“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means that your brother will pretend to set me up. We will meet, he will bring the Artifact, and Vaughn and his men will be waiting for me.”
“But you’ll be prepared?” I asked.
King nodded yes.
I didn’t know what to say. This was a risk, and King was taking it for me. It made me seriously begin to question the lens through which I’d seen him.
“What about 10 Club?” I asked.
“They will know it was me.”
“What will they do?”
“After I have the Artifact, there is nothing they can do that will be of any importance to me.”
“What will it do for you?” I was suddenly terrified; King’s one hope in this world was to end his suffering.
“It has the power to make things right for me.”
“Revenge?”
“No, my dear Miss Turner. Something better than that.”
My mind spun with horrible, horrible thoughts. To a man like King, what could be better than revenge when someone had caused him so much pain?
King looked at his wrist, this time not bothering to hide the fact he was looking at his tattoo. “I must be off.”
Oh my god. My mind couldn’t let go of this. What was King really after if not revenge? Death? He didn’t need anything special for that. A goddamned gun or some pills would do the job. No. He was after something else, but what?
“When will you be back?”
He smiled—a real one. “Miss Turner, I do believe you are worried about me.”
“Maybe. When?”
“If all goes well, I will see you in the morning.”
“And Justin?”
“He will be free. As will we all.”
“Wait! What are you going to do, King?”
But King wasn’t going to answer. He turned and walked right into Becca.
“Oh, crap! I’m so sorry.” She stared up at him, looking like she’d just seen Elvis.
He extended his hand. “Becca, it’s a pleasure to see you again.”
She shook his hand and practically drooled over it. “Nice…to…see…you again, too.”
King raised his brows. “Well, I must be off.” He dipped his head. “Miss Turner, I hope your mother pulls through.”
“Goodnight, umm…” Becca seemed to forget his name.
“King.” He flashed a smile at her.
“Is that your first name or your last?” Becca blurted out like a dumb groupie.
Funny, I thought. I’d never asked him that myself. In fact, the question had never crossed my mind.
King gave us one of his charming smiles. “Who said it was either?” He disappeared, leaving us with our churning minds.
Becca turned to me. “His middle name, I guess?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Not like there was another option, right?
“Mia?” My mother’s faint voice caught my attention.
“Oh my god!” I jumped to her side. “Mom, oh my god. Mom?” I looked at Becca. “Go get the nurse, and call my dad.”
Becca bolted from the room, and I sank down next to my mother. “Can you hear me okay? How do you feel?”
I noticed she had pulled the tubes from her mouth on her own. How could we have stood there and not noticed?
My mother kept her eyes closed, but she smiled. “I feel like…well, horrible, actually. But it’s good to be back.”
I dropped my head to her chest and sobbed.
“Where is the man?” she asked.
“What man?”
“That man in black. He was just here.”
I blinked and swallowed the flood of emotions. “You mean King?” I asked.
“Yes. The nice man who brought me back. Where is he?”
I balled uncontrollably. “He left, Mom. He left to go get Justin.”
She smiled. “Oh, good. I miss my baby boy.”
“So do I, Mom. So do I.”
~ ~ ~
Later that day, after running a multitude of tests, life spread its wings of hope once again. The doctor confirmed that the road to recovery for my mother would be long, but her faculties were intact, and that was all I could ever ask for.
When my father showed up, his eyes red with tears, he was unable to speak the moment he spotted my mom alert and talking. Then he literally collapsed to the floor. Luckily, the nurse had been standing nearby and brought him around quickly. There was no damage to him from the fall, but I would never forget the image of seeing the man so overwhelmed with joy that he actually fainted.
The rest of the day was spent calling everyone and sharing the miraculous news. Yes, it truly was a miracle. And I had only one person to thank for it: King.
How he’d done it, I didn’t know, and I wasn’t going to ask. Because this time, he was right; you could spin your wheels asking questions, or you could choose to focus on what really mattered to you. I had her back, and I couldn’t begin to express the gratitude I felt toward him; there simply weren’t enough words.
“Did I miss all the fun?” said a familiar voice.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. In fact, I didn’t.
“What?” Justin smiled at me with that dopey grin.
It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. It was…
“Justin!” I ran and threw myself into his arms. I hugged him so tightly that he grunted. And I wasn’t about to let go. He was warm and alive and in one piece. My baby brother—my best friend was really there. Yet again, I began to sob uncontrollably, feeling like an enormous, horrible burden had been lifted from my shoulders.
“Mia, glad to see you, too.”
Still bawling, I looked at him and squeezed his cheeks between my palms. I drank in his green eyes and sandy blond hair. “I have never felt so relieved in my life.”
“Me too.” He flashed a glance at my mother, who was now sleeping. “King told me the good news. How is she?”
“Fine. She’s fine. Dad just went down to the cafeteria. He’ll be right back.” I grabbed both his hands and held them between mine. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay.”
He had no possible understanding of how happy I was to hear him speak and say those words.
“And Vaughn? What happened?” I whispered.
“I don’t know, Mia.”
“What do you mean?”
“I showed up to the empty apartment in London with the Artifact. But King changed the plans on me at the last minute. He called my cell, said to leave the Artifact there, and get on the first plane home.”
“What? So where is he?” An ugly knot formed in my stomach.
“I don’t know, Mia. But I’m sure he took care of things.”
