“Clean it up!” Tisha moved to grab for his arm.
Orion snapped. He pushed her away. She went twirling toward Devon, who managed to catch her at the last second. Unfortunately, the remaining portion of the knife in Tisha’s hand sliced a shallow trail across Devon’s cheek. He reared back in pain and surprise. But this movement ended with him dumping Tisha on the ground.
Orion watched his mother land in the puddle of beer and broken glass. He did not care. He was angry with her and his brothers and pretty much the whole world. Tisha was screaming. Orion didn’t care. Devon was bleeding and trying to shut their mother up while he groped for some kind or rag to clean up the mess.
Reaching across the catastrophe at his feet, Orion opened the refrigerator door as wide as he could. The bottom of it actually smacked Tisha in the hip. He didn’t care. He put his hand inside the fridge and pulled out a beer. Popping the top, Orion threw the bottle cap onto the wet floor and took a long swig of his favorite brew. Then he turned around and he walked out of that damn kitchen.
Orion King was tired of his mother. He was tired of his brothers. He was tired of the company that had been handed to him like a sinking ship about to go under and he was sick and tired of being tired. Right now he was going upstairs and he was going to bed. And if Jason and Skye woke up the beastly big brother with their lovemaking noises, Orion was going to go bust their door down and throw them both off the balcony.
Everyone was afraid of Tisha Olivares-King. They all worried about her tantrums and her bizarre selfish machinations and behavior. They had better realize that Tisha wasn’t the only King with an axe to grind. Orion was tired of being the big brother that mopped up everyone else’s mess and he was about to make sure they knew it.
Mother Tongue
Chapter One
Diana Appleton sipped her morning coffee while turning the pages of the Dallas Star. Sometimes in life there was nothing more satisfying than this moment of peace and quiet before another busy day really got going. The Corner Shop was one of her favorite places to sit and have coffee. Days like today—a Sunday morning—were even more peaceful than usual. The residents of Dallas were heading to church and either came in to grab a quick cup without bothering to get a table or didn’t come in at all. There were only a few regulars scattered about the coffee shop’s welcoming and somewhat eclectic interior and there was nobody to interrupt Diana’s perusal of the Sunday morning paper.
“You must be joking,” Diana murmured as she turned to the society page. “At some point this paper is going to get sued!”
Diana gazed down at the huge spread across the society page and felt as though it would have been more appropriate on the stand beside the grocery store checkout line. DUMPSTER BABY CELEBRATES ENGAGEMENT TO RICH DALLAS BACHELOR. The headline was bad enough. The words sensational muckraking came immediately to mind. But what really got Diana was the picture below the heading. Someone had obviously snapped it at the party.
“Oh, Edward!” Diana set her coffee down carefully in order to lift the paper for a closer look. “You must be dying of the embarrassment!”
Edward King was an old friend of Diana’s. Okay, not a friend. More than a friend. Or rather he used to be more than a friend. It was kind of hard to say what the two of them were now since they were only casually talking and most of it was related to business. But Edward and his family were so very reputation conscious that Diana could not imagine Edward being anything but embarrassed to see this sort of headline in the paper about the youngest King brother, Jason.
The paper gave what seemed to be a very blown-out-of-proportion account of a ridiculous romance between Jason King—the rich bachelor—and some woman who had apparently been dumped by her biological mother into a dumpster as an infant.
“How horrible!” Diana whispered. At this point she was not wearing her glasses so she had the paper lifted so close to her face that she was practically dragging her nose across the print. “And what is up with this reporter? She’s practically begging to get sued!”
“Hey!”
Diana put the paper down. There was someone pointing at her. What in the hell? There were like six people in the shop, Diana being one of them, and now some woman was bugging her? For what?
“You shouldn’t read that crap,” the woman across the shop informed Diana. “It’s all a pack of lies and hyperbole.”
Diana frowned. The nosy coffee shop neighbor was probably in her twenties. She didn’t necessarily look much younger than Diana, but there was a vibe coming from that other woman that actually felt a bit dangerous. Like you might not want to get the woman angry because she pretty much knew how to handle herself no matter the situation. Diana was in international banking and investments. She was no stranger to reading people and their body language. And right now there was something borderline hostile on the face of the woman with the pale strawberry red hair and the lithe, athletic figure. She was wearing fitted blue jeans and a plain pale green sweater, but she still had on sandals even in Dallas’s iffy late October weather.
Clearing her throat, Diana tried to be as polite as possible. She didn’t want any trouble. This was supposed to be a nice and peaceful Sunday morning. “I’m sorry you don’t like the paper. I’m just having my Sunday morning coffee. That’s all. I don’t want any trouble.”
“Sure.” The red-haired woman shrugged. “I just wanted to tell you that the Dallas Star has gone downhill. That’s all. You really can’t believe everything you read.”
“Skye, are you trying to evangelize the customers against the Dallas Star again?” A tall young man with curly dark hair behind the coffee counter was grinning at the red-headed woman—apparently named Skye. “You can’t be pestering my customers.”
“I am your customer, Shawn,” Skye said in a joking tone of voice. Then she raised her coffee. “Really great mocha this morning, by the way. I think I should blog about it.”
