“You can’t fuck your way out of this one. You have someone who is one of our own.”
Her eyes came to mine, and behind the seductive glare, I saw a stroke of annoyance. Good. I want her angry because that’s the only way to get truth out of Katsia.
“He is not yours, he is mine.” Her eyes finally rested on Madison where she dropped her stare to icy levels. “Blood or no blood, make no mistake, he is mine.”
Madison shuffled in her seat. “Um, so I’m confused, are you talking about my brother? Because if you are, trust me, he’s all yours, but I just want to make sure he’s safe.”
Katsia’s eyes slowly rolled, her smile coming back to her face. “As safe as he’ll ever be.” Then she looked at me. “But that’s not speaking for all.”
Fuck.
I could feel the slight twitch in Bishop’s arm as soon as Katsia said ‘but that’s not speaking for all.’ I turned my attention to her. “What does that mean?”
Her smug smirk deepened. “Oh, he didn’t tell you…”
“Tell her what?” Nate interjected, leaning forward on his elbows.
Katsia burst out laughing, her head tilting back while she swirled the whiskey around in her glass. “Oh this is great.” Her eyes cut to Bishop. “You’re quite the secret keeper, King.”
“What the fuck is she talking about?” I whispered, my eyes fluttering closed.
Nate tilted his head, his eyes flying to Bishop briefly.
“I didn’t tell either of them because it’s a distraction.”
“And you gave her your word…” Katsia’s eyebrow quirked.
“My word doesn’t mean shit with anyone else but a King or Madison. I would break it in a heartbeat if I needed to, but I didn’t need to,” he challenged Katsia.
I shuffled uncomfortably. “Well, as much as I’ve gotten really easy with letting you keep your secrets, I feel like I need to know this one.”
“Word,” Nate mumbled, leaning back. Tate’s eyes were going between the three of us.
“Well,” Katsia giggled, leaning forward and setting her glass on the small table in front of her. “As much as I’m loving this little thing that’s going on, I’m on borrowed time, so...” She cranked her head at one of her guards, gave him a direct look and then nodded her head. The guard turned and walked out of the room. The silence that stretched out between all of us was deafening and only made me more uncomfortable. Katsia’s grin was firmly fixed on her face the entire time.
The heavy footsteps broke the silence and my head swung to the opening. The guard stepped away, and— “Tillie!” I shot off the couch, my breathing sinking in shallow heaves. I couldn’t believe it was really her! It was her, wasn’t it? I reached out to touch her.
Katsia giggled, standing from her chair. “She’s been here the whole time.”
Nate stood up behind me, and I chanced a quick stare at him. His eyes were fixed on Tillie, and hers on him. “Did you know this whole time?” was all he said.
“Me?” My hand came to my chest. “No!”
“Not you.” He cut his eyes down to Bishop. “You.”
Bishop’s jaw was ticking under the pressure; his lip was slightly curled at Katsia. “Yes.”
I exhaled, my fingers coming to my temples. “What the fuck is going on?” I started walking toward Tillie, but the guard stood in front of her again, blocking me. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
“Kitty,” Bishop growled.
“You can shut up,” I replied softly without looking at him. I was angry that her being here wasn’t new information to him and that he had known for a long time—probably all of the time. “Tillie?” I tilted my head to try and get a clearer view of her behind the big man of steel in front of me. He slowly stepped aside, and it was the first time I got a real look at what she looked like now. She was in a white gown that cut off at her knees. The straps were thick and rolled over her shoulder, displaying her arms. Her face was bare of any makeup and her eyes looked like ripples of lightening laced in a blue sky. She looked broken. Her hair had been brushed down, falling over her shoulders, with the pink now washed out to a faded pastel color and her re-growth evident.
“Tillie?” I stepped toward her again. Her face fell. “Are you ok?”
She raised her head and her eyes came to mine, a single tear sneaking out. “I—I’m, I mean, I was…”
“That’s enough!” Katsia snapped, and then quickly composed herself. “Take a seat with Nate, Tillie.” Katsia rolled her eyes. “Before he kills me.”
Tillie came toward us and as soon as she was within reach, Nate’s arm snaked out and pulled her into him. He sunk her down next to him and I dropped down on the other side of her. She smelled like bleach and antiseptic. Something was going on, something that I couldn’t understand—again, and until I found out exactly what it was that Bishop was hiding from me this time, I wasn’t sure how I felt with him. Again. Yes, I loved him, but love should never be used as a doormat. When will this shit end. Right now, Nate needed me more than anyone else, so when his hand went over the edge of the couch, I brought my right hand up to where his curled around my shoulder and laced my fingers with his. At the connection, I felt a jolt of power and anger. Anger amongst all that Nate was a King, yet something was held from him about Tillie—why?
“Why?” I snapped, suddenly having enough of the song and dance and ready to put her on a plane with Daemon and fly the fuck out of this place.
“Why, what?” Katsia quirked an eyebrow at me. She was an expert at making you feel inferior, but this time, my anger wasn’t going to allow me to cower to her like I had in the past.
“You know what, Katsia, cut the bullshit. Why was Tillie here?”
“Oh,” Katsia waved her hand casually. “Well, she was pregnant, of course.”
I sucked in a breath. My head pounded and colorful little dots danced in my bleak vision. I felt Nate’s hand still in my grip. He let me go and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What?” The depth of his tone was enough to put the fear of the Lord into the devil.
Tate stood from the corner of my eye and walk to the window. Bishop’s leg pressed against mine roughly and I could hear the shuffling of a couple of the Kings who were standing behind me.
“Suddenly, shit makes sense,” Jase mumbled, rubbing the scruff on his jaw.
Tillie swiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. “Was being the correct word there.”
I stilled.
Bishop’s leg stopped flat, and Nate shot up off the couch. An armored guard stepped forward, grabbing Nate’s arm. “What do you mean was.”
Katsia’s eyes flashed to Tillie, and then to Nate. For once, I saw fear flash through them briefly. “You know the rules, Nathan.”
“Fuck you, tell me right now what the fuck is going on or I’ll snap all your guards’ necks and then feed them to you through a fucking straw!”
Katsia swallowed, shot the rest of her drink back and stood. “She couldn’t exist.”
I buried my face in my hands as realization snuck in. “What?” I whispered to myself, and then my hand came to Tillie’s. I was going to be strong for her. I didn’t know what she had been through and I don’t know why, but I didn’t care. She was my best friend and no matter what, I would stand by her. She sniffed, looked at me, and then squeezed her fingers with mine.
“I’m not walking out of this place without answers,” I whispered to her, squeezing her fingers.
“Did you kill my kid, Katsia?” Nate asked, stepping closer to her.
Katsia laughed. “Oh, wait, what made you think it was your kid?”
“And the plot thickens,” Hunter grumbled, standing from the couch to check on Tatum.
“Because I fucking know, Katsia, quit the fucking games. I’ll give you ten seconds.”
Katsia snickered. “You give her too much credit.”
“Nine.”
Bishop stood, walking beside Nate. Bishop tilted his head, pulled a smoke out of his pocket and lit it up. “Eight.” He blew out a cloud of smoke.
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered. “There’s going to be a war.” I could smell the heavy scent of spilled blood already.
Tillie’s hand squeezed mine. I looked at her. She shook her head.