Kingston Ross
Dahlia’s eyes followed me as I paced in front of her, attempting to figure out where the hell to start. I knew the others were spread through the office and the kitchen, trying to give us some space so she didn’t feel completely overwhelmed by the questions I would be asking in return to hers, but they were still paying attention. Yates wasn’t even pretending to work, his amusement clear on his face as I tried to figure out a way to not dig myself a deeper hole.
How the fuck did I explain to the woman that I loved that most of the men in her life not only had enemies but were probably constantly on the verge of legal armageddon because my family had an extensive history as the leaders of one of the UK’s top crime syndicates? There really wasn’t aneasyway to handle this, and I knew I just needed to be blunt, but I was wondering if there was aneasierway to handle all of this. A softer approach. Honestly, even her witnessing some of the shit that had happened this summer would have been easier, because then she could decide whether or not she thought I was a monster still worth loving.
I didn’t regret the shit I had done or would continue to do, especially to keep her safe, but I didn’t want Dahlia to ever fear me. That concept alone was enough to make me sick, which was amusing since I took pleasure in everyone outside of Wildberry Lane being terrified of me.
“King.” Dahlia’s soft voice instantly had my cock jumping to goddamn attention as I faced her, walking towards the desk and fixing her with a look while caging her between my arms. Her stunning green and gold eyes stared back at me with affection as I examined the way her dark hair laid with a slight wave on her delicate shoulders. The woman was dressed to look nearly fucking edible today, and I’d have absolutely no problem laying her flat on this desk and eating her out, whether people were around or not.
In fact, I would have preferred that over having to explain myself. Not because I didn’t want her to know, either. No. I very much wanted Dahlia to be aware of what my life would consist of now and in the future, because she would be part of it.
The difference was that I had to explain why I hadn’t told her before now, and the only reasoning was a shit excuse. It was the truth, but it was shit. I hadn’t been lying, I had hoped to wait to tell her until I had tied us together more. But now that wasn’t an option, and I just had to hope like hell it wouldn’t upset or scare her. I didn’t want to have to show her the extent I would go to keep her in my life. It was enough that she would find out all too soon how mental Yates was, and I didn’t need to add to that.
“It may be easier if you ask the questions and I answer them,” I suggested as Yates sat back in the office chair, shooting me a smile and looking way too fucking relaxed.
That’s fine. I would find a way to turn this shit on him, and then he would have to explain how exactly he knew so much about what Dahlia was doing and when. Asshole.
“Okay.” She nodded and grabbed Yates’s coffee mug and took a sip. He scowled at her, causing a reactionary smile before she looked back at me. I arched a brow at him, knowing she would never see that coffee mug again.
“So, the boxes…” She looked around the room. “Those contain information on everyone in town, along with the electronic files? And you are looking through those, why?”
Thank fuck, that answer was easy enough.
“When the FBI contacted us, we thought they would just want the information we had, but now that they think that Mr. Brooks is possibly working for Glenn, they wanted us to do a review to see if there was anything we could find to connect him to that,” I explained simply.
“And did you find anything?”
“Not yet,” I admitted. “Besides the fact that he has a ridiculous amount of prescriptions at the pharmacy in town, I don’t see a lot of similarities.”
“What if he is selling the medicine from the pharmacist?” she asked curiously.
“The amount of drugs being pushed around is far past that, although I have no doubt that is contributing to the problem,” I conceded.
“Okay, and the FBI, who is your contact for that?”
“Callum. He was one of the men with India Lexington,” I pointed out. Her eyes lightened at that, seemingly happy with my answer. Good. I would gladly give her any fucking answer she wanted to make her smile like that. Especially to soften her for the information she would eventually ask for as well. The not so easy part.
“And why did the FBI contact all of you instead of our parents?”
Yates nodded, seemingly happy with her line of questioning.
It didn’t surprise me in the least that Dahlia had started putting all of this together. I knew last night she had been a bit out of it, but this was the real Dahlia. This was my princess who was always going in a million different directions and put shit together faster than anyone I knew. I both loved and appreciated that quality, because while she had been sheltered most of her life, what was coming was going to be something far different than usual, and it was going to be necessary for her to adapt. I wouldn’t risk her safety any longer, and I knew her staying ignorant of what was going on was doing that.
I just assumed we’d have more time.
“Because with the exception of my father, it is far easier for the others to stay out of this shit if they can. It comes with too many legal ramifications if it gets messy,” I explained, knowing where her question would go next.
“Why is it different for your father?”
“Because he doesn’t care about shit like that,” I explained. “And neither do we, frankly.”
Her nod was slow as she processed what I was saying, and instead of pushing, she asked another question regarding the investigation.
“And we think that Mr. Brooks is at the center of this? Why?”
“They haven’t explained fully,” I admitted, “but yes, they think he is essentially conducting Glenn’s business while he plays puppet master.”
“How bad is the drug problem?” she asked softly, her eyes filling with concern. My chest tightened, not positive she actually wanted to know.