A few weeks later, I wasn’t able to avoid the one woman who’d been able to put a crack in the armor I’d forged long ago.
Twenty-Six
Lizzy
I’d stopped counting the days, weeks, and months it had been since I last saw Connor. It hadn’t been easy. A dark part of me had hoped he’d call me on our bet. One more time was all the sadistic part of me said I needed, then I could stop thinking about him.
“Where are you?”
I looked into Bailey’s kind eyes. Here I was worried about myself when I should be focusing on her and all she’d been through. “I’m here. Sorry. Don’t worry about me. Today’s your day, not mine.”
“I know. I can’t believe it.”
“I can,” I said with a grin. “It was written in the stars, no matter you were both fighting it.”
She twirled in her wedding dress. “You were right.”
“You were always in love with that man.”
“Maybe. I guess.” She sighed. “Yes. I loved him and now I’m getting married. Can you believe it?”
Kalen hadn’t given up, even when the odds were against him. He’d won her mind, body, and spirt. After a long-fought battle of wills, at least one of us was finding her happily ever after.
Today was about their happiness and how they got here. So I got to my feet and we squealed in delight.
What I hadn’t shared with my bestie was my fake marriage plot. Not because I was keeping it from her, but because she’d been going through her own worries. She hadn’t needed to hear mine. Besides, the press had cooled not two days later. A senator had been arrested on charges related to sexual abuse of his mistress and shifted the media’s focus off of me. Plus, Hans had gotten engaged a week later to his former girlfriend. So much for his undying love. I was off the hook.
“I hope this isn’t going to be weird?” she asked. “I mean, who knew Connor was Striker? I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”
“It was partially my fault. The whole ‘let’s keep it casual and not tell each other our names’ thing.”
“Yeah, that was stupid. But still…” That was my bestie for you. She had my back even when I was partially to blame.
There was a knock at the door. It was time.
I hugged my best friend fiercely. “You deserve this more than anyone I know.”
“Don’t cry,” she said. “Then we’ll both ruin our makeup because I’ll cry too.”
When I took my spot in the church hall, I had to lock arms with the man I’d avoided for the last several months. It was worse because he looked fantastic in the black tux I’d drunkenly told him would make him look like an undertaker.
We didn’t look at each other. He didn’t say a word, and neither did I. We’d done the same the night before at the rehearsal.
But my damn heart fluttered as we walked down the aisle, all eyes on us. Who would have the last laugh if they knew our past? When he let go and we separated, I felt cold all over. He’d been the one to lie, even if by omission. How could I possibly still want him?
The wedding itself was a blur. As the vows were said, I did everything I could to not throw up. My heart ached something awful, and I felt a little faint. As soon as it was over, all the pictures taken, and we were at the reception, I did my best to self-medicate with as much alcohol as I could.
It didn’t help that every unattached woman there was fawning over Kalen’s baby brother. I was doing my level best to pretend I didn’t care. Last I saw, Striker or rather Connor had been cornered by a middle-aged woman.
Matt walked over to me. “What’s got you pissed off?”
I downed the scotch I’d gotten. “Nothing.”
He obviously didn’t believe me—probably the twin thing. I could never lie to him. “Is it that asshole who walked you down the aisle?”
I glared at him. “You make it sound like we were getting married. He escorted me.”
“Just let me know if I need to punch him.”
I sighed, seriously considering it. “No. I don’t want to ruin Bailey’s wedding.”
“Second wedding, you mean. The lucky bastard.”
“You were too late.”
“I know. Don’t remind me,” he said, eyeing the crowd. I saw him notice some girls from college who had begged for an invite. I’d talked Bailey into letting them come.
“Keep your dick out of my friends, Matty,” I said.
“I can’t make promises,” Matt said and strolled off.
I turned to order another scotch and came face to face with him.
Twenty-Seven
Conner
“Is it that asshole who walked you down the aisle?” I overheard her brother say.
“You make it sound like we were getting married. He escorted me.”
My brother had asked me to be in his wedding and I couldn’t refuse. I’d thought I’d be paired with his bride’s sister, but I was wrong. Fate had other plans. Lizzy and I were forced to endure one another’s company for a few hours at the rehearsal dinner and today, the wedding.
Her contempt and the way she’d seemed repulsed by my touch had pissed me off. If I had any chance in hell at making it through the night, I needed way more than one drink.
Though I tried to ignore them, and she apparently hadn’t noticed me, my ears perked up when she said to her twin, “Keep your dick out of my friends, Matty.”
“I can’t make promises,” Matt said and strolled off.
When she turned, I’d made the mistake of not turning away. “Hiding from me? Or are you waiting for Griff?”
Griffin had done his best to piss me off by staying way too close to her.
“Why would I do either? You mean nothing to me,” Lizzy said. “And Griff and I are just friends.”
Griffin had made a show of touching her any time he caught me looking. “That’s not how I saw it.”
