The Prince and the Pawn

by Reid, B. B.

  Speaking of the devil, Ever kissed Lou’s forehead before pulling out his phone. “Someone needs to tell Vaughn to get his ass down here,” he griped.

  My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach as I watched Ever type. If today proved anything, it was that it was much too soon for Vaughn and me to be in the same room. If ever. Not without killing each other.

  I needed an out.

  Something that would avoid suspicion or too many questions.

  As if my baby knew what I was up to and took it upon himself to thwart my plans, a small cry filled the room. My friends’ gazes, including Lou’s, immediately flew to the monitor in my hand. By some miracle, I kept my grip on it rather than drop it as if it were a smoking gun. Slowly, their attention drifted back up, and I was their focus as they waited for an explanation. One I wasn’t ready to give. Heart pounding, I was already backing away, the elevator doors opening in the nick of time as people poured out. I quickly slipped inside before Ever, Four, or Lou could speak a word or shake free of their shock. I didn’t allow myself to breathe until the doors closed again.

  That could have gone better.

  I had the feeling that it was only going to get worse.

  Back in NICU, River was inconsolable as I fought to soothe him, and that was how Four found me—with a screaming, red-faced baby in my arms and me two seconds from bursting into tears myself. The hunt hadn’t taken her long at all since there were only two places I could have gone. The maternity ward was on the floor below NICU, so I figured that must have been her first stop. The automatic door to River’s room opened, and I silently watched the strained expression on Four’s face soften the moment her wide-eyed gaze fell to the wriggling bundle in my arms.

  “May I?” she asked, holding out her hands as she inched closer.

  I released the breath I’d been holding, not realizing how much I wanted it until the possibility was right in front of me.

  “Are you sure?” River hadn’t stopped crying, and I was fresh out of ideas. His diaper had been dry, and he kept spitting out the bottle and then the pacifier I tried to give him. I even swaddled him, but he kept on crying. I figured he was just cranky from having one of his many naps interrupted and had trouble falling back to sleep. When Four nodded, I smiled despite my headache. “I’d love that.”

  Carefully, I handed him over and watched Four smile in awe as River slowly settled down. Of course, he stopped crying when there was a girl to impress. He stared up at her, his mouth forming an O and his eyes wide as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d say River was utterly enchanted with Four. A moment later, he made his scrunchy face, telling me he just shitted himself. I’d wait to break the news to Four once their little moment passed.

  “So, is he why you’ve been avoiding me?” she asked as she and River watched each other. “Avoiding all of us?”

  I looked away and then sighed, knowing the subject would come up sooner or later.

  “Yes and no.” At her puzzled look, I decided to explain as best I could when no explanation could ever make up for how I’d acted. “A part of me was ashamed, and it wasn’t just because I’d gotten pregnant at eighteen.” My mouth opened and repeatedly closed, the words refusing to come until I forced them out. “I was ashamed because, despite Vaughn fucking my sister, I still wanted to have his baby. I still wanted him.” Disgusted, I looked away, discreetly wiping away my tears before they could fall. God, I’d been so stupid.

  “And the other part?” she quietly demanded.

  “Wanted to rebel against living in a world where I could never truly be free of Vaughn.” It wasn’t just River that I’d planned to give up but my friends, too. It was the only way I knew how to survive my broken heart.

  “Since you were so honest, I guess I will be, too,” Four said after a long stretch of silence. For the first time since stepping in the room, she pried her gaze away from River, allowing me to see just how much I’d hurt her. “I was so mad at you when you pushed me away. I tried not to be, but I was. It felt like you were punishing me, punishing all of us, for what Vaughn did, I…I started to hate you. I convinced myself that since it was so easy for you to write me off that I could do the same to you.” I frowned at that because Four had never stopped reaching for me. Not even for a day. “The next morning, when I woke up in a cold sweat, I didn’t just miss you still. I understood you.” Four returned my hopeful look with a hard one of her own before saying, “If you repeat this to anyone, I’ll deny it and never talk to you again. I mean it.” When I made the motion of crossing my heart and slitting my own throat, she gave me the tiniest of smiles before shuddering. “That night I…I dreamt that was Ever in that room, not Vaughn. The worst part is that it wasn’t even Selena. It was Bee.”

