“What?” I ask, freezing in place. She can’t think that of me right?
“He was lying. I didn’t beg him to do any of that. Not ever and I didn’t like it when he choked me,” Shelby says, looking down at the floor. “I was terrified. I hated him. Still do.”
I walk over to her, tilting her chip up so her eyes meet mine. “Babe, do I look stupid?”
“What?” She asks, looking surprised.
“I know you, beautiful. I know your heart and your goodness, and I’ve tasted your sweetness. Do you think I would believe anything that twisted motherfucker with a god complex would tell me?”
“I love you King,” she says, wrapping her arms around my waist as she looks up at me.
“I know that too,” I tell her with a cocky grin.
“You do?”
“No way would you let me fuck you, after all the hell you went through with him.”
“Oh, so romantic,” she says play batting her lashes.
“Give me your lips, Shelbers.” She leans up on her tip toes pushing hers against mine. This woman loves me. We’ve had a hell of a go and she loves me.
That’s all that matters.
Chapter30
Shelby
“Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” King asks. It’s the fifth time he’s made sure to ask. He’s insistent on making sure we are okay after we all but had to kidnap my grandmother to get to her come along. King doesn’t like her being upset with him, but he knows it’s for the best. Grandma is making him feel bad just to get him to relent.
“I need to get to my restaurant and see what’s going on,” my grandma says, stubbornly. “Then I need to go home.”
“I’m sorry Billie. I need to make sure you’re safe,” King says, softly.
“I knew you were going to be trouble,” she huffs, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air as she pretends that he’s not standing right in front of her.
“Grandma, stop. King just cleaned up the mess I made by being an idiot and dating Mason.”
I know that alone would make her happy. She’s been wishing for his karma to hit once she figures out how bad of a guy he was behind closed doors.
“Babe, come here,” King growls, crooking his finger at me.
“What?” I ask.
“Come here.” His deep voice twists my insides, and I can’t help but comply.
I walk over to him as he leans his face down close to mine. “You’re not an idiot.”
“But King—”
He cuts me off with a soft, short kiss before I can argue with him.
“We all make mistakes, Shelby,” King says. “Yours trapped you and you were trying to protect the people you love. That’s it, babe. If anything, the only think you did wrong was not waiting for me to find you.”
I laugh, “But King, you didn’t even know I existed.” All I can do is shake my head at him.
“That’s just semantics,” he says with a wink.
“Go on. Go finish what you’re doing so we can get out of here before grandma lays eyes on Ford and decides she’s going to be a cougar.”