The room was silent again with no one eating. Royal eased his chair closer. “The minute I found out about Paige I wanted revenge. I wanted to find out whoever it was and end them. With my bare hands if I had to.”
I took his, squeezing them, and he did back.
He touched his forehead to mine. “I had this whole plan, Em. Even roped in Mira. I got close to her. That’s why I came with her to Paige’s reception. I needed her close. My only link to the sheriff’s office and finding out the truth.”
I looked up, and he placed a hand to my cheek.
His thumb brushed my skin. “But then you wanted to leave. Fuck, did I want to leave with you.”
“He did.”
I left his hand, LJ cringing when I faced him. LJ frowned. “We begged him not to, December.”
“We had to find out who did this to Paige.” Knight shrugged. “No other option.”
“But we are sorry, all of us and especially me.” LJ touched my shoulder. “I lied to you.”
“You all did for me.” Royal gazed around. “You did for me. You knew what we needed to do, what I needed to do.”
“We did it for Paige,” Jax said. “It wasn’t all his fault, December. Letting you go? It was all of us. We wanted to protect you.”
And I was starting to understand that now. There wasn’t much out there that would make me lie or hurt Royal or now, any of them. But my sister was one of those exceptions. I’d do anything.
“So that day we were supposed to leave,” I stated, focusing on Royal. “The guys convinced you not to go with me?”
“Surprisingly, my father was the one to make me change my mind in the end.” He frowned. “He threatened me. He threatened you to the point where… I honestly questioned how much him covering this whole thing up had to do with me.”
Eight
Royal
This was hard, admitting all this to her, but it was the fucking truth and she deserved it. I called the guys all here today for support. We were all involved in this, and we all had to be here.
I took December’s hand again, so warm. I was putting her through the fucking wringer, this beautiful and sweet girl. I kissed her hand. “He told me to stay away from you. Threatened me if I didn’t.”
I took such a beating that night, one none of them, not even Jax, LJ, and Knight knew about. I kept that one close to the cuff.
December touched my cheek, her dark hair skating across her lovely skin. I wanted to touch her too and I did, my thumb parting her lips.
“So you pushed me away,” she concluded. She nodded. “You put me on a bus.”
I put her as far away from this place and my fucking dad as I could. He had basi
cally unlimited resources, could hurt her and her family. I couldn’t take the risk, not at that point. I nodded. “I did.”
“And the whole thing with Mira?” she stated, looking hurt. I hate that I fucking hurt her. It killed me. Still even today. She swallowed. “Being with her when I came back?”
The same. Once I knew she was back and in my life, I had to put up a brick wall.
I folded my fingers behind her neck. “I was going to do whatever I had to, to keep you away. To keep you safe.” And I had ultimately, some of the things still sickening me. I had to touch someone else to put up a divider from her. “I let her think it was because of the blackmail. She knew about the haze that night, how her dad helped cover it up. I let her think that’s what our relationship was. Easy.”
A shuddered breath shook her shoulders. “But why? Why would your dad even threaten me in the first place?”
“It definitely put my back up. All of our backs.” I gazed around the room at the guys, getting their nods. “We didn’t know if it was just about me at this point. If who attacked Paige was a drifter…”
“Or someone in house.” Knight whispered the words, working his hands like he was going to annihilate a motherfucker. I knew he would. We all would to get to the truth. “This brotherhood is tight.”
“So tight.” Jax wet his lips. “It could be anybody in the Court, so we made the decision to move into Windsor House.”