  My eyes nearly bugged out of my head at her admission. Ever would turn himself into a eunuch before he ever allowed himself to betray Four in that way. He proved as much last year when he defied fate by taking Four to prom instead of Bee. By doing so, he ended his fake-relationship pact with his best friend. “Four, you know—”

  She quickly waved me off. “I know. It’s not about that. I know it sounds crazy, but I think my subconscious was willing to show me whatever I needed to put myself in your shoes. I wanted to understand you, and now I do.” She then offered me a crooked smile. “But you should know, it’s besties before testes. You broke the girl code, and I won’t forget it any time soon.”

  I quickly held up a finger before she could continue. “I think the saying is ‘chicks before dicks.’”

  Four’s gaze narrowed playfully. “You haven’t answered my calls in six months,” she said, reminding me that I’ve been a total bitch. “It’s whatever I say it is.”

  “Fair enough.”

  River started to fuss, kicking his legs and wiggling his tiny body just as Four jerked her head back, wrinkling her nose. “Uh…Tyra?”

  “Yeah, he totally pooped on you just now.”

  After showing Four how to change a diaper at her request, we spent the next couple of hours catching up as we waited for River to fall asleep again. Once his eyes drifted closed, we wasted no time hurrying back downstairs to Wren and Lou. I would have taken him with me to meet his aunt and uncles, but he wasn’t allowed out of NICU. Not for another two weeks.

  I was in the middle of praying that Wren was awake when the elevator’s doors opened, and we stepped onto the floor. I didn’t make it more than a couple of steps before I found my back slammed against the nearest wall and my next breath impossible. The people passing by gaped in horror as Vaughn held my throat in his hands, his face and neck bearing the scars from the vase I had broken over his head, and his green eyes burned with rage.

  “Did you or did you not have my fucking baby?”

  BEFORE TYRA COULD ANSWER ME, I felt myself being pried off her, not by hospital security but by my best fucking friend.

  “Come on, man. Let her go. This isn’t you.”

  On the contrary. Ever had no idea who I was anymore. None of them did. Least of all Tyra. It must be why she continued to test me. “Answer the question,” I demanded after I wrestled free of Ever. Tyra’s only response was to claw at the skin on my hand, so I tightened my grip. I wasn’t even hurting her. Not yet, at least. “Fucking answer me!”

  “Sir,” one of the doctors called the moment he stepped from the emergency room and saw me. “I’m going to have to ask you to take your hands off that young woman or leave the premises.”

  I met the older man’s gaze, ready to tell Captain-Save-A-Ho to fuck off when I caught the hopeful gleam in Lou’s eyes as she stared at him expectantly. Piecing together that he must have been Wren’s doctor, I reluctantly let Tyra go. Her dramatic ass sucked in huge gulps of air as tears streamed down her cheeks. Four immediately went to her side as Tyra’s angry glare promised retribution. Bring it the fuck on.

  I was two seconds from tearing this hospital apart to find the kid she’d hidden from me. There was no excuse for it. None. I
didn’t give a damn how many of her sisters I fucked. I’d already done the math. Tyra was no longer pregnant, which meant she had to have just given birth.

  He’s still here.

  Or she. The sex didn’t matter to me. The kid was mine, and so was she.

  The doctor was visibly relieved when I turned away from Tyra and stuck my hands in my pockets. He didn’t need to know that it was to keep from bashing his skull in. The fact that he’d just saved my friend’s life gave him a one-time free pass.

  “Wren is stable,” he began, making Lou’s knees buckle. I wanted to reach for her, but Ever was already there. “We managed to remove the bullet. Luckily, there was no damage to his organs, but he’ll be in pain for a few weeks. It’ll be manageable as long as he remains on bed rest and takes the medication we prescribe.”

