King opens the door wide, stepping back to let us in. “Come in.”
Dom steps forward, not grabbing the bags. “Fuck you.”
And then Dominic Gonzalez punches King Vass in the face.
CHAPTER 70
Dom
The feel of my bare knuckles hitting King’s cheek is so fucking satisfying I don’t even care that it hurts my already bruised hand.
I think Val shouts my name, but I’m too preoccupied with channeling my fury at her brother.
King swings for my head, and I deflect it so it only grazes off my ear, but I miss the punch aimed at my ribcage.
It connects, but I turn with the hit, and I use my shoulder to ram into King’s chest.
We go down, flipping an armchair in the process, but King manages to twist so we land on our sides rather than landing with me on top of him.
“What the fuck is your problem?” he snaps as he catches my chin with his elbow just as I land a jab in his side.
He rolls away, and I get to my feet at the same time.
“You’re my problem,” I growl. “You call yourself a fucking brother?”
“Dominic!” Valentine tries to come between me and King, but I catch her around the waist and push her back behind me.
King lowers his brows as he tries to see Val behind me.
I use my free hand to point at him, and he slaps it away, stepping up into my face.
“Ask me where Valentine was when her mom died,” I grit out.
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.