“Oh yeah? Where’d you hear that?”
“Look, is he working tonight or not?”
I sniffed at his attitude. “As a matter of fact, I am.”
Their mouths dropped open. “Shit,” Garrett murmured as he looked me up and down. “You don’t look the same at all.”
“So I’ve heard. What the fuck do you want?”
I knew what I wanted. I wanted them gone before Felicity—or Rock—spotted them.
“We came to make amends.” Tad stuck out his hand.
After scowling at his palm, I lifted my gaze to his face. “Are you kidding me? Last time I saw you two, you beat the shit out of me.”
“Because we’d just found you naked in the backseat of a car with my sister,” Garrett hissed.
Tad held up his hands. “And we now admit that we might’ve overreacted with the way we treated you. You didn’t deserve what happened to you after that night.”
I squinted, trying to figure out why he was trying to play peacekeeper. I’d killed his brother.
He sighed. “We saw the video of what happened between you and Jeremy.”
“Shit.” I whirled away and wiped my hands over my face.
Had anyone not seen that fucking video?
“You got a raw deal from all this,” Tad said. “And we wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to go after a certain few people.”
“Yeah, we just don’t want those people to be us,” Garrett put in.
With a snort, I shook my head. Unbelievable. They just wanted to cover their own asses. “Fine,” I muttered dryly as I turned back to them. “I’ll spare both your lives. That make you feel better?”
Garrett opened his mouth, probably to say something else that would no doubt piss me off, but City showed up, plunking her empty tray on the bar top. “Damn, it’s busy tonight.”
Her brother whirled toward her. “Felicity?”
She glanced over and her jaw dropped. “Garrett? What’re you doing here?” Then her gaze zipped between me, him, and Tad.
“I think he was trying to apologize for fucking up my life, except I never actually heard a sorry.”
Garrett sent me a scowl before he returned his attention to City. “I should’ve known you two would find yourselves back together.” Then he shocked the shit out of me when he murmured, “Good.”
City shared a stunned arch of the eyebrows with me before she said, “So...how’s everyone at home?”
Her brother shrugged. “No idea. I haven’t seen them in years.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Say what?”
“Though I heard Max has taken after Dad and become another soulless, life-sucking businessman. He was always worse than the old man if you ask me. He’d put on a good front, act like your friend...then bam...stab you in the fucking back.”
“What’re you talking about?” City demanded.
“I’m talking about our family. Just...everything. They’re heartless. Watching you walk out on the parents was the most badass, courageous thing I ever saw. I swear, I hated you then because I wished I could’ve done it first. Took me a month after you left to work up the balls to escape myself.” He shared a look with Tad—a look that only lovers shared—and then he took the other man’s hand.
“And it was the best thing I ever did. I was able to stop pretending I was something I wasn’t and finally be who I really wanted to be.”
“And he’s been a lot better tempered ever since,” Tad added with a smug grin.
Felicity gaped between the two of them before shaking her head. “Um…wow. Okay. Uh, that’s great, I guess. I’m happy for you.”
Garrett glanced at her, and for the first time that evening, he actually looked contrite. “I hope you can forgive me someday for the way I always treated you.”
“Uh…” She nodded. “Okay. Yeah. Sure.”
And that seemed to be that.
Whatever happened with City’s brother and his boyfriend after their attempt at making amends was pretty unremarkable. Either that or I was still too stunned from the first half of the conversation to pay much attention to the rest of it.
Tad and Garrett drank a beer, and eventually left.
As soon as they were gone, City whirled to me. “Was it just me, or was that totally bizarre?”
“It was fucking bizarre,” I agreed, but at least I didn’t have to worry about her family, not the way I worried about mine. I glanced toward the stage. Rock was glaring at me from behind the drum set where he was currently playing.
I twisted back to City to warn her once more to steer clear of him, but she was already moving away, and Eva was dodging in front of me. “Knox, I command you to come out here and dance.”
“Uh…I’m working.” And the place was busy as hell.
“Hey.” Pick waved me away as he slid behind the counter. “Get out there on the dance floor, now, and give my woman what she wants. I got this.”
So, I let Eva lead me out to a spot where other couples were moving to the song’s fast beat. As I dragged my feet behind her, she motioned to Asher, who winked back. Then she turned to me and frowned when she saw my expression. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “It’s just…I’ve never danced with anyone but Felicity.”
The smile on Eva’s face softened. “Then you should definitely dance with her.”
I frowned. “But I thought you wanted to—”
“I just wanted you to dance,” she said, backing away. “It didn’t have to be with me.”
With one last grin, she hurried to where City was delivering a round of drinks to a table full of guys. Taking over her tray to serve them herself, Eva waved City toward me.
Crooking my finger, I motioned her to come closer. Smiling mischievously, she drew forward as Asher leaned into the microphone and announced, “This cover’s for the newest Forbidden couple. Enjoy.”
I drew my woman into my arms as the band started John Legends’ “All of me.” City shuddered and cuddled closer. “I love this song.”
I kissed her ear. “I love you.”