  I would have snorted at that if it wouldn’t have got me gutted by my friends. Wren wasn’t the type to lie around, which is likely what had gotten him shot in the first place. Yeah, good luck with that, Lou. Then again, if she wanted to keep him in bed, she wouldn’t have as hard a time as one might think—if they could manage it.

  “So, what happens now?” Four anxiously asked when Lou remained silent.

  “We’ll monitor him for a few days before sending him home for bed rest.”

  “Can we see him?” Ever spoke this time.

  “Sure, but please,” he said, throwing a pointed look in my direction, “keep it peaceful, or I’ll ask you all to leave.”

  I just barely resisted the urge to flip him off. The doctor showed us to Wren’s room, and then he was off. As soon as we all crowded inside, Wren’s eyes opened. I didn’t have to question whether he was in pain. The moment his gaze found Lou’s, her composure shattered.

  “You didn’t need any more scars,” she sobbed, referring to the three bullet wounds he already had and the knife to the gut that almost killed him after he freed Evelyn from Fox. “You’re already hotter than Ever.”

  From my peripheral, I caught Ever palming his face as he slowly shook his head. Leave it to Lou to make light of a heavy situation. As everyone laughed, including a raspy chuckle from Wren, the tension in the room eased somewhat. I was still very much aware of Tyra hovering near the door, though. If she thought she’d slip away without me noticing, she had another thing coming. The moment she moved, I’d be on her ass like white on rice. The thought of her having my kid and not telling me made me want to do unspeakable acts, things that would undoubtedly turn me into my father. But then there was the part of me I kept locked away that wanted to fall to my knees and beg her to take me back.

  “Who the hell did this?” Ever demanded.

  I was thankful for the distraction when I felt my knees quake as if they’d decided for me. “My father did this.”

  I felt every single gaze in the room fly over to me. They’d all been looking to Wren for an answer, not once expecting my announcement. I couldn’t keep this a secret. Not like I had when my father tried to buy me Bee’s hand in marriage. It was too big. Wren had almost died. The first to look away was Ever. The color had leeched from his skin.

  “Fuck!” Ever’s shout came right before he shot to his feet and shoved his hands through his hair. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Apparently, he wasn’t finished exploding. Ever seemed perfectly content to leave us all in suspense when he moved to stand and stare out the window. “I should have seen this coming,” he mumbled after a while.

  Lou’s eyes narrowed from her perch on Wren’s hospital bed. It barely looked big enough for the two of them, but I doubted even while in pain that Wren minded. “What do you mean you should have seen this coming?”

  Wren still looked puzzled as he watched his half brother turn from the window and pace a hole in the floor. Ever ignored Lou, meeting Wren’s gaze instead. “That job we did on the house in Long Island. It was a setup. Eddie and Siko were behind it.”

  Wren didn’t reply at first as he seemed to contemplate Ever’s confession. “That explains how and why Siko and Eddie rose from the dead to put a bullet in me,” he replied, his voice hoarse. The glint in his eyes told me exactly how he felt about being duped and betrayed by men he once thought were his brothers-in-arms. Men he’d likely mourned.

  “They were spies for Thirteen the entire time,” Ever revealed. “Franklin sent them in to flush out Fox by killing you and Shane.”

  “Which meant, Franklin knew exactly who Wren was,” Lou pieced together. Shooting to her feet, she glared at Ever. “How could you let us move to Blackwood Keep without telling us the danger he’d be in? He’s been a sitting fucking duck!”

  Ever grimaced as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I fucked up, Lou. I’m sorry. I was a little distracted at the time.”

  “Really? You were distracted? Oh, I wonder why? Could it be because Wren risked everything to save your mom’s life, and you couldn’t be bothered to do the same for him?”

  “Lou,” Wren called, but his plea went ignored.