“I hope you will.” Shawn was laughing. Did they have a relationship of some kind? How odd! Then Shawn pointed at Skye. “You’re trying to suck up but please don’t stop. It’s an enjoyable deviation from the norm around here.”
The banter continued, and for just a moment it was like both of the parties involved had completely forgotten that Diana existed. How weird was this? She recognized the barista. He was here a lot. And for some reason the red-headed woman looked rather familiar too. But if she was a regular here in this coffee shop that probably meant that Diana had seen her sitting there before. Diana liked this shop. She did not want to stop coming here just because of one hostile fellow customer. This place was unique. The tables all seemed to have been rescued from somewhere else and the chairs were an assortment of padded and unpadded. There were even a few that looked like repurposed church pews, and maybe a couple of park benches that had been strewn with homemade chair cushions.
The clientele was usually as varied as the décor. It could even be suggested that they matched really well. Just about everyone in downtown Dallas came to The Corner Shop at one time or another to grab a cup and have a chat. It was a good place to meet with clients. Everyone could always find something on the coffee menu that suited their tastes whether they were domestic or international, and the atmosphere was always great for doing business. Diana really didn’t want to feel like she had to stop coming here just because of one disgruntled red-headed woman. After all, people often said redheads were ill tempered. Maybe this was a case where the stereotype was right on the money.
Shawn and Skye were still laughing and bantering together. In one corner of her brain Diana realized that Shawn was teasing her about never coming back to his shop once she became a millionaire. It was a strange sort of accusation to make, but obviously these two were close friends or something of the like.
That was fine. Diana picked up her coffee and took another sip. The hot liquid felt like heaven going down her throat. The last few days had been hellish for Diana. She was tired. She was ready for this latest deal to be over. And
she was really ready to shoot her friend Edward for being such a selfish weakling.
To keep that train of thought from leaving the station, Diana returned to her paper. She tucked a strand of her pale blonde hair over her left ear and straightened her black slacks. Perhaps she should have dressed a little more casually. The slacks and blue blouse seemed almost overdone for just a morning visit to the local coffee shop, but Diana had learned early that dressing well was the most important part of any social interaction.
Putting her coffee cup down once again, Diana turned her attention back to the paper. The photograph caught her eye. Jason King was a familiar enough figure even though he had his father’s dark complexion and black hair and Diana’s friend Edward was the blond version. But the woman in this photograph—the one referred to as “dumpster baby”—was pale and athletic looking. The newspaper photo was black and white, but as Diana peered even more closely at the picture she could not miss the obvious resemblance.
“You!” Diana burst out. She dropped the paper to the tabletop and stared across the shop at the redhead named Skye. “You’re the one embarrassing the King family in the paper! No wonder you’re trying to tell me that this paper is crap! The story is all about you and your attempt to marry into the King family just for their money!”
What little noise that had been going on in the coffee shop lapsed into total eerie silence. Shawn the barista cleared his throat. “Ma’am, I hate to say it, but that was a rather rude thing to say to Skye. You might want to just get up and leave.”
“Why would I need to leave?” Diana stood up. She snatched the paper off the table and waved it in the air. “This is the freaking Dallas Star! They reported on the Kennedy assassination decades ago! It is a reputable source for local news. Why would I be the one needing to leave when she”—Diana pointed emphatically to Skye—“is apparently nothing more than a money-grubbing opportunist!”
“Wow.”
That was Skye’s response. There was no arguing or rudeness or any kind of attempt to defend her illicit behavior. Skye simply shook her head and exhaled a sigh. Then she picked up her mocha in both hands and took a long drink as if she were trying to buy herself some time.
The old men in the corner were now staring at Diana as though they could not believe that she had spoken in such a way to Skye. What were they? Her personal trio of aged bodyguards? Skye needed to ply her feminine wiles elsewhere. The King brothers had enough trouble in their lives without some gold digger making things worse.
Diana had known the Kings almost all her life. She had been in Edward’s grade at school and the two of them had ended up the University of Texas together. Both had studied economics and accounting, and Diana had honestly thought that she and Edward were going to wind up married and raising a pack of children. Then the King family matriarch had intervened and suddenly Diana had found herself booted right out of Edward’s life without even an explanation.
“I’m going to give you a break because you don’t know me and you obviously think the Dallas Star is the same paper now that it was fifty years ago.” Skye stood up from her seat and packed up her tablet. “But you need to ask yourself what you really know. And then you should just butt out because you’ve got no reason to stick your nose in my business at all.”
“Oh, I don’t?” Why did this outrage Diana so very much? She was so tired of people telling her that she didn’t know what she was talking about! She’d gotten that crap from her parents. Then she’d gotten it from most of her peers at school. And now she frequently got it from her coworkers at the investment firm because they didn’t like it that she was smarter than they were. “It just so happens that I have known the King family all my life,” Diana snarled at Skye. “I grew up with them. Edward and I were in the same grade all the way through school. You don’t know anything. You don’t know what you’re doing to them!” Diana shook the paper until she heard the newsprint rip. “You don’t know what that family is like!”
