When we reached the bar, Sebastian finally glanced down at me. “Water? Soda?”

  “Water is fine,” I replied.

  “Still or sparkling?”

  “Still.”

  He turned to the bartender. “Ice water and four shots of Maker’s.”

  My eyes widened as I stared up at him.

  He pulled at the collar of his shirt. “I’m gonna fucking need it,” he explained.

  “He’s mad,” I whispered.

  “You think? We will be lucky if he doesn’t murder someone tonight. Try not to look … well, just … if you can, don’t be any more appealing than you are.”

  I frowned. “What does that mean?”

  He sighed. “I don’t fucking know. I’m just trying to keep the man from going feral on anyone.”

  “Is he mad at me?”

  Sebastian shook his head. “No. He’s fucking livid that you look like that and he can’t stake a claim. I don’t know what Maeme was thinking. She should have put you in a muumuu or some shit.”

  A small laugh escaped me, and he grinned briefly, then shut his expression down almost instantly.

  “Don’t make me smile at you. His ass will be on me in fucking seconds.”

  Unable to help myself, I glanced back at him, and his heated glare met mine. Scotlin was speaking to him, but he didn’t look away from me. His eyes slowly traveled down my body, causing me to feel warm all over. When he reached my face again, I smiled softly, wanting to reassure him, but it didn’t help. He didn’t return my smile.

  “That’s enough,” Sebastian whispered. “The two of you can’t eye-fuck, or this won’t work. The last thing we need is to have pictures of that all over social media, saying that Scotlin May’s fiancé is having an affair.”

  I took the glass he was holding out to me, taking my eyes off King, which was hard to do. All I wanted to do was look at him. No, that wasn’t true. I wanted to be on his arm. As close to him as I could get.

  “What happens when the engagement ends?” I asked him.

  Sebastian took a drink of his whiskey. “The stalker will be caught then. Because it’s a political thing, we won’t be handling the man. He’ll be handed over to the authorities. Scotlin will break off the engagement because of the trauma and move to Paris for some emotional recovery. Jefferson will be the protective father who stands by her and demands justice. It’ll all turn out nicely for them in the public eye. If her abortion ever becomes public knowledge, the hopes are it will be overshadowed by this. Once he’s in office and the stalker is set free, he will … disappear.”

  I took a drink of my water, then asked, “Disappear?”

  He nodded once.

  “Meaning?”

  Sebastian looked down at me. “Meaning we’ll handle him then.”

  Oh. Ohhh. “I see.”

  I scanned the crowd and the people arriving, using all my restraint not to look at King. It wasn’t an easy task. I was so very tempted.

  “Do you think the man is here?” I asked Sebastian.

  He started to speak when a smile was suddenly on his face, and his attention was focused on an older gentleman with a black cowboy hat covering most of his white hair. His short, trimmed beard was equally white. He was shorter than Sebastian by several inches, but the way he stood gave an air of authority.

  “You’re looking more like your father every day,” the man said, shaking Sebastian’s hand. “More so than that brother of yours.”

  Sebastian chuckled. “I’m sure Thatcher would take that as a compliment,” he replied, then turned to me. “Rumor, this is Dawson Woodrow. Dawson, this is Rumor Beauregard. She’s a close friend of the family.”

  The older gentleman gave me a nod and tipped his hat at me. “Nice to meet you, Miss Beauregard. I’ve been buying winning racehorses from the Shephards for nigh on thirty years.”

  “They do have the best, but please, call me Rumor.”

  He gave me an appreciative look, then cut his eyes to Sebastian. “I’d hang on to this one.”

  Sebastian laughed, but I could see him glance over in King’s direction. When he responded, he turned the subject around to the Derby, and I only half listened as they discussed the horses that had raced. My eyes scanned the room, finding those I recognized, which were all family members. Ronan Salazar and Jupiter were to the far right of the room, speaking with guests. I could see Ronan casually glancing over in King’s direction, as if he was watching him. Making sure he didn’t leave his post.

