“Why aren’t you coming home?” Haven demands like she’s the wife who waits around for a husband she never gets to see.
“Because I’m not able to.” I slap my hand down on the table, making her jump. Lowering my voice, I add, “I’m working Kingdom during the day and Glass at night.”
“There are three other Kings.”
“Glass is not their responsibility,” I argue.
“And the engagement?” she asks.
“What about it?” I sigh.
“Are you calling it off?”
I don’t answer.
“So you’re going to pretend to get engaged, and then what?” She goes on in my silence, “Break up with her in a week?”
I remain silent.
“Why won’t you just tell her how you feel?”
“What do you want me to say, Haven?” I lift my arms out wide, and then they drop to my sides.
“Is this about your pride?” she wonders.
“No.” I snort, falling down into a chair opposite her. My legs are too tired to stand anymore. “Truth.” I sigh. “Because if I tell her how I feel, then she’ll stay. And I won’t be like him.” I shake my head. “I won’t be like her father and keep her prisoner.” Once this shit with her family is handled, she and I will publicly announce that we’ve ended things. Then she will be free to go on and live her life how she wants.
“Jesus,” she hisses. “Is that what you think love is? A life sentence.”
I don’t answer her. Instead, I take a drink of my water.
“Being in love”—she pauses—“is like knowing the sun will rise tomorrow.” Looking at me, she sighs. “It’s nothing like a prison, Dillan. Mia has never known what it feels like to have someone love her. Not like the kind of love I know she wants. And don’t give me that shit where you say you don’t know how to love.” I open my mouth, but she continues, “Loving someone is putting them first.”
I flinch at her words; how close they are to what my father used to tell my brother and me.
“And you’ve already done that with Mia. So don’t be so hard on yourself, Bones.” She gives me a kind smile. “Definitely don’t ignore her. She’s been ignored all her life.”
Haven gets up and goes to walk out of the kitchen but stops. “Hope you don’t mind, but Mia set your study up for me to stay in tonight. So I hope you’re not home to work. I’m tired.”
“No,” I tell her, and with that, I hear her walk up the stairs to go to bed.
Taking another drink, I decide to blow off some steam. I need to think and free my mind. So instead of going to bed, I make my way to the basement.
Flipping the light on, I look over the four batting cages as the lights buzz. Baseball was my dream. At one point, I thought it would be my life, but deep down, a part of me knew that would never happen. Then I got injured and was told I’d never play again. My dreams of going pro were over.
My father was thrilled because he wanted me at Kingdom as much as possible. Honestly, I’m surprised he even allowed me to attend college. To him, it wasn’t needed. He had already established Kingdom to hand over to Grave and me, so why waste time with a degree?
Removing my shirt, I grab a bat that hangs on the wall and open up the cage. Stepping inside, I don’t even bother with gloves or a helmet. I never do.
I walk along the inside of the cage to the far end and turn on the pitching machine. Then I make my way back to the front and take my stance, ready to knock the fuck out of them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
MIA
I WAKE UP to see I’m alone in bed, but I’m not surprised because Dillan is avoiding me. Getting up, I use the restroom and check my cell to see if he’s called or texted. Nothing.
Sighing, I decide to make my way to the kitchen to grab a drink. I’m headed back to his bed when I see a door slightly open underneath the stairs that I haven’t seen before.
I tiptoe over to it and softly pull it open the rest of the way. A set of black carpeted stairs lead down to what I’m guessing is a basement. I see the lights are on. Thinking I should go back to bed, I hear a cracking noise.
Shutting the door behind me, I walk down the stairs to an open room. And just as I suspected, it’s a large open basement. It has black-painted walls and a gray epoxy floor with a high ceiling.
Dillan stands in what looks to be a rectangular cage that is made up of floor-to-ceiling netting. He holds a baseball bat in his hands while only dressed in a pair of jeans that sit low on his narrow hips.