But instead of the reaction Diana had expected, she got a small smile and a shake of Skye’s head. “Yeah. Do you really think that I could be engaged to Jason King and not know what’s going on in that family?”
Diana opened her mouth to respond, but at the last second she closed it and decided that it was better to just walk away. Obviously, this woman thought she knew what she was talking about. Diana would let her have her moment. After all, the girl had been found in a dumpster as a baby. Perhaps there was brain damage or learning disabilities or something. Actually, Diana felt a wave of sympathy for the poor young woman. What kind of life would that had been? To grow up with nothing and then suddenly find yourself with the chance to marry a King brother?
With a soft sigh Diana rose from her table. She bit her lower lip and folded up her newspaper. “I’m sorry,” she told the red-headed Skye. “I was rude. I don’t know your situation. I just hope you realize that the King brothers pay a steep price for every single decision they make.”
Skye’s brows drew together. Two lines appeared between them and she looked almost as though she were about to ask Diana for a better explanation. But Diana was done talking. She had stuck her foot in her mouth enough for this morning. It wasn’t like Edward would have welcomed her interference anyway. He didn’t seem to care that she cared about him. He was too busy dancing to his mother’s tune to pay attention to anything else.
Diana marched out of that coffee shop and let the door close behind her. Once out on the street she looked up between the towering buildings to find the sky. The pale washed-out blue color shone back at her with fall’s fading light. The morning was advanced, but at least it wasn’t prohibitively hot and muggy. Fall was a much better time of year in Texas. At least you could breathe.
As Diana walked back to her apartment she tried not to think about the fact that she had to pass Edward King’s apartment on the way to hers. He lived a few blocks from his family’s King building where the corporate offices of King Security Solutions, Inc were located. A mere block beyond that was Diana’s own building. She had inherited the large apartment from her parents when they had finally passed away. She was utterly alone in life now, but that was all right. She kept telling herself that it was anyway. She didn’t have anyone telling her what to do anymore. She could say what she wanted, take the jobs that she wanted, and purchase what she wanted with her earnings. It was a taste of freedom that she had never actually expected to experience.
Perhaps that was why Diana was so determined to help Edward King. He did not realize that he needed her help. He didn’t realize what was really happening in his life. He was naïve in that way because he was still in the same place that Diana had been when her folks were still alive. Loyalty to family. Loyalty to a parent’s wishes. And no chance or opportunity to think about what Diana had wanted for herself.
At least that’s what she kept telling herself. But as the butterflies fluttered in her belly and she got closer and closer to Edward King’s apartment building, Diana knew that at some point she was going to have to admit that she was just plain still in love with Edward King. She wanted him freed from his mother, but after that she wanted to be first in his heart.
Chapter Two
“I had the oddest interaction yesterday.” Skye Kincaid plopped down into a chair right in front of Edward King’s desk and folded her hands over her midsection. He could actually feel her expectant gaze boring holes into the top of his head. “Aren’t you going to ask me about it?”
Edward sighed. He liked his youngest brother Jason’s choice for a mate. The two were engaged, and Edward had seen some really startling and admirable changes in Jason since the moment Skye had entered his life. That was great. But Edward had his own demons to deal with and playing twenty questions with Skye did not fit into that schedule.
“Is there a particular reason that you’re in my office this morning bugging me about this odd interaction that you had yesterday?” Edward growled. He did not look up from the ledger on his desk. “You
might remember that our company is going through a bit of a financial crisis. Yes?”
“Sure.” Skye nodded her head. “But that does not mean you can’t listen to this story since I think it involves you.”
“Me?” Edward lost his battle to not look up at Skye. She was the sort of person who gave you just as much information in body language and facial expression as she did in her words, and right now Edward was dead curious. “How does your odd interaction involve me? I don’t recall hanging out at your coffee shop yesterday morning. Assuming that’s what you did. I know Jason was with Zane out at the ranch trying to run the perimeter and get an idea of what kind of deferred maintenance needs to be updated on the property. That usually means you can be found at The Corner Shop with your friends.”
“Oh, Edward,” Skye said with a cluck that made him want to grind his teeth. She was condescending on purpose just to bug him not because it was actually her attitude. “You’re the observant one, you know that? Orion could learn a few things from you.”
“Uh huh.” Edward was observant enough to think that Orion could use more than a few tips from Edward to help him. There was something distinctly not right with the eldest King sibling. But that was not a discussion for the moment. “Will you tell me why you’re in here before I call security and have you escorted out?”
“You know Paul and Barney are getting pretty tired of you trying that bullshit. They told me so.” Skye actually winked at him. She winked. Ugh. The woman was insufferably charming and Edward wasn’t even attracted to her.
“Leave it to you to get chummy with the security guards,” Edward muttered.
Skye chortled and put her feet up on his desk. At this point not even that audacity surprised him anymore. “Do you have any idea how useful it is to have Paul and Barney on my side?” She made a sarcastic noise somewhere between clicking and hissing. “I’ve got this place wired!”
Billion Dollar Wolves: Boxset Bks 1-5 Page 25