  As close as I was to Maeme, I barely knew Ronan or Jupiter. I adored their daughter, Birdie, but I wondered if the baby would bring them around more. Would I ever really feel like they were my family? They would be my child’s grandparents. King never spoke of his mother, and I wondered if she would want to know the baby. We hadn’t ever discussed it, but I wanted my baby to have all the family she could. Something I never had. To grow up loved and adored. The more family, the better.

  • Thirty-Two •

  He broke my fucking nose!

  King

  I wasn’t going to last much longer. Every fucking cocksucker who looked at her with even a mere glance, I wanted to rip out their heart. Sebastian was obeying. He hadn’t come close to touching her again. This was a level of hell I hadn’t known existed, and although I knew I belonged in hell, I wasn’t dead yet.

  “You need to stop watching her like she’s your next meal,” Scotlin hissed between her teeth as she smiled.

  “She is my next meal,” I replied. “As soon as this bullshit is over.”

  “Ugh, King. TMI,” she said, sounding disgusted.

  What-the-fuck-ever. She had no idea how sweet Rumor’s pussy was.

  “You look like you’re about to face a lifetime sentence. At least try and smile.”

  “This is the best I can do,” I replied.

  “Look, I’m as ready for this to be over as you are. I thought it would be more fun, but I hadn’t been aware you’d become … this.”

  Rumor laughed at something Luella, Roland’s wife, said, and my chest tightened. I wanted to be close enough to hear that sound. I’d upset her when she got here, and it had taken a while for her to relax again. It wasn’t like I could help it. She’d arrived, touching Sebastian and looking like an angel.

  My angel.

  “All the guests have arrived,” Jefferson informed us. “Scotlin, go with your mother to mingle with the guests. King, I need a word with you.”

  I didn’t want to leave the room. That meant I couldn’t see Rumor.

  I tore my eyes off her to look at him. “Now?”

  He nodded.

  “Can it not wait until this is over? I should be here if anything out of place happens.” Meaning so I could protect Rumor and get her the fuck out.

  “The room is well secured,” he replied. “This can’t wait.”

  I looked at Sebastian, willing him to meet my gaze. He was too engrossed in a conversation with one of Scotlin’s cousins to notice. Fuck. I’d be quick. She was fine. Right now, she had Sebastian at her side, and Storm was only a few feet away.

  “Okay,” I clipped, turning to follow him from the ballroom.

  He continued walking until we reached the study, then opened the door, stepping back for me to enter before closing it behind us. For his sake, I hoped he wasn’t about to correct me for watching Rumor. I didn’t give a flying fuck who he was. I’d watch her if I wanted to. She was mine. No one was telling me otherwise.

  “How do you know this Rumor Beauregard?”

  My jaw clenched. “She’s mine.”

  His eyes widened. “I see. But where did she come from? She’s not from our circle.”

  “Why?” I bit out, deciding on how I could kill the next governor of Georgia and hide it.

  His eyes narrowed. “I have my sources, King. I can very easily go get your father and ask him these questions. I chose you as a sign of respect since it was very clear she belonged to you. You’ve yet to stop watching her since she arrived.”

  Count to fucking ten. Don’t break the man’s neck.

  “Rumor was brought to Maeme’s and kept under our protection. I don’t see how this affects you at all.”

  “She’s not from Georgia then?” he asked.

  I shook my head. I’d walk out of here if the man’s interest in what was mine didn’t raise the hairs on my neck. She shouldn’t be on his radar, and I would be damned if he started asking around about her.

  “You can either tell me about her or I can have a background check done. I have my reasons for asking these questions.”

  “Because I am engaged to your daughter for the moment? That’s not a reason, Jefferson. That’s you poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Our job is to get Scotlin’s stalker. Protect you and your family’s name and make sure you are the next governor. That is where it ends. You aren’t family. Rumor is.”