What if he didn’t? What if something went wrong?
Are you trying to ruin the moment? King had said he expected to be back in the morning, so it wasn’t time to worry just yet.
Then why do I feel worried?
I shook my head. “I can’t believe you’re really here.” I grabbed Justin again and hugged him tightly.
“Justin?” my mother called out. I released my death grip on him and walked over to the bed, holding his hand tightly.
“I’m home, Mom,” Justin said. “I’m home.”
EPILOGUE
Two Weeks Later.
After Justin’s return, I continued to show up at King’s office every morning at six a.m., hoping and praying that King would show. But he didn’t. At least, not during the few hours I hung around until I had to go to the hospital to see my mother. Nor did he show up at six or call at 6:02 p.m. when I returned to his loft. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, Mack and Arno were nowhere to be found, either.
It was as if King and his men had disappeared off the face of the planet. When I tried to speak to Justin about that night or his deal with Vaughn that had started the entire mess, he broke down and cried. He said he’d never forgive himself for what he’d done to his team. He insisted he’d told me everything about that ni
ght he was supposed to have met with King.
By the fourteenth day, I had to start facing facts. Something had gone terribly wrong. Had 10 Club taken King? Or had Vaughn gotten a hold of him? If so, did that mean Vaughn would be coming after me, too? I didn’t know. And where the hell had Mack and Arno disappeared to?
Then there was the question of my life. Justin and I were now both crashing at my parents’, and I needed to find a paying job. I couldn’t sponge forever. But then…what about my deal with King?
And where the hell is he?
I was at my wits’ end with worry; however, the only options were to go to L.A. and try to get a meeting with Vaughn or wait. And considering that Vaughn wanted to pick the flesh from my bones, that meant wait. For how long, I didn’t know.
6:02 p.m. Another no show.
“Dammit, King. Where the hell are you?” I slammed my fist on the desk, and the pen holder tipped over, dumping its contents to the floor. I got down on my hands and knees to pick up the mess. I gathered the pencils and pens in my hand, thinking how silly it was that they were even there to begin with. Not like anyone ever called to leave a message.
I reached for the last stray pencil all the way underneath the desk, and that’s when I saw the envelope taped to the bottom of the middle drawer.
I frantically peeled it off and opened it. Inside were a key and an index card with an address in SOMA, a neighborhood not too far from the loft. I flipped the card over, and on the back was King’s mark—the letter “K”–and the number ninety-two. Nothing else.
Had he meant for me to find this? No one else sat at this desk, and it wasn’t like King to do anything without a purpose to it.
I scrambled outside and hopped into a cab, hoping and praying that whatever this place was, it would give me some answers.
I gripped the key tightly in my hand and then looked at it. Crap. Who was I kidding? It’s not like I’d find a secret treasure map leading to his location.
When the cab pulled up to the warehouse overlooking the bay, I got out and stood there, staring at the enormous three-story building about a football field long. What was this place? The vibe was beyond ominous, like it radiated a dark, malicious energy that warned you off. I relaxed my eyes and saw nothing but reds and blacks swirling all around the exterior.
“What is this place, King?” I whispered.
Whatever it was, I had to go inside. I had to. Because if I was right, King wanted me to come here. Perhaps he’d anticipated something going wrong.
But why send me to a place that feels like the edge of hell?
I slipped the key in the lock and prayed.
To Be Continued…
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
Hi All!
I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of the King Trilogy. If you did, I SOOOO appreciate your reviews, emails, Tweets, and Facebook notes! I’m especially curious to hear everyone’s guesses as to who our mystery man, King, truly is! Good? Evil? Elvis? (He’s the king, get it?) Human? Nonhuman? Hmmm…
By the way, if you’re looking for more, you’ll be happy to know that Part 2, KING FOR A DAY, is available now! And if you’d like to learn more about King, Mia, Mack, and Arno, including seeing some pics of them and the places in the book, or if you’d like to score some free bookmarks, stop by my webpage (www.mimijean.net).
Also, if you’re into snarky humor with lots of twists, keep an eye out for my new Contemporary Romance series, The Happy Pants Café, or check out my Accidentally Yours Series! (Accidentally…Over?, the series finale, is almost here!! Woohoo!)
HAPPY READING!
Mimi Jean
Acknowledgements
I am sure that everyone is tired of hearing me say it, but THANK you to my beta readers! (Vicki, Kylie Gilmore, Nana, and Kim.) You ladies rock!
And I can’t forget my dudes, Javi, Seb, and Stef for always pitching in. I know I work too much, but it’s always for you!
About the Author
When San Francisco native Mimi Jean went on an adventure as an exchange student to Mexico City, she never imagined the journey would lead to writing Romance. But one MBA, one sexy Mexican husband, and two rowdy kids later, Mimi would trade in 15 years of corporate life for vampires, deities, and snarky humor.
She continues to hope that her books will inspire a leather pants comeback (for men) and that she might make you laugh when you need it most.
She also enjoys interacting with her fans (especially if they’re batshit crazy). You can always find her chatting away on Facebook, Twitter, or saying many naughty words on her show MAN CANDY on Radioslot.com!
You can learn more at:
MimiJean.net
Twitter.com/MimiJeanRomance
Facebook.com/MimiJeanPamfiloff
mailto: [email protected]
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