Lifting her face, she grinned at me and hugged her arms around my waist. “You have no idea how much I adore hearing that. I never thought I’d hear you say it to me again.”
“Well, get used to hearing it every day, because I plan on saying it to you at least that often.”
Snuggling against my chest, she pressed her mouth to my neck. “It might take a lot of days for me to get used to it.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to say it for years.”
She glowed happily. “Works for me.”
“Me too.”
The song came to an end way before I was ready, and Eva hurried over, looking frantic. “Okay, waitressing sucks. Felicity, take this damn thing back.” She poked the serving tray at City and then arched an eyebrow at me. “And you. Fetch me my Pick. I really do want to dance now.”
So City and I returned to our jobs.
I was feeling pretty good by the time closing came around. The other bartenders as well as all their women, along with Pick and Eva, lingered, telling stories while the rest of us cleaned. On stage, the band cleared their set. I’d been keeping an eye on Rock until Ten and Noel distracted me with a story about Pick beating the hell out of Skylar’s biological father when he caught him hitting Eva.
When Eva leaned into Pick and grinned up at him as she sighed, “My protective hero,” I shifted my attention toward City, but she was frowning at Pick.
Folding her arms over her chest, she said, “Speaking of men and their overly protective instincts, would you finally like to confess to Knox here that no one’s been threatening me or leaving notes on my break room locker, Pick?”
“Threatening you?” Noel sounded confused as a ruefully grinning Pick glanced my way.
“Oh yeah, I kind of lied about all that. No one’s been threatening Felicity.”
I narrowed my eyes. “But—”
“I made it all up to get you to agree t
o move in with her.”
“Patrick,” Eva gasped, nudging him in the ribs even as her eyes gleamed with approval. “I had no idea you were such a scheming matchmaker.”
He shrugged and tugged her close. “I wouldn’t say I was matchmaking per say, just...trying to get them to resolve their issues.”
“Well, it worked, you lucky bastard,” Felicity muttered, looking irritable, until she glanced my way. Then her gaze softened as she added. “Thank God.”
I held her gaze, just as grateful, before remembering Rock and my suspicions of him. Glancing toward the stage, I saw him take a drag from some pipe-looking thing and exhale before Asher noticed it. He yanked it out of Rock’s hand and waved it in his face in a reprimanding way before throwing it in a nearby wastebasket.
As Asher stalked off, I watched the way my former brother glared after him. Rock didn’t retaliate though, so I wondered if he was all talk about his hatred of City’s family. Maybe he’d never been any real danger to her after all.
“Since we’re all confessing shit,” Pick spoke up. “Parker...it’s bugged the hell out of me all these years why you ever pled guilty to forcible rape. So...why?”
I froze, staring at him, and wondering why he wanted to bring this up...in front of City.
She slid against me and hooked her arm through mine. “It was for his family,” she explained. “I mean...” Her gaze moved to me. “It had to have been, right? It’s the only thing that ever made sense. He threatened to do something to your family if you didn’t...”
Her words trailed off as she kept watching me, and I could tell my expression was giving me away because her blue eyes widened with worry and surprise. “Oh my God. Knox.” Warning filled her voice. “Why did you plead guilty?”
I couldn’t tell her it was because of her. If she had found out back then, she would’ve fought harder for me, waited longer for me. And if she knew now, she’d be filled with nothing but guilt. What had happened was in no way her fault; I didn’t want her feeling culpable in any way.
With a glance toward Rock, I realized I couldn’t confess the truth in front of him either. He’d really think I was a traitor for being more loyal to her than I’d been to my own family.
So I settled for a half-truth. “I made him agree to take care of Bentley financially for the rest of his life.”
I must’ve stalled too long before answering, though, or maybe my woman just knew me too well. She shook her head. “No. That...that can’t be all. Maybe you got him to say that, but you knew...you had to have known he’d never keep his word. There had to be something else to really get you to agree to such horrible terms.”
I blew out a frustrated breath, hating how I could never keep anything from her. Glancing around me, I saw everyone else also watching and waiting for the rest of my explanation. So I shook my head, glanced away, and said, “He threatened to hurt you.”
Her mouth fell open as devastation lit her gaze. “And you believed him?”
“I didn’t know what to believe. He’d already slapped you. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
“Oh, Knox.” Covering her mouth, she backed away from me and shook her head. “You stupid, stupid man. I can’t believe you lied and confessed to...not because of me?”
I took a step toward her and lifted my hand. “I would’ve agreed to anything on the off chance it helped you.” When I caught a piece of her hair, she didn’t pull away. She just shuddered while tears filled her eyes.
So I tugged her forward, against my chest and she burrowed into me, hugging me tight. “If only you’d been honest, everything would’ve turned out so differently.”
Kissing her hair, I closed my eyes and relished getting to be with her here and now. “Everything turned out fine.”
“But everything in between—”
“Doesn’t matter,” I cut in, not even wanting to think about the shit that had happened in between. “I’m with you now, and that’s all I care about.”
She relaxed against me, and I kissed her hair again, just as something hit me hard on the back of the head.
A couple of the women screamed.
