At the mention of his shelter for abused and battered women he started with his own money and continues to run with his own funds, my heart constricts in my chest. I hadn’t forgotten about the home he named after us to help those women in need in the community. It had hit me the hardest because of our past together. So had Gabe’s project with self-defense training. Everyone of all ages should be able to defend themselves, no matter what. We had all learned that the hard way and the boys were making sure they took actions around this town so those things could never happen to another person again because of the Order. “Yeah, well, your mother has a permanent stick up her ass about most things. It is no surprise she wasn’t thrilled with you that you were actually doing something productive to help our community of people who are less fortunate than she is in her gilded fucking castle.” I snort and he laughs lightly at that before he sighs heavily again.
“Maybe we can meet here again one morning and watch the sun rise?” He asks and I smile and nod and he turned to go. He walks slowly and before I can stop myself, I find myself calling back out to him. “Silas.” He pauses and turns slowly back to face me and I don’t even stutter as the words come flying out of me without a filter. “My dad would be so immensely proud of the man you've become. No matter what happens to us in the future, I just wanted you to know that.”
My voice catches in my throat because my words were one hundred percent true. My papa had always been protective of me, I was his little girl after all. I had to grow up around a pack of ravenous wolves and had to learn from an incredibly young age what happens when you tried to challenge an alpha on their turf with no back up. When I had been betrayed by the boys that night all those years ago, he knew how devastated I had been. Not because I had started to consider them my family, but because of how close Silas and I had become while we had grown up together. My papa had seen it even before I had. Silas was the other half of my soul and it had destroyed me when he had betrayed me.
If he could see him now, all he has done to right the wrongs he has done in the past, he would be proud. He would be proud to call him his son in law if that was what became of us in the future. Because Silas King has become a man that a father would be proud to hand his daughter to, to love and protect and cherish for the rest of his life. And I see it in his eyes when he looks at me then in that moment as my words sink in for him.
So much love and relief on his face that it almost breaks my own resolve to take things slow. I wanted to hold him in that moment and tell him that my father isn’t the only one that would be proud of the man he had become. When I first came back here, I had expected the worst of all four of the Red’s. I hadn’t expected them to have spent the last ten years of our lives slowly making up for everything they had done to me that night.
He doesn’t say anything to me. Words aren’t really needed at this moment. Instead, he just gives me the brightest smile, blows me a kiss, and then turns his back on me again and leaves through the tall grass and back towards his Ducati. With my brain in a jumbled mess, I decide to finish my run and just run along the beach and make my way back to my Bugatti in the car lot close to the trail I had originally started on. Going home, my heart felt ten times lighter than when I first left.
I find myself on the following afternoon after my morning run and my moment with Silas at the lake lying in bed, my legs pressed up against the wall and my phone dangling in my hands above my face as I scroll through emails. I should really be grading papers my students turned in yesterday but I find that I just have too much on my mind right now to even think about work. It’s a freaking Saturday afternoon and I have literally done nothing all day and I don’t have any plans whatsoever for the rest of the evening. How sad is it that I am a rich single woman in my mid-twenties and I have nothing to do on a Saturday night? My phone buzzes with an incoming message from Hawk and I am embarrassed to admit how excited I got as I rushed to open it.
Hawk: Silas acting like a proper human being is scary as fuck Rosie
I laugh because this is such a typical Hawk thing to say. He must be with him if he suddenly brought him up like that so I decided to just text back because I was bored and this may well turn into the highlight of my day.
Honey: He’s put on his big boy panties now, Hawk. Didn’t you hear? Mommy dearest wants her baby boy to ascend his throne soon.
I can picture Hawk laughing at this and I wonder what Silas would say if he saw my message. I decided to close out my chat with Hawk and bring up my thread with Silas which has been mostly dirty sexts back and forth to each other since yesterday morning because I only had so much patience and control and I was no saint.
Honey: Stop being so serious around your brothers. It freaks them out.
His reply is almost instant and I smile at how fast he got back to me.
Silas: Hawk is just sour because I am not in the mood to do stupid dumb teenage shit with him anymore.
My brows raise at this and I immediately text back, super intrigued by this ‘dumb teenage shit’ he is referring to. If it is pranks like we used to do on their parents when we were growing up, I totally wanted in.
Honey: Oh God. Are you egging Asuka’s Maserati again? Those were good times.
Silas: No. Asuka would quite literally kill us all now that we are old enough. He wants to wreck our parents fancy dinner party at the Le Château tonight and I don’t really want to be scolded by Rebecca again.
Oh shit, he called her by her first name. Something must have happened yesterday that he didn’t let on about when we talked for most of the day. I am just about to text back when he sends through a text but I get it right around the same time Des texts. I read Silas’ first because I am a shit friend and I am quite literally dick drunk.
Silas: Come over to Hawk’s tonight. His parents will be out most of the night. We can get pizza and hang out.
Biting my lip, I open Des’ message next and groan.
