Beast shrugged by way of answer.
King ran a hand over his face.“Want a drink?”
Beast nodded.“Must be back before Lillian wakes though.She worries.”
She worries.Why the hell did that simple comment make King’s insides twist with envy?He poured them both a drink and for a long while they sat in silence, each lost in thought.
Finally, Beast broke the silence, setting the drink down with a clink.“You’re not going to let them go, are you?”
“I…don’t know,” he admitted.
The look Beast gave him was one of disbelief.
“What?”King grunted.“Say it.”
Beast dipped his head with a chuckle.“I’ve known you a long time, King.”
“And?”
“You know,” Beast said.“You just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”
King scowled.Sometimes it was irritating having a right hand man who knew him so well.“I decided a long time ago—”
“And times change,” Beast interrupted.
King’s brows arched in surprise.
Beast stood.“You made those rules when you were still fighting for power—”
“I still fight.Every day.I can’t afford to go soft.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that having someone to love might make you stronger?”
“Love is a weakness,” he snapped.
“Maybe.”Beast’s tone was easy, in stark contrast to King’s frustration.“Having something to losecanbe terrifying.”
King shifted uneasily.He and Beast might be friends but he’d never heard Beast speak so much…or so bluntly.Especially not about something so personal.“But?”
Beast paused in the doorway.“But it also gives you something to fight for.”
“I have plenty to fight for,” he said.“People who work for me, who count on me…”
He didn’t know who he was arguing with, but Beast looked nonplussed.“Yes, and all that got you this,” he said, gesturing to the grand home and the territory beyond.“But what are you fighting for now?Who is it for?”
King couldn’t answer.There was a hole in his chest and he wasn’t sure when it had started and how he’d never noticed before.
“I will leave you with this…” Beast said.
King turned to stare.
“I’ve always been strong.But I’ve never been stronger than now when I have something to live for.I’ve never been more certain of why I do what I do than when I have someone to come home to.”He took a deep breath.“And King…I never knew what it was to have a home to protect until there was someone in it who made my house a home.”
King sat there in silence, just as stunned by the unexpected torrent of wisdom as he was by the truths that stuck him like barbs.
“I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” Beast said.“Lillian’s expecting me in bed.And if you’re as clever as they say, you’ll go to the woman in your bed as well.”
King huffed and made no move to stop him.