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“Don’t worry about them,” she sighs. “Nicolas shouldn’t have said what he did.”
“You know about that?”
She gives me a pitiful look. “Yeah, nothing gets said in this family without everyone hearing about it. That’s why I’m surprised most of my boys in that living room haven’t ended up in prison yet. But we don’t rat on one another. We also don’t hold anyone’s past against them.”
I sip a glass of iced tea that she sets down before me, the cold liquid sliding down my throat.
“How is Carter being adopted fair game for that remark? It’s his past, sure, but it’s not like he chose to be adopted. It’s not a bad thing. I’m just confused about what would make Nicolas say that in the first place.”
Her features droop with her reply, “Yeah, it wasn’t wise of him to stoop to that level, but he was drunk. He’s also frustrated. Carter hasn’t been around as much as before. I think some of the guys are just aggravated that he’s been distant, that’s all.”
“Some?” I reply. “It’s more than just Nicolas?”
She gives me a demure nod and goes about cooking something, but my appetite is gone. It’s not necessarily my fault that Carter has been away from the family business. He isn’t the type of man to be controlled by me and my whims. It’s nearly impossible for me to convince him to do anything at all.
Still, this could have all been avoided somehow.
Even though I know I shouldn’t, I kick out of my seat and hurry to the room, around the corner from the busy common space. The door is cracked open enough for me to hear Carter’s voice, something solid about his tone and unwavering in his movements.
He strikes Nicolas right across the cheek, his cousin falling to the floor at once.
I press my fingers over my lips, gasping lightly. Carter swings the door open at the sound of my exhale, leaning on the doorframe while Nicolas tries to make it to his feet behind his back.
“Dove, go to the kitchen.”
I swallow but can’t seem to move. “I don’t want you to hurt him,” I mutter. “It’s not his fault.”
His brow rises. “Really? So, whose fault is it?”
“Mine,” I admit. “You’ve been with me since the entire Lacey thing went down. You wouldn’t have been in that mess if not for… for me.”
“I will not go through the semantics of that war with you again,” he says. “I’m done letting you take the fall for things around here. Jacob Lacey would have met his fate one way or another. It had nothing to do with you. Believe me. He was as dirty as a rat and wouldn’t have lasted long with me anyway.”
I can only nod, Nicolas storming past us both. I manage to make it out of his way, but not before he throws the front door open. He retreats into the night, not uttering a word to any of the onlookers in the living room. Carter comes up behind me, his hand slipping down my spine while he watches the people gathered in the house.
Everyone is still, silent, and unwavering through the tension.
“Killian Hughes is going to come after me,” Carter says, his voice no longer his own. “We’re going to have to tighten up around here. If anyone has anything to say about my role in this family, then let’s talk.”
No one moves an inch.
“Good,” Carter adds. “Everyone working with guns, drugs, and clubs can meet me in the office. We’re going to talk over a few things.” He leans sideways while everyone moves toward the office. He kisses my temple, his lips coming down to my ear. “Go eat dinner and then go to our bedroom in the tower. I’ll be there eventually.”
I want to protest, but I can’t. He leaves my side and wanders into the office, the door shutting me out. It’s the first time he’s been so geared up for work, especially after the trouble we just went through with Jacob and William Lacey. I don’t want to interrupt now, not after the issues with Nicolas have risen to a breaking point.
Falling back into my chair in the kitchen, Anita gives me a woeful look.
“What’s wrong, dear?”
I shrug, not wanting to hurl my issues at Carter’s aunt, but given I don’t have anyone else to confide in right now, I don’t really have much of a choice.
“It’s just been hard trying to find our new normal, that’s all.”
She nods knowingly. “Yeah, there’s no normal after what happened to you and Carter. Everything that went down was unfortunate, but you made it through.”
Swallowing hard, I speak lower in volume. “I just… I can’t fight the feeling that something else is coming.”
“What do you mean?”
