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She chewed her lower lip. “There’s four of them.”
It took me a second to process that she seemed to worry there were so many Kings. “And there used to be five.”
Rose jerked to look at me, and the flash of fear in her eyes made me feel sorry I’d blurted out that reminder. But I couldn’t bring myself to apologize for ever bringing up Brennan; I didn’t want to lose the sense he was still close to me, in his own way.
“You’re safe,” I told Rose, softly. “Stone’s a good man. A good alpha.”
As I said the words, I knew they were true, as much as I had doubted them before.
“Then why’d you run back to us?” Rose asked.
“Because sometimes, he reminds me of Nathan, and I can’t…” I shook my head, closing my eyes as if I could block out the memories of Nathan’s leering face and the spike of panic that drove through my body. I tried to force myself to think of the other side of Stone. “And sometimes he reminds me of Brennan.”
“Who does he remind you of more?”
Her question hung in the air.
Whether Stone was a good man and a good alpha or not, would I always feel afraid around him? Was that one more permanent scar Nathan had left, altering my mind even though he failed to alter my body? My fingers automatically went to the mark, which I could’ve sworn I felt, warm to the touch, even through the material of my shirt.
“And… I came back because you’re my sister, and I need you. I need you and Aiden.”And Lawson, my once-upon-a-time best friend.“I needed to know you were safe.”
“Safe.” Rose repeated the word softly. “Does that really exist for us, Amelia? A place where we’re safe?”
“We’ll find a safe place.” I reached for her hand, like I had sometimes when she was a little girl, before hesitating. “We’ll keep searching until we do.”
Rose didn’t take my hand. But her eyes searched mine, and she managed a faint, wan smile.
We reached the big house. Shaw held the back door open for us all, gesturing us inside. Aiden and Rose stepped into the mudroom between the kitchen and the garage, as if this were their home and I led them into the welcoming kitchen. Warm scents of butter and garlic, fresh tomatoes and baking bread, greeted us.
Shaw leapt into action, helping Karissa who was bustling hot dishes from the oven to the table.
Then Stone loomed in the doorway, a slightly abashed look on his face; he seemed to take up the whole room. “What can I do, Kar?”
She glanced over her shoulder at us and smiled brightly, giving us all a quick wave. “You can make our guests a drink. They look like they could use one.”
“I can imagine,” Stone said wryly.
Looking nervous, Aiden and Rose followed me into the living room. Cole was seated cross-legged next to Dylan, playing a race car video game on the TV. Teresa had made herself comfortable on the couch, curled up with a book, but she kept eying the game. She finally dropped her book and reached for Cole’s controller. “Give me that. You drive even worse in a video game than you do in real life.”
Cole scoffed and handed it to her. “I never put my car into thelake.”
“There were mitigating factors,” Teresa said loftily.
“Sure, mitigating factors…and fish in your passenger seat.”
If I’d been comfortable with Teresa, I’d have asked a follow-up question or five. But I never felt more like an outsider than when Teresa was around, given how much she obviously loved the King siblings…and how much she hated me.
But just then, Dylan saw me and scrambled to his feet. “Mommy! You have to play. This is so fun.”
“You know who would be awesome at this game?” I would normally indulge him, but not now. Stone was standing at the bar with Aiden and I felt a strong need to provide adult supervision. Rose might be safe, but Aiden was under suspicion and I couldn’t shake a fear that if I didn’t keep an eye on Stone, he might quietly dismember my little brother. “Rose! She’s an awesome driver.”
Rose side-eyed me. “That’s not what you said on our little road trip.”
“You got a lot of practice,” I said cheerfully, handing the remote to her. Dylan accepted the substitution as long as he could enjoy providing a tutorial to an adult, a rare experience for a four-year-old, and he hopped onto the couch with Cole and Teresa. Satisfied that I had everyone more-or-less taken care of, I turned toward Stone and Aiden.
“What would you like?” Stone asked me.
“Freedom. But at the moment, I’ll settle for a rum and Coke.”
