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I nodded, letting her words wash over me, giving me a tiny sense of comfort.
MJ blew out a breath as her eyes went wide and her cheeks puffed out with a dramatic exhale. “Dad and the boys are going to be a different story.” Her gaze locked with mine. “What in the hell are you gonna do?”
Tears burned in my eyes. “I don’t know.”
Her shoulders straightened. “It’s fine. This is fine. Everything is fine.”
My little sister grabbed my hand and started dragging me around to the front of the tent. “We don’t have to do this right now. We can have a girls’ night in until we figure out what we’re going to do.”
We.
A tiny spark of hope bloomed inside me that I may not be so alone in this after all. I swallowed hard and nodded. Going home and taking a pause before figuring out how to tell Duke might be exactly what I needed. I leaned on MJ and allowed her to weave me through the crowd toward the main roadway.
When my toes hit the sand, I looked out onto the beach dotted with bonfires sparking to life as the sun sank below the watery horizon. My eyes skated over Royal, who was finishing up a fire with JP and a few of his other friends and our cousins. He tipped his chin in greeting, but my eyes kept moving.
My gaze moved a few bonfires down, and I froze. Silhouetted by the setting sun, Duke’s broad shoulders and tense stance were unmistakable. His mouth was tipped down into a scowl as he looked at the fire, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets.
A flutter rippled through me at how strong and powerful and masculine he was.
Against every internal warning blaring between my ears, against every thought, I moved forward on pure instinct, dropping MJ’s arm and leaving her in my wake. My breaths wereragged as I crossed the sand, not pausing to acknowledge the group of Kings staring at me as I sailed right past them.
I caught Duke’s attention, and he stiffened for a fraction of a second before I slammed into him. My arms wrapped around his middle as I burst into harsh sobs. Audible gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd as both Kings and Sullivans gaped at us.
Duke’s body was hard and rigid as a fresh sob racked out of me.
Then, ever so slowly, his hands lifted from his pockets, and his arms wrapped around me and squeezed.
“Okay. All right.”
FOURTEEN
DUKE
So. . . this is happening.
Sylvie was gorgeous. And her hair smelled nice. Those were the first two thoughts that popped into my head, until I realized she was crying.Hard.
My arms wrapped around her and I held her to me. “Okay. All right.”
Glancing around, I saw that a sea of faces were in various states of shock, awe, and anger. JP and Royal King looked like they were each about to pop a blood vessel, and Royal even had a small shovel in his hand from digging at the bonfire.
Next to me, Wyatt stared wide eyed as Lee murmureddude.
I gripped Sylvie’s shoulders and held her out to look at her.
Her caramel eyes were rimmed in red, and her lip quivered. “I need to talk to you.”
Protectiveness coursed through me, and I pressed my lips into a flat line before nodding. Wyatt stepped forward, and I shot him a hard glare. “Not now.”
Turning from the crowd, I pulled Sylvie under my arm and ushered her away from the gaping mouths of onlookers. On the walk to my truck, Sylvie’s cries muted to quiet sniffles. I helped her into the passenger side and rounded the hood.
Once inside I started my truck and paused. “So, where to?”
Sylvie stared straight ahead. Her knees were locked together, and her hands ran up and down her thighs. “Just... away. Somewhere we can talk?”
Nerves rippled through me, but I threw the truck into drive.
Within a few silent minutes, I pulled into my driveway. Sylvie looked around, and I pulled the door open as she started to get out. As far as I knew, she’d never been to Sullivan Farms. Part of me hoped she liked it, though it was a shit view in the darkness.