  The shocked expression on his face at the last part annoyed me. This entire fucking situation was pissing me off.

  “She’s family now?”

  “Yes,” I snarled, unable to control the rage he’d ignited inside my chest.

  “I see. That makes this even more of an issue. I need to know where she came from.”

  “No.”

  “Why can’t you tell me that? Wouldn’t you rather I come to you than go to Stellan or your father?”

  I took a step in his direction, wanting to wrap my hands around his neck. He must have read that clearly in my expression, but he only tensed up. He didn’t back away. Fucker knew I couldn’t kill him, no matter how badly I wanted to.

  “What is it you want to know?” I demanded.

  “Did you find her in Louisiana?” he asked.

  He knew something. I didn’t like it. He was holding something from me about her, and I was close to snapping right here in this goddamn room. He was going to need backup when I did.

  “No. But she was born there.”

  His face paled, and he took in a deep breath. “What part?”

  “You need to get to the fucking point, May. My patience is almost gone, and I can’t promise you that I will be able to control what happens next.”

  “Her last name. It isn’t really Beauregard, is it?”

  I thought for a moment, then decided I might as well give him what he needed to know if I was going to get to the bottom of this. I shook my head. “It’s LeBlanc.”

  Jefferson backed up two steps, then sank down onto the chair behind him. “Fuck,” he whispered.

  “You’re gonna need to say more than that,” I demanded, not liking this at all.

  We’d had a complete background check done on Rumor before I ever laid eyes on her. I knew her story. Her past. There was nothing of concern other than she’d suffered a lot and I was still hunting down the bastard who had hurt her when she was younger.

  “I knew her mother,” he said, staring at the floor. “When she walked in the house and I saw her, it was like I’d been thrown back in time. She’s a complete replica. Even the hair. For a moment, I thought … it was her. But then I realized that was impossible.”

  I felt as if he’d just hurled a brick into my chest. “She doesn’t know her mother. She grew up in the foster system.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment and whispered what fucking looked like, “Thank God.”

  What the hell was that about? Her life had been a nightmare, and he was thanking God for it. Son of a bitch was stepping too far out of line.

  “You got five motherfucking seconds to explain yourself,” I warned him.

  “Ariella LeBlanc is the only skeleton I have in my closet. I’ve never come close to it being aired in my career. I’ve lost sleep over the fact that she’d come forward. Someone would find her and offer her money to talk,” he said, then lifted his eyes to meet my glare. “I met her on a business trip. She worked at a club I frequented. One look at her, and, well, I was hooked. It went on for six months, and then one day, she told me she was pregnant. I wrote her a check for half a million and told her to get an abortion and the rest was hush money. I never went back. Ten years later, I did send out some feelers when my political career was taking off. I wanted to make sure that door was closed tight. There was no sign of her. Not a trace.”

  There were several things running through my head as he spoke, but the one thing that trumped them all.

  “How many years ago?” I demanded, my hands shaking at my sides. I fisted them, but the tremors of the unleashed wrath expanding with every breath I took didn’t ease.

  “Almost twenty-five,” he replied.

  I exploded with a loud roar as I charged him, grabbing his shirt and throwing him back against the wall. The monster in my chest had torn me wide open and stepped out to take control. I wanted to rip him limb from limb. See him beg for mercy. Bleed out at my feet while I watched the life dim from his eyes until he was a bloody corpse.

  A loud sound came from behind me, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered. This bastard had paid for Rumor to be aborted. MY RUMOR. He’d wanted to kill her before she was born. I felt hands on my arms pulling at me, but I jerked free as an animalistic sound tore from my throat. He was going to die.

  “KING!”

  I heard my name, but it barely registered. They could hang me on a cross for this, but I would end this man.

  Arms wrapped around my chest and arms, pulling me back. I fought, snarling and cursing, but I couldn’t break free.