  “You’ve barely spoken two words to him since finding out he was your brother. Wren didn’t tell you because he wanted to protect you from that deadbeat you both call a father. He was willing to give up yet another piece of himself to keep you in your bubble.” Tears glistened in her blue eyes as she continued to read Ever his rights. “You have no idea how lucky you’ve been. You had a home, a father who stuck around, a mother who risked her life just to make you whole, and it still wasn’t enough. How long before you push Four away because she won’t give your spoiled ass exactly what you want?”

  “Louchana!”

  This time, she listened, rushing back to Wren’s bedside when he grunted in pain from the exertion it took to get her attention. “I’m sorry,” she whispered as she ran her fingers through his dark hair. “Your brother’s a jerk, and he needed to hear it.” Wren didn’t respond. He simply grabbed her hand before closing his eyes. He was asleep moments later. Either his pain medicine had kicked in, or he was just that emotionally and physically exhausted. Carefully, Lou curled up by his side, and then she closed her eyes, too.

  For several moments, the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop down the hall before Tyra broke the silence. “Maybe we should give them some privacy,” she suggested, speaking for the first time.

  No one had the heart to argue when she opened and held the door. Four and Ever were the first out. I caught the door when Tyra watched me expectably. I wasn’t about to take my eyes off her for a second. Sensing that, she huffed before stepping out ahead of me.

  “Has anyone called his grandmother?” Four inquired once I closed the door behind us.

  “She’s on a cruise for a couple of more weeks,” Ever announced with a sigh. “I’m not sure we should upset her if Wren’s not dead. We can break the news when she comes home.”

  “What about Jamie and Bee?”

  Ever nodded. “Jamie’s hauling ass. They should be here soon.”

  Great. Because that was just what everyone needed right now. Jameson’s mouth to make shit worse. Hopefully, he wasn’t keeping any more secrets up his sleeve. My gaze darted to Tyra, who’d been keeping the biggest of them all. I wanted to wait for a better time, but every fiber down to the tiniest cell was brimming with the need to tear this hospital apart.

  My kid was here. She had my kid.

  And didn’t tell me.

  “We need to talk.” I’d given up the fight as soon as Ever and Four drifted over to a pair of empty waiting chairs.

  “About what?” Her tone was rife with disinterest as she looked everywhere but at me.

  Looking both ways to make sure no one was paying attention, I pushed Tyra into a small, dark alcove near some vending machines. I had her hidden in the shadows and hemmed against the wall before she knew what was happening. Her protest was swallowed by her gasp when I lifted her skirt above her waist without warning, exposing her hot pink panties. My mouth filled with water as I literally salivated. I wanted to slip my hand inside them and didn’t give a damn if we were caught. S
he shouldn’t have hidden my fucking kid.

  “About this.” My voice was a whisper as I fingered the long, thin scar across her lower belly. My fist balled on the wall above her head. As pissed as I was, I couldn’t help wishing I’d been there, not just to see my kid born but to hold her fucking hand. What if something had gone wrong? What if they’d needed me? It was her decision not to tell me, but somehow, I still blamed myself for not being there.

  “Why are you doing this?” she sobbed, shocking the shit out of me. The guilt and lust vanished, and confusion took its place. “This is cruel, even for you.”

  I took a step back, watching her eyes fill with tears. “What the hell are you talking about, Tyra?”

  “I’m talking about you ignoring me for weeks and now pretending that you want to be a father. I’m not going to let you do this to me, and I’ll kill you before I let you do this to your son.”

  My shock allowed her to push me away, and then she quickly escaped the alcove. She didn’t even remember to lower her skirt first. She’d made it two steps before noticing the scandalized stares. After yanking her skirt back down, she cursed me in ways I couldn’t have imagined all the way to the nearest bathroom where she disappeared inside.

  Resting my forehead against the wall, I inhaled deeply.

  A son.

  I had a son.

  The knowledge didn’t feel me with the joy I expected.

  Ten minutes after learning I had a son, I contemplated proving Tyra’s point by walking away from him forever. If my father ever found out about him, he’d never be safe. The only other alternative was a long shot in hell. I could end up dead when staying alive was the only way to ensure my father never got his hands on my kid. His dynasty could suck my dick.