Des: Please dear God tell me you would love to come get a coffee with me? I need out of this God-awful house.
I so wanted to go over to Hawk’s but I just couldn’t leave Des hanging. If he found out I said no just so I could go hang out with his least favorite people in all of Crimson Valley, he would be so upset with me. So I did what any reasonable friend would do. I accepted his request and then replied to Silas.
Honey: Of course, I am always bored out of my mind. I’ll pick you up in twenty I need to get out of my pajamas I suppose.
Switching to Silas’ text, I decline, politely and I’m surprised at the level of disappointment I feel. Hanging out with the boys sounded like old times. I yearned for the dust to settle so we could get back to that.
Honey: I’m sorry, maybe later? I have something to take care of.
Silas: Sure. Just didn’t want you to feel like we were doing something without you. You are one of us too.
The way he types that has my heart soaring in my chest. He always knows how to sound sweet even when we aren’t face to face. Yeah, I was definitely in way too deep with this man. A simple text like that shouldn’t make me want him so badly. Groaning, I roll out of bed and pad towards my bathroom for a quick wash up and I throw an outfit together that was weather appropriate. Some dark and tight skinny jeans and a thick soft deep navy-blue oversized sweater and my favorite black ankle boots. I looked out my bedroom bay window and up at the sky. Big fluffy dark clouds loomed over Crimson Valley. I knew the storms would be rolling in sometime soon. Heavy and loud thunderstorms followed by days of snow. It was the same thing every year. I dreaded those thunderstorms so much.
I grabbed my keys and a simple black clutch and headed out the door to go pick Des up and then head into downtown to grab coffee. I was intrigued to see how he was doing and how the Thanksgiving party went for him. Pulling up to his house I sent him a text to let him know I was here. He came practically running out of his house and slid into the passenger seat with a relieved sigh. “Honey, you are the greatest friend and a savior. Bless you.” I
chuckled at his dramatic speech.
“Things are that bad there?” He groaned and put his head in his hands. “You have no idea. My mother is officially insane. She keeps trying to set me up with some of these women around town, who all know I’m gay! I swear she must be paying them to even consider it. It’s absolutely absurd. Jackson finds it all very annoying and humorous at the same time.” I did not envy his situation at all. “That entire situation sounds way too messy for me. I don’t know how you do it. Why haven’t you just left her house?” He heavily sighs this time and takes a deep breath before barely whispering, “I don’t have the money to move out yet. Neither does Jackson.”
I frowned. I could practically hear the shame he felt at admitting that. My heart panged at his admission. “Des, why have you never mentioned this to me? Why didn’t you ask me for any help?” He shrugs, “I didn’t want to bother you, you were gone for so long, and only came back for the funeral. Honey, you have more than enough on your plate. I’ll figure something out, I promise.” I wracked my brain for a way to help my friend. As we turned to pull into the downtown public parking area, it hit me. “Des, how serious are you and Jackson?” He looked at me puzzled. “I mean.. I want to marry the guy, so pretty serious. I want the rest of my life with him. I already have the ring..” He pulled out a tungsten black matte with two slim red stripes surrounding the black. The inside is engraved with a date that I couldn’t make out.
I smiled at Des and turned off the car and turned towards him. Taking a deep breath, I decided to just go with it. “Des, you know I have more money than I know what to do with, right? And you also know that I have full control of all the Locke family properties, right?” He nodded, hesitantly. “So, what would you say if I signed over my townhouse to you? Permanently.” He immediately started shaking his head “Honey, you can’t do that. I couldn’t accept that.” I put my hand up to stop him, “I can and I want to. It’s just a little way away from here. On the outskirts of downtown, walking distance from everything too. You and Jackson could start your life.”
Tears were welling up in his eyes. He lunged across the center console area and hugged me so tightly. I held him and let him release the stress he had been carrying for years. When he finally pulled back there were tears falling down his face. I wiped them with my sleeve and smiled softly at him. “Honey, I don’t know how to repay you or even what to say.” I squeezed his hand, “Desmond, you are one of my closest friends and I adore you and Jackson together, I just want to see you both happy. You will not ever repay me and the townhouse is completely paid off, there is a housekeeper that comes once every two weeks to do a deep cleaning and there is a lawn service that maintains the yard. You can either keep them forever or you can let them go and I can employ them elsewhere. The choice is entirely up to you.”
He sat there for a moment contemplating what I had said. “How about the housekeeper can come once a month and Jackson will take care of the yard. He’s been drawing up plans for a garden for years. He would love to take care of it all so much. And how about this counts as your one and only wedding present to us? That way I’m not overwhelmed with guilt every time I see you?” I laugh and hug him again. “It’s a deal.”
I move to get out of the car and he follows suit. Breathing in the crisp fall air and relaxing I turn to head towards the Crimson Drip for our coffee now that all the heavy stuff is over with. Des looks lighter and happier than I’ve seen him since I’ve been back. I felt honored to help him and I couldn’t wait to see how they would decorate everything. I sent a quick text to Sam as we walked.