  “YOU ARE A DEAD MAN!” I told him.

  His eyes were wide, and his face was as white as the shirt he was wearing.

  “What the fuck, King?” Storm was close to my ear.

  I threw my head back and a loud, “FUCK!” followed it as the hands around my chest eased up almost enough for me to break free.

  “A little help here?” Wells said on my other side.

  “He broke my fucking nose! I’m doing all I can!”

  That was Sebastian. Why was he here? Who was with Rumor?

  “Rumor!” I demanded, turning frantically toward the door.

  “She’s with Maeme and Stellan. Thatcher is in there, too, keeping his eyes on everyone. Not to mention, she’s got a goddamn illegal Taser Maeme put in her purse,” Sebastian said.

  “Someone needs to start explaining what the hell is going on in here,” Monte said, slamming the door behind him as he walked inside. His eyes swung to Jefferson’s and back to me. “Did you attack Jefferson?” he asked incredulously.

  “When I get free of these three, I’m gonna fucking kill him,” I replied, seething as I stared at the man who had given the woman I worshipped life, but had left her to be killed. Paid for it. She’d lived a goddamn nightmare, growing up, while he spoiled that bitch daughter of his and gave her everything she wanted.

  “Stop!” Storm barked at me. “We aren’t letting you kill Jefferson. Calm the fuck down.”

  “Someone needs to start explaining,” Barrett demanded.

  I hadn’t even realized he was in here too.

  I didn’t take my eyes off the bastard still pressed against the wall, watching me like I was a madman. He had no idea how fucking insane I was. But he would. When these fuckers let me go.

  “I …” he started, swallowing hard. “I recognized Rumor. Or someone who is identical to her. She … I knew her mother once. I wanted to verify that she was who I thought she was. I didn’t realize it was going to set him off. I was going to him about it out of respect since it was clear she, uh … was his. I didn’t know he’d react like this, or I would have spoken to Stellan.”

  “You tried to have her aborted, you piece of fucking trash!” I shouted as the others held on to me tightly. They couldn’t hold me forever.

  “Fucking hell,” Monte said, walking over to sit down where Jefferson had been earlier.

  “Are you saying you knew Rumor’s mother?” Barrett asked.

  “YES, he fucking knew her. He used her, then walked away. Left her money to abort the kid he’d made and never looked back,” I said as my entire body shook.

  I had never hated anyone as much as I did this man. Well, except for Churchill Millroe. They were tied for first.

  “Shit,” Storm muttered, his grip on my left arm tightening. “We need to get him out of here. He’s not going to shake this off anytime soon.”

  “Go. We will deal with the rest.”

  “This isn’t over,” I warned Jefferson.

  They pushed me until I moved toward the door. It opened before we reached it, and Thatcher walked inside. His eyes went to me being held to scope out the rest of the room.

  “What did I miss?” he asked.

  “Just help us get him out of this fucking house before he begins tearing it and everyone in his path to shreds,” Storm told him.

  Thatcher smirked. “That sounds like a good time. You sure you don’t want to let him go?”

  “Go get your father,” Monte said to him. “And … you probably need to get Rumor too. She might be all that calms him down.”

  Thatcher glanced at me one more time, raising his eyebrows, as if he was simply entertained, then turned to leave.

  “You act like this around Rumor, and she’s gonna be fucking terrified,” Sebastian told me.

  I didn’t respond as they ushered me from the house and out toward one of the limos parked out front.

  “If we let you go, are you going to stay still and wait on Rumor?”

  I stared up at the house, knowing I couldn’t go in there and murder the goddamn state representative.

  “Yes,” I said through clenched teeth.

  Storm let go first, but the other two didn’t seem to trust me. Wells eased back as if he was more worried about me turning on him. Sebastian followed him, and I shook my arms out and stalked over to grip the roof of the limo and brace myself. I had to clear my head. Not think about it. If I let myself think about it, I’d lose it again.