying, and⁠—”

“Someday,” she interrupts and gently cups my cheek, “when you’re ready, you can confide in me. I just want to make sure that you and that sweet boy are okay.”

I smile, and then on instinct, I wrap my arms around her and hug her. She doesn’t even hesitate, she simply hugs me back.

“We’re great,” I whisper to her. “And yes, having Carson here is amazing. He’d never hurt us. But he asked me to keep Charlie home today and that you come over and hang out with him while Carson talks to me.”

She pulls back and pats my cheek. “I’m happy to do that.”

Before I can reply, there’s a brisk knock on the door. When I pull it open, I find Spider standing on the other side. There are armed men all around my house now, and it looks like they’re going to defend me from warfare.

“The boss would like you to come with me,” Spider says with a wink. “Just next door.”

I turn, and Mildred waves me off. “I’ve got things taken care of here.”

“Our men are surrounding the house,” Spider says, loud enough for Mildred to hear. “Everyone’s safe inside.”

“Thank you,” I say, and then I close the door behind me, and Spider walks with me to the house next door. I’m surprised when I stride inside and find the living room turned into a . . . well, some kind of workspace.

“Carson?” I call out because there’s no one here, and then he comes out of the kitchen that’s separate from the living room. He’s so freaking handsome, and he’s changed clothes since I saw him last night. He’s in a simple black button-down and black slacks and belt. His shirtsleeves are rolled on his forearms, showing off muscles and ink, and his collar is unbuttoned as well.

“Okay, what’s going on?” I demand as he walks over to me and brushes my hair behind my ear.

“I have a surprise for you,” he says, and then someone else comes out of the kitchen, and my eyes go wide when I see Julian.

“Holy shit.” With a smile and a little bounce, I rush over to him and wrap my arms around him. “Holy shit.”

“Hey there, sweet girl,” Julian murmurs, hugging me back. “We missed you.”

Just when I thought I’d spent all my tears, here they come again.

“I missed all of you too.” I sniffle and let him go, and then Carson tugs me against him and rubs his big hands up and down my back. “Are you okay? Why are you here?”

“Can’t I come to town to see my sister-in-law?”

“That’s not an answer.”

Julian smirks. God, it’s good to see him. And my eyes fall to his hand, where he’s wearing a wedding band.

“Congratulations,” I tell him. “I hear nothing but amazing things about your wife.”

He smiles now, and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen his eyes go so soft. Julian is hard, a true made man, but one mention of his wife and he looks almost gooey.

It’s fascinating.

“She’s the best fucking thing that ever happened to me,” he replies. “You’ll meet her soon.”

I blink up at him and then over to Carson as the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

“We have to talk, Sunshine, and unfortunately, we’re under a time crunch,” Carson says and leads me to the kitchen table, where he pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit. The guys sit across from me, and I have a bad feeling.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“I need to move you and Charlie to Vegas with me.”