Page 44 of Endangering the King

And then coughed.

Christ.

“Good.” We had a few minutes of silence before he said, “And your brother is jealous?”

That was my dad.

A real straight shooter.

He had the situation lined up and understood already.

I sighed and turned to look at him. “Yeah.”

He nodded and tapped his fingers on the glass table in front of us. “You will soon be the king.” My father stared at me without saying another word. The weighted silence around us held our secrets.

Finally, he spoke again, “Your brother will learn to respect you as king. It is a tough pill to swallow, watching your older brother get everything you want.”

My guts churned, and my heart beat faster.

Yeah.

My dad knew exactly what was going on.

“I hope so,” was all I said. Because I really did. I hoped like hell that my brother would forgive me one day.

For taking Giselle and making her my wife. Because I sure as fuck was going to do that the second she let me.

And I also hoped he’d forgive me for taking whatever babies they might have had together. Because he didn’t know that yet, either.

Or maybe he did.

And maybe he was just starting to realize he’d lost.

And realize what he lost.

I felt for him.

And I didn’t envy the journey his mind—and heart, would have to take.

But there could only be one winner in this game.

And that winner was going to be me.

My father laid his hand on my shoulder. “He will grow to understand. He will grow to accept. And then he will grow to forgive.”

I nodded and set my hand on top of his.

He continued with his lecture. “You will need each other to defend your house against our foes. Sergio is planning something. But no one knows what.”

This I also knew.

And I’d known it for months.

Sergio Bastratto was a rat bastard from hell. He’d wanted to take over the Sovrano reign for decades.

“We will figure it out. And he’ll get exactly what’s coming to him,” I assured my father.

He nodded and took his hand from my shoulder. “I know you will. And you will do it with your brother’s help. Or,” he stared at me again, “you won’t be able to defeat Sergio.”

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