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“Aren’t demons supposed to stay hidden till nightfall?” Erika gasps and rushes forward to London’s side at Royal’s jibe.
“Royal–”
London cuts Erika off. “I got this, Momma.” Royals brows jump to his hairline and his jaw slackens hearing her call ErikaMomma. “You hurt Sin, I hurt you.” Her threat is heavy and filled with venom. I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from laughing at the little spitfire.
“Go back to hell, demon,” Royal snarls. Havoc, Erika and I all glare at the bastard.
London just places her hands on her hips and smiles brightly as she shouts. “Grandpa!” Royal’s eyes widen and once again his mouth unhinges. Not thirty seconds later Uncle Bishop is shouldering his way between his son and nephew.
“What happened, sweetheart?” Uncle B asks London in a tone so soft I almost balk, I’ve never heard him sound like that before.
“Sweetheart?” Royal spits, earning a glare from his father.
“He…” London spits while pointing at Royal, “wants to hurt my Aunty Chanel.” I choke back my snort. This kid is fucking perfection and knows how to play all these men. A second ago I was Sin and now I’m Aunty Chanel. Uncle Bishop opens his arms, London rushes to him as he scoops her up and turns to face his son who is rigid and glaring at both his father and…daughter?I honestly have no idea what London is to them.
“Make her cry or upset her again and I’ll give you the ass whooping of a lifetime.” With that said, Uncle Bishop leaves the room with London who looks back over his shoulder and winks at Royal. He slams the door closed and locks it before pinning Erika with a scathing look.
“Why couldn’t you bring home a fucking puppy?” Erika laughs and shakes her head as she closes the space between them, then wraps her arms around her man. He’s powerless to stop himself from holding her close. A pang of longing hits me in the chest—I had that once.
“She loves him, Royal,” I hear her mumble against his chest. He places a kiss to the top of her head before finally lifting his gaze to me. Standing tall, I hold his stare. Never in my life have I ever felt this awkward in his presence. He has always been my comfort, my person I run to when shit gets hard, but right now, he is the one person in this world I want to be the furthest from. He steps out of Erika’s hold and moves toward me at a slow pace. I hold his stare the entire time. I crane my neck back to hold his gaze as he comes to stand in front of me with a hurt look in his eyes that has my heart aching.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks softly.
I shake my head and shrug. “How could I tellyou, the person I spent my whole life looking up to, that I got played by the first guy I fell for? I couldn’t let you see me broken or weak. I dealt with it as best I could, until he forced his way back into my life. I fought him…” A lump begins to form in my throat. I am not a crier but right now I can’t manage to keep my emotions in check. Royal says nothing as he allows me the time I need to gather myself before continuing. “I told him I could never betray you. But then photos of my mom were sent to me and I floundered for a second and agreed to meet him.”
“What photos?” I pull my phone out of my pocket and show him the images. He clenches my phone in his grasp, so tight I think he may actually snap it. “How the fuck did he get these?”
“He said Chance sent a thumb drive. He thinks he somehow got it from your Grandpa’s estate,” I answer honestly.
“Who else has seen these?” he asks.
“Me, Dad, Kacey and his boss.” Royal nods but I can see the cogs in his mind turning, he knows something but he isn’t telling me. “I swear, I never told him anything–”
“How the fuck am I supposed to believe that?” he roars.
My emotions shutdown and I go into fight mode. “Because you fucking know me!”
“No, I don’t. The person I knew would never have gone behind my fucking back and fucked a fed.”
“I didn’t know who the fuck he was at the start—”
“You should have come to me—”
“Fuck you!” I scream, cutting him off. “You never listened to me when I told you she was a liar.” I feel like shit talking about Erika like this when she just tried to help, but hey, they don’t call me a bitch for no reason. “I fucked up, I know that but I’m telling you, I can fix this.”
“Prove it,” he snarls.
“How?” I snap back.
“Omar will be at a gala tomorrow night in Orlando. Prove to me you can be trusted by getting in there and getting me the intel I need to take out these Albanians fucks and maybe, justmaybe,I won’t be forced to take the life of my best friend and drive a wedge between our family because she thought it was a good idea to turn to her fed boyfriend instead of her Don.” I bristle and step into him as I allow my anger to take control.
“Make no mistake, cousin,” I spit. “You may wear the title of Don, but you are not above me. You are my equal, as are the twins. I have proven my loyalty to you time and again and yet, because I don’t have a cock swinging between my legs, you constantly undermine me.”
He bends at the knees until we are eye level. “I have never undermined you, Chanel. I know without a shadow of a doubt that you are my better and always have been. All a cock would do is enhance your ruthlessness. Don’t ever question my perception of you again.” I stand here with my mouth open as I watch him storm out of my room. Erika shoots me an apologetic look as she races after her man, leaving me alone with Havoc. I take a deep breath before turning to face my cousin and prepare myself for his wrath.
“You may as well have a go at me as well.” He stuffs his hands in his pockets and shakes his head.
“Nah, he said enough.”