“Saw what?” she asked.
Instead of saying Griffin and you, I said, “You and me.” I willed the words back, but it was too late.
“We fucked. So what?”
“I’m not used to women ghosting me.” Way to go, I chided myself because why had I admitted that?
She shrugged, and my eyes dropped down the long expanse of her neck. “You had my number. You didn’t use it.”
“I don’t chase women.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yet here you are.”
There I was, entertaining this conversation. Time I shook it up. “You look tense. I know exactly how to work that out of you.”
Her eyes looked like frozen pits when she said, “I don’t fuck liars.” The only problem with her statement was those pits of hers had dilated. She wasn’t as unaffected as she wanted to appear.
“I didn’t lie.”
“I asked you the question.”
I wasn’t sure which question she was talking about. She’d been the one who’d wanted to keep things simple. Her words, not mine. But I wasn’t going to debate it.
“Not the right one,” I countered.
“Okay, Connor King, or should I call you Striker? Not telling me you were Kalen’s brother is a breach of trust I’ll never forgive.”
She took a step around me, but I couldn’t let her go. I caught her arm and gave it one last shot. “Let me make it up to you, princess.”
Her eyes were filled with disgust as she peeled my hand off her. “Not going to happen.”
“I’ll have you again,” I said confidently.
“Not in this lifetime.”
I had an ace in my sleeve, as they said—a bet I’d won and never used. “We’ll see about that.”
Once all the events in the reception were over—from the speeches, first dance, and cake cutting—I’d finally had enough of Griffin’s hands on Lizzy and I tapped him on his shoulder.
When they turned my way, I asked, “Can I cut in?”
In concert, they said, “No.”
“Lizzy, we need to talk.”
“She doesn’t want you, m
ate,” Griffin sneered.
I glared at him and Lizzy glared right back at me.
“How many times do I need to say no for you to let it go?”
A million popped in my head, but I didn’t say it.
“If I told you I was fucking Griffin now, would that be enough? Go find someone else to fuck.”
What I’d said to her that fated night came and bit me in the ass. If I’d needed a push to let her go, that was it. She hadn’t had to yell for the word to cut deeper than a knife. I’d wanted closure, I told myself as I stumbled away, only then realizing I might have had one drink too many.
A woman who’d been eye-fucking me all night moved under my arm before I fell on my ass. “Want company?”
Needing a release from the curse Lizzy had left in my life, I nodded. With each step, my heart blackened, turning to ash from her words.
We ended up in a private bathroom. I sat on the closed toilet, nearly slumping over. Thank God the place was upscale as the girl got to her knees.
Only the curse was still there. I tried to ignore that nothing was happening. What guy wanted to realize their dick was broken? But when her hand curled around my cock, my eyes sprang open. I was about to call it off when the door opened.
Only when I saw her did I grow hard.
“Lizzy,” I said, the two syllables sounding like three coming from my drunken lips.
She looked ready to slam the door.
I said, “Wait,” confusing the woman at my feet.
Twenty-Eight
Lizzy
Seeing the self-assured expression wiped away and replaced by utter devastation on Striker’s… Connor’s… Konnor’s face broke through my I don’t need anyone walls.
“Where are you going?” Griffin’s face came into focus.
“I have to go,” I said, spinning on my heels.
“He doesn’t deserve you,” he said in my wake.
I picked up my pace as I saw a woman snag Connor’s arm and lead him out of the room. I battled through the crowd on the dance floor, feeling my heart race. It wasn’t as if I was in love with him. Though what did you call it when you still thought about a person every night even when you were pissed off at them?
Once I made it past the crowd, I wondered where they’d disappeared to. I went to the line of doors under the veranda that led to the parking lot and checked each door. My inability to move on fueled my panic. Why was I following Striker? What could the future King possibly say that could make this okay again? Though I didn’t know, I continued my frantic search.
Opening the door that should have been locked, I felt the air suck out of the room. Connor King was sprawled on a toilet with an arm slung over a ledge, the woman he’d left with kneeling between his leg. Worse, she had her hand wrapped around his growing erection.
Why was I mad? I wasn’t rational enough to answer that question. Months of wanting him to grovel, wanting him to go fuck himself or someone else as long as it wasn’t me had messed with my head.
Disgusted, I prepared to shut the door and walk away from him forever. Yet when he said my name followed by, “Wait,” I did.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” he said to the woman.
She got up and gave me dagger eyes before shoving past me. I glared back before turning it on him.
“You don’t seem to need me,” I said.
“I’m hard,” he said in astonishment, stringing the words together as if they were one.
“Good for you,” I said, poised to slam the door in his beautiful face.
“You don’t get it.”
I froze in place, waiting for something I couldn’t name.
“It’s all you. I couldn’t get it up for months unless I was sleeping and dreaming about you. You walk in now and boom.” His hands came down parallel to his dick in a karate-chop motion, his eyes big and round.
