Page 65 of King
Chapter 20
King/Dante
As a father, there is no greater feeling than knowing that your kids are happy. It didn’t matter whether my kids were seven, or twenty-seven, the urge to protect them and look out for them was still as strong as ever.
Abby and Rome had been separated by the time Jag and Molly got married. Hell, Abby hadn’t even been able to bring herself to come to the ceremony. But today, for the first time, I got the pleasure of seeing both of my sons standing next to their wives, knowing that both had found the kind of happiness that most people can only dream of. That knowledge brought a kind of peace that settled over me, and I’d found myself tearing up like a fucking pussy at one point. There were only a few things that could have made the day better – having my mom and BeBe there and having Ella by my side.
During the celebratory dinner at one of Luca Rossi’s restaurants, I’d pulled out my phone to see some texts from Ella. She’d sent pictures from the anniversary party. The first had been a picture of her and another woman. The other woman was a little taller and not quite as curvy as Ella, but you could tell they were related, so I assumed it was her cousin Kim. The next picture included Ella and Kim with an older couple, clearly the aunt and uncle. The resemblance among the three women was obvious, and I wondered if they looked like Ella’s Gran. Therewere other pictures of Ella with Mia and Hunter, and I ended up saving one of those as the lock screen photo on my cell phone. In it, Ella was laughing and looking right at the camera. I swear I felt those pretty blue eyes of hers staring straight into my soul.
Sinner settled into the seat next to me and I glanced up to find him looking at my phone. He raised his head and pinned me with a look, and I braced for a lecture.
“She’s been through a lot, son. Her, and those kids.”
He raised his beer bottle to his lips and took a long sip, then set it back down with a muted thud. “You’ve been through a lot, too, but I think you and Eleanor will be good for each other. Your mama would have liked her, too. Just don’t fuck it up.” With that sage advice, he pushed his chair back, grabbed his bottle of beer, and wandered off to talk to Viking, Trick, and Lucky.
“Yeah, that was fuckin’ helpful, old man,” I mumbled under my breath, although I was grateful to have his blessing, such as it was.
Luckily, Church the next morning was short and sweet. Most of the brothers had carried on partying back here at the clubhouse after leaving the restaurant, and there were more hungover faces around the table than I’d seen in a while. While I normally would have given them shit over it, I didn’t bother today. I was just glad to be getting out of there a little early. I was anxious to get to Ella’s place.
“All right, if there’s nothing else, let’s get the fuck out of here. Stay safe and keep your asses out of trouble this week.” I pounded my fist on the table in my usual sign that Church was dismissed, grinning slightly when Trick grabbed his head and moaned. He was looking like roadkill this morning, and Lucky, sitting next to him, didn’t look much better.
I followed Cowboy from the room, letting him know that I would not be staying for our usual family lunch.
“Plans with Ella?” The smirk on his face faded when I told him I was taking her for a ride.
“Seriously? You’re puttin’ her on the back of your bike?”
“Damn straight I am.”
“Well, butter my butt and call me biscuit. She’s finally givin’ you a chance, huh?”
I rolled my eyes at him, wondering why the fuck we’d been friends all these years when he said stupid hillbilly shit like that. I flipped him off, and I could still hear him laughing as I headed out the door.
Twenty-five minutes later I rang the doorbell at Ella’s house. She pulled the door open a moment later, and I tried not to drool as I took in the sight of her.
She was wearing a pair of well-worn blue jeans that hugged her every curve, and a dark blue T-shirt that did nothing to hide the shape of her tits. I glanced down, noting she had on socks, but no shoes.
“Come on in. I just have to put on my boots.”
I bent down to kiss her cheek as she stepped aside to let me in. I caught a whiff of sugar cookies, and realized it was coming from Ella herself. I wondered if it was lotion. Then I wondered if she would object if I tried to lick her from head to toe. My cock thickened behind my zipper at that thought, and I forced myself to back off.
Stick to the fucking plan, Morgan. Or rather, stick to the plan ofnotfucking.
Ella sat down on the couch and picked up a brown leather hiking boot. I glanced around the living room, noticing the house seemed unnaturally quiet. “Where are the kids?”
She paused in the act of lacing up the boot to tell me that Clayton had picked them up a few minutes ago. She looked pissed off, a fact which was reinforced as she jerked the laces a little tighter than necessary.
“Everything OK, sugar?”
She huffed and rolled her eyes, then picked up the other boot and slipped it on. “Clayton is just being a dickhead, as usual. He’s supposed to get them for a month every summer. He only ever takes them for two weeks. They always end up going to visit his parents in Florida, and Clayton and Sabrina spend the entire two weeks playing golf or lounging on the beach while his parents entertain the kids. The kids and his parents don’t care, but it’s the principle of the thing. This year, his parents wanted to take the kids on a week-long Caribbean cruise, and then have them stay with them in Florida for a week after that. We planned it months ago, and the kids are really excited.” She finished tying the boot, then stood up and slung a small purse over her head, settling it across her body.
“Sabrina has decided she wants to go to Hawaii, so of course, Clayton is ditching his kids and his parents to follow her golden pussy to Oahu instead. So not only is he giving up his time with the kids, but it also means I have to send the kids on the plane to Florida by themselves.”
She stopped fidgeting with her purse strap when I stepped closer and pulled her into my arms. “I know they’re old enough to travel on their own. Hell, Hunter will be eighteen in four months, and I know he’ll look out for Mia. I just can’tbelieve their dad is so fucking cavalier about spending time with his family.”
She wrapped her arms tighter around me, and I nuzzled my face in her hair. “He didn’t even have the damned balls to tell me himself. His mom called me this morning to get the kids’ flight details and was shocked that he hadn’t told me yet. She said he called them and told them about it last month.Last month!God, he’s such a fucking chickenshit.”
I rubbed my hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. It must have worked, because after a moment or two, she relaxed her body against mine.
