There was a pause. King took another step to the right. He needed to move over another ten feet to get clear. That would also put them even closer to the doorway leading down the hall to the kitchen.
Dawson called out, “Where’s Faith?”
Before Laura could answer, King answered in a soft tone, “She’s in the kitchen, down here, you fucker. And I swear to God if you hurt her in this attack, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.”
No matter what promise he’d made to Laura about trying to make the best of it and not kill her brother, if Dawson hurt one hair on Faith’s head, he would destroy him. He’d have to deal with the consequences later. He’d been given these precious gifts in his life twice, and if he couldn’t protect them again, he didn’t deserve them.
Laura sobbed quietly behind him. He could feel her wet tears soaking the skin on his back. The heart-wrenching sound ripped him in two, and the rage built until his hands were shaking. Dawson had taken his vision, and now he was trying to take everything he loved. King felt the ice rushing through his veins, and he let it take over. His fury morphed from white hot to cold, hard and methodical. As far as he was concerned at this point, John Dawson had already taken Faith from him. “Step out from behind the door.”
He hated that Laura had to see what was coming next, but the bastard was going to die by King’s hand.
Instead of ducking down, Dawson eased around the door, leaving himself open and vulnerable. King took in the flushed, pale skin and wide eyes in an instant, and then focused his weapon on the bastard’s head.
“Where is she?” Dawson roared.
“Somewhere over there,” King tilted his head to the right, where half of the wall was laying in rubble on the floor.
“Laura?” Dawson cried out.
He felt Laura’s body shudder against him, she sobbed openly. Fuck, his words had to be destroying her as much as they were destroying him.
“You’re lying.” Dawson kept his gun raised and focused on King, even as sweat broke out on his forehead. “What did you do with my daughter?”
Laura’s breath hitched. King froze. “Your daughter?”
“Stop playing games, you bastard!” Dawson screamed, stalking toward him. “I swear if you so much as harmed a hair on her head—”
“Daddy!” Like a flash, Faith darted across the room, running not for King, but for Dawson.
“Faith?” Dawson shifted his weapon to his right hand, and caught Faith with his left, holding her securely against his chest.
King’s entire world shifted.
Dawson was her father?
After everything, Laura had lied to him?
As if she could read his mind, she grabbed onto him and held tight. “King, I tried to tell you.”
He rocked back on his heels in shock.
Dawson fixed a deadly stare on King, ready to take out the man he thought threatened his daughter. Just like I would. King slowly lowered his weapon to his side and stood tall, ready to take the bullet he knew was coming for him.
“Drop the gun! You’re surrounded!” Reaper called out from somewhere in the yard behind Dawson.
And then Diggs called out from what remained of the balcony above. “I’ve got my sights trained on you. It’s over, Dawson. Let the girl go.”
Hicks materialized out of the smoke to the left, Juarez right beside him. In a second King had his gun up again, trained on Dawson.
He’d put a bullet right between his eyes if he so much as shifted in the direction of harming Faith.
“It’s over, put her down.”
Dawson looked at no one but him. King tensed, ready to squeeze the trigger. And then Dawson tilted back his right hand and let his Glock drop to the ground. He eased Faith to the floor and said, “Go to Aunt Laura, okay, princess?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Laura stepped from behind King and he let her, half numb with shock and burning up with rage at the same time. Faith leapt into Laura’s arms and she quickly backed away from the area. “King, please.”
John Dawson lifted both hands in the air, and the edge of blind fury slipped into resignation. “Take me. I don’t care what you do to me, but let them go. They have nothing to do with this.”
King firmed up his arms, barely restraining himself from giving that final squeeze of the trigger.
“Daddy?” Faith called out.
Dawson’s gaze skirted over to his daughter and he smiled. “It’s okay, princess. I promise.” And then he turned his attention back to King, his smile fading. “Just wait till they leave. I don’t want her to see this. She doesn’t need that memory.”
King’s blood ran hot, then cold, and then hot. Memories of his past crashed into the present. Hope. Watching her die. Laura. His promise to save her brother if he could. Dawson. Pleading for his daughter’s life.
Just like him. Just like King. Only this time there wasn’t a psychotic terrorist bent on revenge threatening her, it was him. King was honestly considering murdering Dawson right in front of Faith and Laura both.
He was becoming the monster.
The realization sucked the very air from his lungs and King dropped his pistol to his side. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t.
His team rushed Dawson, Reaper reaching him first. He ripped Dawson’s hands down behind his back and zip-tied them together. “We need to talk.”
“Talk?” Dawson stared at King, directing the question toward him.
King couldn’t answer. He couldn’t even fucking move his arms. All he could do was stand there and stare helplessly. Reaper clapped him on the shoulder. “Yes, talk.” Reaper shoved Dawson ahead of him and back toward the entrance down into the training facility. They had some secure rooms down there just in case. Reaper shot him a hard stare as he passed. “You good?”
King managed a nod.
Diggs shot past them, running for the kitchen. “Audra!”
“Diggs!” came her weak reply from down the hall.
“You got this?” Diggs asked.
King grunted out, “Yes.”