Honey: Sam, I need you to set up a meeting with my family lawyer to go over the ownership and title of the Locke townhouse. Anytime in the next few days is fine. Thank you, Sam.
I slid my phone back into my clutch and smiled at Des. “In the next few days, I need you to be available to sit down with my lawyer and I to sign over the townhouse to you.” He beamed at me and nodded excitedly. Today was turning out to be a great day.
As we were walking up to the Drip, I saw a remarkably familiar figure. I immediately grabbed Des and pulled him down to sit on the public bench next to us. “That’s Rebecca King. What is she doing here? Seems too public and low profile for her.” What was going on? Why was she meeting with someone here and not over at Le Château? “Des, do you know who that brunette she’s meeting with is?” The woman in question looked all too eager, sitting at the small intimate table in the corner of the Drip. She was practically sitting on the very edge of her seat and drooling at whatever Rebecca was saying to her. I rolled my eyes. The snake. I looked at the woman closely, she looked elite, perfectly poised, perfect makeup, perfect hair. She was pale, had light brown eyes, deep rich brown hair, and a bold red lipstick. She looked like she belonged with Rebecca’s kind. I scoffed. Desmond was actively talking but I was too focused on that woman. He nudged me and I snapped out of it.
He sighed and began speaking again. “A few years ago, the girl, Emma Erickson, showed up out of nowhere and practically inserted herself into the King’s life. Especially Silas’. They dated for, I think about, a year. Maybe a little less. But the entire time she was here, she was sharing the spotlight with Rebecca at every single Order function. It was sickening. Seeing someone hang on to that vile woman so desperately. I actually began to feel bad for Silas. He constantly looked like he was in pain when she was around.”
Jealousy reared its ugly head and I felt my blood begin to boil. I kept watching them intently. Emma was too enraptured by whatever Rebecca was saying to her. She was nodding her head enthusiastically as Rebecca began standing up. Emma followed and stepped around to the side of the table and held her hand out to shake Rebecca’s. It appeared that a deal had just been struck.
I looked at Des and it seemed he had caught on too. We were going to have trouble, soon, by the looks of it. He gave me a sympathetic look and we watched the two women leave the Drip and go their separate ways. Emma crossed the street and walked right past us. Clearly, she didn’t know all of the important people in Crimson Valley. Thank God for small mercies, right?
Des shrugged and grabbed my hand and pulled me up and we walked into the Drip to get our coffees. I let him order my usual as I went to find a discrete table for us in the back of the coffee shop. I grabbed my phone and opened my messages and debated ripping Silas a new one but settled for being more sensible and opened my thread with Hawk.
Honey: Just an FYI, Des just informed me about Silas’ little side piece since we just spotted her having a very shady meeting with his Mother.
I set my phone down on the tabletop and glance around the interior of the shop. I hadn’t actually stepped foot back inside here yet and I liked what they have done with the small space. A few moments later, Des comes back with our drinks in his hands, a huge smile still plastered on his face, and my phone vibrates on the table. Glancing down, I see a message coming through from Hawk.
Hawk: Oh, shit. Where are you? We are coming.
Picking up my phone, I frown and quickly text back as Des slides my drink in front of me.
Honey: Don’t bother. I will make a stopover at your place when I am done with my business in town. I just wanted you to be aware.
He texts back not even a second after mine goes through.
Hawk: Silas is freaking out. Are you pissed? He thinks you are going to kill him by the way.
I decide to slide my phone away from me for a moment because I couldn’t honestly answer that right now. I was pissed. I know it was unfair of me to feel like this, but I was pissed he had gotten involved with someone as… basic as that girl had been. I had never dated someone like that for that long. Sure, Finley and I had a fling on and off for years, but it had never been more than sex. Des had assured me that Silas hadn’t seemed like he was into the woman when they had been together, but I couldn’t push the jealousy away. I know he never had the same freedoms as me after I left and he probably felt like he had no choice but to date this girl his mother had clearl
y thrown his way, but it still stung more than I wanted to admit.
“Still hung up on the Emma thing? I’m not sure she is anything to worry about, Honey. She was probably having a meeting about something Order related. Silas was a hundred percent done with that girl even before they got involved. I doubt they even slept together.” Des assured me but that thought only made my blood boil more. Again, it is not fair and irrational, but it angered me beyond belief to think he let another woman put her hands on him like that. It made me want to track the bitch down and beat the life out of her until it warned her to stay away from what belonged to me, for good this time. If Rebecca was planning anything shady, I wanted to be on top of it before it got too bad. I needed a break from the murderous thoughts before I did something really stupid so I pushed it out of my mind and returned my full attention to Des, even when my phone began to buzz with message after message from Hawk and Silas. I just slip it into my clutch after turning it on silent.
Whiskey & Honey: Crimes of Crimson Valley: Book One Page 26