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I was singularly focused on ending whatever beef our families had. At the very least, taking Sylvie and me out of the equation.
We were together. She was my woman, and if they had a problem with that, fuck ’em. They could bring their issues to me instead of constantly beating her down over the choiceswehad made.
All thoughts of reconciliation flew out the window when I rolled down the driveway and saw my little brother Lee’s obnoxious black truck already askew in the drive.
The winter air slapped my cheeks, and I slammed the driver’s-side door shut. My boots crunched the icy snow as I made my way toward the voices in the back. My body was tense, ready to fight. My shoulders rolled back and set, chin lifted high.
When I rounded the large estate, Kings and Sullivans were already squared off. Royal, Whip, and JP were facing Wyatt and Lee. Beckett was rolling up his shirtsleeves and staring them down. Even Abel King was there, standing in the back with his tree-trunk arms crossed over his barrel chest. Apparently his criminal record didn’t stop him from jumping into the fray despite his sister’s worries.
MJ stood between the line of idiots, her palms facing each side as she pleaded with her brothers.
“Step aside, Julep.” Russell King glared down from his position of power on the back deck. He looked down his sharp nose at the gathering of Kings and Sullivans.
“Dad, this is childish and dangerous and—” MJ pleaded, but her father’s voice sliced through the frigid air.
“I said step aside.”
Resigned, MJ drooped her shoulders and strode toward me. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she walked past me. “I’m going back to get Sylvie.” Her voice cracked, and I steeled my spine. Russell King was a bully and a dick. I was tired of him looking down on the Sullivans for being hardworking, salt-of-the-earth kind of men. Even more tired of seeing him push the King women around just because it made him feel like a big shot.
Shouts and obscenities stacked on top of each other, and insults were slung across an invisible line that separated my brothers and hers. I strode toward my family, and JP narrowed his eyes at me. Anger grew hot in my gut, and I shed my jacket, unfazed by the chill in the air.
I was confident the Bluebirds could quell the gossip around town, but these assholes were her brothers. Without them getting on board with a relationship between Sylvie and me, she would never find peace. She cared about them and their opinion—a fact I wished hadn’t been true, but I knew in my bones it was. Sylvie would always love her lawless, reckless brothers.
“Hey!” I shouted, getting the group’s attention. Whip grunted in my direction but shut his mouth to hear what I had to say. “We aren’t here to bicker like children.”
“Yeah, we can end it like men.” Royal smirked his shit-eating grin as his tattoos stood in stark contrast to the white snow falling around us.
I stifled an eye roll. He was always looking for trouble. I pointed at Royal. “You know this isn’t about a window. We’re taking care of Matty... and the replacement of the shop window.”
Royal’s jaw ticced as though he was one part surprised and another part annoyed that he couldn’t hold the broken window over our heads any longer.
“It’s more than a fucking window.” From behind the group, Abel’s deep grumble was akin to a growl. In only the soft glow of a floodlight, he was an intimidating motherfucker, I’d give him that. He pointed right at me. “You should have kept your hands off my fucking sister. She isn’t some pawn you can use to fuck us all over.”
Wait . . .what?
Did he seriously think I was using Sylvie in some ploy to get back at them for years of childish pranks?
My fist clenched, wanting nothing more than to pound it into his sharp jawline. I stepped forward, ready to go, but Wyatt moved in front of me.
“Don’t go there,” he warned. “I doubt even a King would stoop so low. Duke’s been on the fringes of this feud for as long as we’ve been old enough to pull our own pranks.”
“She’s not innocent either.” JP’s cunning eyes sliced over the group as one eyebrow tipped up. “Maybe she is the smart one. Trapping a Sullivan into a lifetime of servitude. Smarter than the rest of us, I’d say.”
Beckett mumbled something akin tofucking idiot, but I couldn’t take my focus off the Kings. I seethed with anger, hating the fact I’d briefly entertained that very idea during the infancy of my friendship with her.
JP shrugged. “If not, she’s a traitor to the King name.” Behind him, Russell King grunted in agreement like the piece ofshit he was. Pitting his own children against each other seemed to fuel his hostility.
“None of you deserve her.” The words spat from my mouth as the tether to my rage frayed like a well-worn cord.
“What was that?” Royal cupped a hand by his ear and feigned ignorance.
“You don’t fucking deserve to breathe the same air as her.” I moved until I was chest to chest with Royal, peering into his eyes and wondering how she could ever care for these people.
“And you do?” Royal scoffed in my face as we stood toe to toe.
“Fuck no. I know I don’t deserve her.” His expression faltered at my admission. “But do you even realize how much this petty feud is hurting her?” I allowed my eyes to graze over the King men. “She has donenothingwrong, and you shun her like she means absolutely nothing to you. If youdofind the time to acknowledge her presence, you somehow find a way to make her feel small. So no, you don’t deserve her love any more than I do. You’re just mad because of my last name. I worship the ground she walks on, so what the fuck is your problem?”
The frozen air was thin as our breaths puffed out in white clouds, mingling and floating above us like icy thunderclouds. I could feel the circle of men closing in on me, and I eyed them down. Lee moved forward, kicking a rock, and it bounced across the landscape, landing with a smack against JP’s shin.