Hicks shot off after Diggs. Juarez headed toward the back, “I’ll help Reaper.”
In the next second, King was alone with Laura and Faith.
Laura clutched Faith to her, watching King over her shoulder. Quietly, she inched toward him. “King?”
King still couldn’t manage full sentences. He was trying to wrap his mind around everything that had just occurred. “Yeah?”
“I’m sorry,” she said in a breathy tone, “I tried to tell you, but—”
His mouth started moving before his brain started working. “But you were trying to protect Faith.”
Laura nodded, tears falling down her cheeks. “That’s what I was trying to tell you before the explosion. I was too scared before then. I wasn’t sure. Now I know you would never hurt either of us.”
King drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “I know.”
“Please don’t hate me,” Laura said softly.
“Hate you? For trying to protect Faith? I could never hate you, Laura. I love you.” And he did. He loved every single thing about her.
Laura’s voice pitched to a sob. “You do? Even after that?”
He went to her, put his arms around them both, and rested his forehead against Laura’s. “You were protecting your family. I could never be mad at you for that. I love you.”
Chapter 20
“Hurry up, we’re going to miss the kickoff,” Laura adjusted the pillow behind her on their new leather sectional and propped her feet on the large ottoman in front of her. She sat the freshly made popcorn beside her and checked to make sure she had plenty of soda in her glass. King, wearing a dark purple LSU Tigers shirt, reached across her lap, snagging a handful of popcorn and she playfully slapped his hand. “My food. Get your own.”
He put his arm around her shoulders and yanked her up against his side, burying his face in the crook of her neck. “Whatever is yours is mine.” And then he nipped gently, sending an autom
atic wave of chills skittering across her skin.
She giggled, snuggling even closer. “I think you have that backward. It’s whatever is mine, is yours.”
King tipped her chin toward him. “You already know that, chère... You have everything of mine. My house.” A feather kiss to her lips. “My heart.” He kissed her again. “My soul.”
She melted in his arms, forgetting the popcorn completely. Unable to help herself, she leaned in and took his lips. The kiss was brief, but thorough, and when she finally pulled back, she had to catch her breath. King glanced down at her, a rakish, faint desire in his gaze.
“Get a room!” Juarez strolled in the side doors; a plate stacked high with nachos in his hands. Instead of setting the huge platter on a sidebar, he walked right in front of them and settled on the couch next to Laura. “I could get used to this.”
King leaned all the way across Laura, purposefully pushing her back into the couch and snagged a chip covered in cheese and hamburger crumbles. He popped it into his mouth whole and chewed it up before leaning back in his place. “You know, it actually turned out to be a good thing that your brother decided to blow up half of the compound.”
Laura stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. “How so?”
“We would never have gotten around to getting this new TV or couch,” King said nonchalantly.
Juarez snorted and rolled his eyes. “Brother, that’s not a TV, that’s a movie screen.”
King shrugged. “I had to make sure my girl could see it clearly. Didn’t want her straining her eyes or anything. We’ve only got room for one person with vision problems in this family.” King squeezed her. Laura burst out laughing. Juarez stared at both of them like they were going crazy. “Did he just crack a joke?”
Laura laid her hand against King’s jaw, marveling at how he’d changed. In a few short months, he’d completely opened up to her, sharing everything. He was still rough, and mostly quiet, but the hardness about him was gone.
“Have you got room for a few more?” Diggs strolled into the room balancing a plate of chicken wings in one hand and a plate of hamburgers in the other. “Hey, Laura, Audra said she needs your help with Faith’s hair bow.”
Laura rose from the couch. King wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back down into his lap. “Don’t be gone long.” He reached around and squeezed her leg, his hand sliding awfully close to her rear.
Laura jumped up, beating a hasty exit from the room before he did something like kiss her senseless again.
She jogged up the stairs and straight to Audra and Diggs’s room. “Audra?”
“In the bathroom,” she called out.
Laura crossed the room and then clapped her hands in delight. “Faith, you look amazing.”
Faith grabbed her bright blue and orange jersey and turned this way and that, admiring herself in Audra’s floor-length mirror. A matching set of blue and orange leggings covered her legs and a huge matching bow sporting tiny alligator heads sat on top of a high ponytail.
“We’re almost done, I just wanted you to see before everyone else,” Audrey said with amusement and then dropped to her knees in front of Faith. “Ready for the face paint?”
“Yes! Yes!” Faith bounced on her heels.
“Okay, be still, honey, so Miss Audra can make it perfect.”
Audra uncapped two make-up sticks, one blue, one orange, and drew a couple of thick lines under each of Faith’s eyes. “Laura, hand me that sticker up there on the counter and that wet washcloth beside it.”
Laura did as instructed. Faith tilted her head and Audrey placed the temporary tattoo on the side of Faith’s face, applying it with a wet washcloth. A few seconds later, she pulled it off, made a show of testing it with her hands, and stood up. “Well, Aunt Laura, what do you think?”
“I think she’s perfect.” Laura held out her hand to Faith. “Are you ready to go show Mr. King your new outfit?”
“Wait, Kitty.” Faith dove for the stuffed animal on the counter. “I made her match for Uncle King.” She held up Kitty, who now sported a very obviously homemade orange eye patch.