“You don’t need me,” I repeated, clinging with a vise grip to the door.
He ran a hand over his hair. “That’s the thing about need and want. They blur together.”
“There are times you can’t have either,” I said.
I thought about my business. I’d received an unexpected gift from my landlord. Only that gift wasn’t without flaws. I’d been given free rent for the next several months while the building’s façade was being worked on. My store front was covered in scaffolding that hindered foot traffic. I wouldn’t host shows there until the work was done. But the time allowed me to continue working, planning on my future by focusing on online and private sales. If I couldn’t make this work, I would have to have a conversation with Anderson about looking for another job. I would have to considering applying for a curator position at the Met.
Then I thought about not getting more art from Connor—I still wasn’t sure if he was the artist or not, but I had my suspicions.
“Do you still have the engagement ring?” he asked, spotting my naked finger.
“For a fake wedding?”
His lips pursed. “It could have been real if you’d given me a chance. I mean, how many guys buy a ring worth more than some cars for a woman they don’t give a shit about?”
It was a struggle to not outwardly show I’d swallowed my tongue. “Plenty.”
“I’m not one of them.”
I held his gaze. “Since you’ve proved yourself to be a liar, I can’t really believe anything you say.”
“I never outright lied to you,” he said.
“No. You withheld the truth, which is just as bad.”
He sighed and leaned back in what appeared to be a lot like defeat. “I guess Griffin wins.”
My body straightened. “Wins what?”
“The girl. The bet.” He shrugged.
You could have shoved a bowling ball in my mouth for how wide open it was.
“You bet on me?” Had that been why he’d played pool with me after I’d beaten Griffin?
I didn’t wait on an answer. I finally had the satisfaction of slamming the door in his face. I might have said something I’d regret.
I needed to get away from him. Get away from Griffin too, before I spoiled Bailey’s wedding and throttled them both. My feet weren’t in the mood for walking, so I ran toward the driveway and was surprised to find my brother headed in my direction across the parking lot. Where had he gone and why? He better not have fucked one of my college friends.
“Lizzy, we need to go,” he said at the same time, I said, “I need to get out of here.”
I bobbed my head in agreement. We could figure out the rest later. I would send my apology to Bails. Luckily everything was pretty much over. I wouldn’t be missing anything but their exit.
As we got to the driveway, a car came speeding up and the tires squealed to a stop right in front of us.
A lot of things happened next. Matty squeezed my arm in an attempt to turn me around, but it was too late. Four men exited the vehicle with rifles aimed at us.
“Going somewhere?” a man asked.
My adrenaline was off the roof. It was unlikely I processed all the shouts around me enough to repeat to the cops if necessary.
“Just do it, Lily,” Matty said.
He was still protecting me. Never had he called me Lily. The fear and calm on his face warned me not to give a snarky response.
When two men stepped forward and slid a black hood over my head, I let them. They dragged me into the SUV. I had a moment to pray that Striker hadn’t followed me. I may have hated his guts at the moment, but I didn’t wish him dead.
Connor
I struggled to my feet. Trying to zip my pants was a chore my drunken fingers weren’t quite up to. By the time I got the door open, Lizzy was gone. I glanced one way then the next before spotting her near the line of cars, talking to her brother.
In my next breath, a black Tahoe, or something like it, came grinding to a halt in front of them. Men with guns poured out, aiming them at my Lizzy and her brother.
Though I yelled, I wasn’t sure if anyone heard. No o
ne looked my way as I half shambled, half ran toward her. But it was too late. The car was several yards away by the time I made it to the drive. I stood there for a second before I was surrounded.
“What happened?” Griffin asked, all business-like.
“You were yelling,” Kalen said, his accent thick with worry.
The panic that gripped me had sobered me up real fast. “They took her,” I said as I formed a plan and found my keys. “And Matt.”
I stepped away, but Kalen caught my sleeve. “Where are you going?”
“After her.”
Griffin stepped into my path, already tapping on his phone. “It likely had something to do with Matt’s undercover work. Let the professionals handle it. Besides, she’s not your concern.”
Whatever Matt was into, that wasn’t the only possibility of who could be behind it. It could be related to me. The senator’s son I’d kicked out of the club. Or Haddad, the drug lord.
With the thoughts spinning in my head, I saw red. Kalen stopped my fist from connecting with his best friend’s face.
“Not my concern? You aren’t the only one with resources.” I shrugged out of my brother’s hold. “Besides,” I spit out the word, throwing it back in Griffin’s face, “you may be fucking her, but she’s my wife.”
<<<<<<<
Kingdom Fall set to release October 7th.
For those of you who’ve made it to the end, if you post a review on Amazon within two weeks of release, I will mail you a little thank you. Click HERE.
For those new to the All the King’s Sons series -
Kalen and Bailey’s story is available now. Read Money Man.
Kingdom Come Page 15
