DOM: Alliance Series Book Three (103)

My words stop King in his tracks.

“Dom,” Val says quietly, and I feel her lean her forehead against the center of my back.

“He deserves to know,” I tell her with my eyes still on King. “Now fucking ask me.”

As we face off, I start to register the other people in the room. The woman near King’s side. Another woman, across the room. And a couple off to my right.

But I don’t care about them. Not yet.

“Where was Val when her mom died?” the woman, Savannah, asks from King’s side.

I turn my gaze to King’s wife and tell her, “Val was at her apartment in Florida.”

The blond woman’s eyes widen, and I bring mine back up to meet King’s. “Now ask me how her mom died.”

I can see his jaw working. “Val.” He looks at me but asks her, “How did your mom die?”

My fingers squeeze into a fist. For a man with his resources, finding this out would take him mere moments. But he doesn’t know because he didn’t care.

And from the emotion brewing behind his eyes, I think he’s starting to understand that.

Val’s forehead lifts from my back so we can all hear her when she answers. “Suicide.”

Savannah’s indrawn breath is audible. “While you were there?”

I continue to stare at King. “Ask me what she left for Val to find next to her corpse.” I don’t give him time to ask. “A pile of bills. Because Val stood up to her and wouldn’t let her have your dad’s filthy money.” I take a step closer to him. “Now ask me what fucking day it was.”

King drops his gaze from mine as he shakes his head. “Christmas Day.”

So he remembers that much.

“No.” Savannah practically cries the word.

“Now tell me why my Valentine had to sit through that funeral all alone.” Standing here, in front of my wife’s family, I feel the full weight of what she went through. To have these people so close but so uninvolved had to be the worst kind of loneliness. “No fucking answer, huh?”

A small hand gently grabs my wrist.

I unclench my fist, and Val slides her hand down, her fingers entwining with mine. “It’s okay, Dominic.”

And here she is, trying to comfort me over what happened to her.

“I’m sorry.” King stares at our hands gripped together and shakes his head again. “It’s not okay, Val. I’m so sorry.”

It’s not a gloating sort of satisfaction that fills me hearing the mighty King apologize to my wife; it’s a different feeling. A warmer one. The satisfaction of giving someone something they need. Because even if Val fooled herself into thinking she was over it, she wasn’t. She needed to hear him say it.

“King…” Val starts, like she’s going to tell him it’s okay again.

King lifts his head to look at her. “Your husband is an asshole, but he’s right. I wasn’t the brother you deserved back then. There’s no excuse.”

Savannah sniffs, wiping at her cheeks.

I let my glare lift over King’s shoulder, catching Aspen’s eye. She looks sufficiently pale, clearly understanding she was just as shitty of a sibling.

I watch her straighten her shoulders. “I’m sorry, too.”

Val lifts the hand not holding mine and wipes away a tear. “Thanks, Aspen.”

King’s eyes zero in on Val’s tattooed finger before they snap up to mine.

In answer, I undo the top button of my shirt and let the material part so he can read Valentine’s name across my neck.

The woman to my right, still standing off to the side with Nero, makes a humming sound of approval.

Savannah reaches for Val. “Can I hug you now?”

I reluctantly let go of my wife’s hand when she moves to meet Savannah.

“So, who is this guy?” the female voice I’ve never heard before asks.

Before Nero can answer, I turn to Payton, who I’ve only seen in pictures, and hold out my hand.

“I’m Dominic.” She places her palm in mine, even as I hear her psychotic husband growl. “But feel free to call me Daddy.”

The man at her side darts forward and shoves me back, breaking my hold on his wife’s hand.

I automatically step back, but he’s quick and already sweeping my feet out from under me.

I start to fall. But I’m quick, too, and I snag his collar, dragging him down with me.

Only I’m not quick enough to dodge the punch he aims at my jaw.

His wife, who started laughing after I said daddy, jumps forward and starts tugging on Nero’s shoulder, trying to stop him from beating on me.

And since I’m not going to accidentally hit a woman, especially not Nero’s woman, I force myself to stop fighting back.

Nero stares down at me with his devilish black eyes, but he also relaxes. “If you ever hurt my wife, I’ll skin you.”

I lift a brow. “Is that all? If you ever hurt my wife, I’ll dangle you over a hungry bear. Let him rip off pieces to eat until no number of tourniquets or amount of adrenaline would wake you back up.”

Nero makes an impressed face. “Decent idea.”

Payton reaches out a hand and tugs on Nero’s dark hair. “Can you two talk torture techniques standing up, please?”