Laura clapped her hand over her smile. “I think he’ll love it.”
* * *
“If the girls don’t hurry up, they’re not gonna have any food left to eat,” Diggs said a second before he shoved his second hamburger into his mouth.
King grabbed a handful of nachos, devouring them before washing them down with some of Laura’s soda. “We can make more.”
Hicks kicked back at the farther end of the L-shaped leather sectional and pressed the hidden button on the side activating the automatic recliner. “Hey, pass me those nachos.”
Audra strolled into the room, a bright blue dress hanging down to her calves. King could see Diggs eyeing her from across the room. “You’re wearing the wrong colors, babe.”
Audra planted a hand on her hip. “You don’t like my dress?”
Diggs threw his half-eaten hamburger down, crossed the room, snatched her up into his arms and thoroughly kissed her in front of everyone. King couldn’t help but chuckle.
Diggs set her down. “I didn’t say anything about not liking your dress, darlin’. Just that it’s the wrong color. You’re supposed to be supporting your man today.” Diggs pointed at his royal purple T-shirt. “We’ve got to root for King’s Tigers.”
“King, you don’t like my dress either?” Audra called out around Diggs’s shoulder.
Diggs made a low growling sound. “King doesn’t have an opinion about my woman’s dress.”
King called out, “Got to agree with Diggs. Purple would’ve been better.”
Another soft feminine voice filled the room. “Then I guess you won’t like mine either?”
King turned to see Laura standing in the doorway, a T-shirt style blue and orange dress hugging the curves of her body. The neckline dipped a little low, revealing a hint of her cleavage. King’s mouth watered. She was gorgeous. “I didn’t say that, chère.”
A huge grin stretched across Laura’s face. “I decided this was the best way to reveal my last little secret.”
“And what’s that?” King asked softly, rising from the couch, unwilling to wait for her to come to him.
Laura’s grin grew even bigger and she held up a hand, indicating for him to stop just a couple of feet away. Then she reached behind the door and tugged Faith into the room. King groaned out loud. “You’re a Gator’s fan.”
Faith wheeled and did a full 360. “Do you like it, Uncle King?”
He smiled, dropped to a knee, holding out his arms wide. “You look absolutely stunning.”
“Go Gators!” Faith dove into his arms, laughing and wiggling. “Look, I made Kitty match you.” She waved the tattered cat in his face.
King grabbed Kitty before she took out his one good eye and got a good look at the cat’s new eye patch. He had to choke back his laughter. “Did you do this?”
Faith nodded enthusiastically. “Sure did.”
King stood up and notched her against his hip and then held out his other arm for Laura. “Did you know about this?”
She went to him easily and naturally, fitting against his side like she’d been made just for him. “Not Kitty. That was all Faith.”
King’s heart swelled, warming his very soul. He dropped a kiss on Laura’s head, taking that moment to savor her scent and feel her body against him. “Thank you,” he said hoarsely.
She tilted her head to look up at him. “For what?”
“For giving me back my life.” And for giving him back his hope. “I love you.”
The heartbeat passed between them. They connected on an entirely different level. That moment King forgot everyone else in the room, everyone in his past and everyone in his future. There was only Laura, and it would always be her.
“I love you too,” she said.
Faith pounded on their shoulders, drawing both of their attention back to her. “Chips?”
King chuckled and s
et her down, watching in amusement as she raced across the floor and plopped down next to Juarez. “Can I have some chips, Mr. Juarez?”
“You can have the whole plate, sweet thing.” Juarez laid the huge platter of nachos in Faith’s lap, helping her to balance it.
King took that moment to lay a deep kiss on Laura. Then he set her down, turned her and swatted her on the butt. “We’re still going to have a talk about your misguided loyalty to the wrong football team.”
She shot him a saucy look over her shoulder. “Go Gators.”
Chapter 21
Melissa laid her hand on the cold, thick plated glass of John Dawson's cell. She stared at him, unable to tear herself away from his icy blue eyes. He sat directly across from her, legs spread, elbows resting on his knees. He’d been like that for hours, unmoving.
When she'd gone in earlier, he'd allow her to draw blood and complete a quick physical examination without fuss or fight. In fact, he'd been so stone cold she would've thought him a statue. As one of the lead researchers from the inception of Project Mayhem, she’d witnessed the soldier’s behaviors shifting from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other. But she’d never experienced anything like the silent potent strength radiating off Dawson's ripped muscular frame.
She'd always counted herself as a professional, able to stay calm under pressure, but she’d left that exam room shaking like a baby. It wasn't anything that Dawson had done. He hadn't done anything. He’d barely even blinked.
But the power she felt in that room was stronger than any tidal wave.
Each of the men on team made him possessed a raw edge, an undercurrent of power not present in normal men. Dawson's undercurrent had been hooked up to a 50 volt battery and turned on high. Even now she could feel her skin tingling.
"Melissa?"
She spun to see Quantum propped up in the doorway, leaning heavily on a thick black cane, his equally black gaze fixated on her.
Mayhem’s King: Operation Mayhem Page 16
