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“It’s Royal. We were just having a visit, but he said he wanted to talk with you before he headed out.”
I straightened. Royal was a pain in the ass—a big one when it came to the Kings. He was cocky and liked to stir up trouble. In a lot of ways he reminded me a bit of my brother Lee. I grumbled but looked down at her wide, hopeful eyes. I had meant it when I said I would do whatever I could to make things work between her and me, so that included her pain-in-the-ass brothers, apparently.
I looked at the timer on the countertop. “These jars have a few more minutes of processing, and then I’ve got to clean up.” I glanced at the clock. “If he’ll still be here in thirty minutes, we can have ourselves a chat.”
Her nerves dissolved before my eyes—as if I could ever tell that woman no.
“Thank you.” Sylvie stretched up on her tiptoes and stroked a hand down my stubble before popping a kiss to my lips.
I wanted to lengthen that kiss to pull her against me and feel her body against mine in that small kitchen. Instead, she turned and flounced out the door. She’d breezed in here and left me with nothing but irritation and a raging hard-on.
True to my word, I made my way back to the main house in just under a half hour. I stomped up the back steps, shaking off as much of the freshly fallen snow from my boots as I could. Michigan winters were known to be fickle, and after a stretch of mild weather, we had been hit with freezing temperatures and six inches of snow and ice a few days after Thanksgiving.
The house was cozy and smelled like Sylvie’s tea mixed with freshly brewed coffee. I shrugged out of my heavy coat and hung it on the hook next to Sylvie’s. I slipped off my boots andarranged them neatly next to the other size twelves she always stole.
When I rounded the kitchen entrance that led to the living room, irritation crawled up my back. Sprawled out on my couch with his boots on my fucking coffee table was Royal King. Sylvie stood, and she quickly hit the back of her hand against her brother’s shoulder.
He stood. “Sullivan.”
I took three steps forward and did one of the many things my father drilled into us as teens, and held out my hand. “Royal.”
Shoulders squared, he stared at it for a beat. Then two.
This motherfucker . . .
From my peripheral, I could see the panic on Sylvie’s face as her eyes flicked from my extended hand to him. After what felt like an eternity, his hand clamped onto mine. His grip was firm but not aggressively so.
After the quick shake, I released his hand and crossed my arms. “Sylvie said you wanted to talk.” I gestured toward him. “So talk.”
He had the balls to smirk at me before tucking his tattooed hands into his pockets. “Goddamn I don’t like you.”
“Royal—” Sylvie hissed.
He lifted a hand to silence his sister, and my hand clenched into a fist, but Royal’s voice softened. “I may not like you, but I love my sisters, and they seem to think I’ve got you all wrong. Am I happy about this? Fuck no. But Sylvie is the best judge of character I know, and she says you’re a good guy, so...” He held out both his palms. “I guess that means you’re a good guy.”
“That’s it?” My eyes searched his, looking for a hint of bullshit.
Royal smirked. He may have shocked me with his blanket acceptance of my relationship with Sylvie, but he was still a cocky asshole. “You’re the guy until Sylvie says you aren’t. ThenI’ll learn to like the next asshole. She’s my sister. It’s as simple as that.”
My jaw clenched at the mere thought of this nonexistent next someone. I needed to get my irrational jealousy under control and focus on what Royal was offering. “So is this a truce or something?”
Royal’s barking laugh filled the living room. “Fuck no. All it means is that we aren’t going to beat your ass if we see you in town. I’ll get my brothers on board, and I’d appreciate it if you would do the same.”
Fair enough.I nodded.
Royal turned to his sister. “All right, Syl, I’m out of here.”
He leaned down and pulled Sylvie in for a quick side hug, then reached his hand out to me. I shook it with a nod. Sylvie followed behind as she walked her brother toward the front door.
“Oh, and hey, Duke?” Royal turned with a shit-eating grin on his face. “I noticed there was a shopping cart on the frozen pond out there. Might want to check it out.” He shrugged, feigning innocence. “Or don’t. Just thought you should know about it.”
I sighed and shook my head as Sylvie stifled a giggle and herded her brother out the door.
Jesus fucking Christ.
TWENTY-THREE
SYLVIE