With pain blaring through my cranium, I tugged City behind me and whirled to face the threat.
Face red, teeth bared and sweat gushing from his pores, Rock glared at me. “You...fucking traitor.”
“Felicity!” Aspen darted forward and yanked her away while Noel covered his wife and made sure both women were pulled to safety.
As all the other couples in the room reared backward from the confrontation, Asher hurried forward, lifting his hands. “Rock! What the fuck, man? How many different drugs are you high on?”
Rock ignored him as he pulled a knife from his pocket, flipped it open, and advanced on me. “You left us broke and starving...for that bitch?”
“You need to put the knife down,” I said in a calm, level voice.
“And you need to shut the fuck up, Knox! I should’ve known you were nothing but a Bainbridge lover. But you want to know the real kicker in all this? I’m the one who started the fire.”
I jerked to a stop, unable to believe my ears. “What?”
“But your goddamn precious Bainbridge family should’ve taken the blame for it. That’s how I planned it. But no…they always get away with everything.”
“You...” I stalked toward him. “You killed half our family?”
“Fuck, no. I didn’t know they were home. They were supposed to be in town. This is all those Bainbridge bastards’ fault. They were supposed to take the blame, and we were supposed to move away, to someplace better.”
I growled, unable to believe what I was hearing. “How could you?”
His eyes flared with hatred. “How could you, you goddamn traitor? Crawling into bed with a fucking Bainbridge. You dishonor the Parker name.”
“At least I still have the Parker name.”
“Not for long.” He launched himself at me, slashing his knife with a determined snarl.
“No!” City screamed, and about a dozen voices shouted a warning. But I was only focused on Rock.
Dodging and ducking, I whirled away, barely missing the blade as I felt it swish past my ear. He stumbled forward with the momentum from his swing, and I took advantage of the moment, chopping my forearm down over his, which made him lose his grip on the knife. It clattered to the floor, and I grabbed his throat, slamming his back into the closest wall.
“Oops,” I told him. “You missed.”
The red haze fell over me as I thought of Bentley and my mother. He’d killed them; he’d killed them all.
I wanted him to pay, to hurt, to scream.
But a familiar voice in my ear drew me back from the rage. City’s hand trembled against my back. I blinked and realized Rock’s face was going purple as I held his throat and his hands beat helplessly on my arms without any effect whatsoever.
“We all heard his confession, man, and we’ve already called the police. They’re on their way,” Pick was saying.
Releasing my brother’s throat, I backed away from him. City immediately curled into my side, so I wrapped my arm around her waist, tethering her to me as I kissed her hair. “Then we’ll let the authorities deal with him.”
Rock looked up at me from the floor where he’d collapsed. His face was still red and strained as he coughed for more oxygen.
“Hope prison treats you half as well as it treated me.”
“Yeah,” Asher added. “And you’re kicked out of the band too.”
Kissing my woman’s hair, I turned us away from my biological brother to a group of brothers I was slowly gaining.
They welcomed me, parting to let us into their circle as they made sure I was okay.
I nodded and tried to brush them off, but City seemed to lead the concern.
She leaned up and kissed my cheek. “Don’t lie. Are you really okay?”
The worry in her gaze had me immediately nodding, though fuck no, I wasn’t okay. I’d just found out my brother murder
ed half my family right before he tried to murder me too. Glancing to where Pick and Asher were keeping watch over him so he wouldn’t get away, I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll be fine.” Because I knew with my City around, I couldn’t help but eventually get over whatever life threw at me.
“Looks like my sessions are actually paying off.” She rested her cheek on my shoulder as she hooked her arm through mine. “You got your control back and pulled away before really hurting him. I’m so proud of you.”
I glanced at her, loving her with everything I had. “I think you’re the one who pulled me away. You drew me out of my black pit with all that brightness inside you.”
She shook her head. “No. I didn’t do any such thing. I think I was more like an annoying cattle prod with electrical ends poking at you, constantly badgering you until you remembered you already had your own brightness inside yourself.”
“I have no idea why you tried so hard to save me,” I murmured into her hair. “But I’ll be forever grateful you did.”
Smiling at me, she just said, “It’s because you’re worth it.”
The cold October ground was mushy, and my feet felt as if they wanted to sink through the earth as I trudged across the cemetery, hand-in-hand with City. I’d never liked these places, but I’d wanted to pay my respects, and my woman was eager to show me Bentley’s resting place.
“I keep the grass around it weeded whenever I come, which is about twice a year, once on her birthday, once on her...death date.”
I nodded and squeezed my fingers around hers. “Thank you.”
“Well...she was my niece too.”
“Our niece,” I revised with a fond smile lingering around my lips as I remembered those few times I’d taken Bentley out to meet her in the woods.
When we stopped in front of a small, neat plot, I looked down and swallowed, mourning the child who’d helped bring City into my life. “I always pictured her whenever I dreamed of what a baby between us would look like, since she had both of our blood in her.”
“Yeah.” City rested her head on my shoulder. “So did I.”
I glanced down at our interlaced fingers and murmured, “Maybe one day, some baby still will.”