Page 122 of I Will Revel in Glory (Death by Daybreak MC 3)
Crown takes my hands and puts one on either of his hip tattoos, and I can see where we’re going with this. There’s that police car tattoo on one arm, a motorcycle on the other. There’s so much more, of course, but those are the ones that stand out. So there really is some sort of story here.
“And … you killed him?” I ask hopefully. Crown looks at me in such a way that I can see what the answer is without him needing to utter it.
“That was right after I became a hang-around with the club.” He laughs and kisses my fingers, closing his eyes for a minute. “That’s how I ended up on the roof. Completely drunk off my ass, some random girl sucking my dick …” He trails off and then opens his eyes. “I killed that man in a drunken rage, and the boys helped me bury the body.”
He sighs.
“Anyway, for two years after that, I was … fuck, I’m not sure what I was. A double agent, I guess. I was serving both the ATF and the club at the same time. But eventually, I realized that over time, I wasn’t Calder Reid anymore: I was just Crown.”
“And then what?” I ask, but Crown just exhales tiredly, and I can see that this is weighing on him more heavily than any of the others. He really truly and utterly was Cat’s loyal righthand. Jesus fucking Christ.
“I brought Cat the CI that had introduced me to the club in the first place. And then I shot him before he could rat me out alongside him.” Crown releases my hands. “Nobody here is innocent, Gidge. It isn’t just Cat that deserves a place in hell.” He meets my eyes dead-on. “I turned my back on everything outside of the club. My records were sealed because my superiors knew that DBD would look into my background. That’s the only reason I’m still here. I can’t for the life of me figure out how the mafia boy knows, but I will say this: if he wanted to bring us down, all he would need to do is talk to Cat. That’d be it for me and maybe even for you.”
“He isn’t going to talk,” I tell Crown, and I really and truly believe that. Grey must’ve discovered that information on his own somehow. If Alvise or Giulia or anyone else higher up in their organization knew, they’d have spilled it to Cat somehow, someway, even if it was just in the form of a taunt.
“Don’t show your father the video call; it’s what he wants. He wants something he can use to hold over your head. Show him … text messages.” Crown takes my palms and puts them on his chest. “Those can be fabricated easily. It allows for some plausible deniability.”
“You’re a master manipulator, aren’t you?” I accuse, feeling myself get flushed at the idea that Crown just literally handed me the smoking gun he’s so worried about Cat having. “Why did you tell me all this? Because Grey spilled the beans first?”
“Because I want what you and I have to be different.” Crown’s words are dark, laden with possibilities and promises. “The reason I wanted a partner is because I wanted someone who could let me be Calder or Crown or someone else entirely and not care. Because I am all of those people and not just one of them.”
He looks me over as I slide my hands up his abs and over his chest.
“I still can’t believe you’re pregnant,” he adds, and I sit back with a huff.
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I retort as he grits his teeth.
“Because this whole thing is nuts,” he replies, reaching up and then fisting his hand in my hair hard enough to make me gasp. “I can’t even believe you’re sitting here, in my bed, in my room.” His mouth twitches slightly and I know what he’s waiting for, even if he is gripping my hair the way he is.
“My bed, my room,” I correct, and he sighs as if in ecstasy, pressing his mouth to mine in a cool, confident sort of way, like he’s certain he made the right choice in telling me that secret tonight. I could ruin him. I could ruin him, and it would have nothing to do with the situation with Grey. I could bring down Crown and just Crown, without ever risking the other guys.
He’s giving me his trust. Just like I gave mine to Beast.
“We’re a tangled web,” I murmur, but then Crown presses harder into me, taking me with his mouth, owning me, claiming me. I find that I don’t even mind. Because he’s given up everything for the privilege. Fucking everything. “You know that I love you, right? You believe that.”
