Dulce

“We all have layers, Abe. You barely scratched the surface of mine.”

“I guess that’s true for everyone. We can take my car—What the fuck? Cain,” he snarls.

I look around to see what I’ve missed and spot the slashed tires on his car.

“Just what did you guys argue about?”

“Women, what else? He must have done this last night when I told him I was coming to find you. I should have fucking known,” he growls.

“Don’t sweat it. We can take mine.” Which is what I wanted anyway. My guns are inside.

“Where is it?”

I press the key fob and the lights flash. The alarm gives a little chirp as we run toward it. I climb into the driver’s seat and shove the key into the ignition as Abe climbs in beside me.

I gun the engine and head to the exit, surprised to see the security house empty.

“Here, I got it.” Abe fiddles with something on his keychain and the electric gates open.

“Oh, nice.”

“Yeah, well, curfew is for pussies.”

“I didn’t realize there was a curfew,” I admit, which makes him laugh.

“The guards are men. They tend to give a free pass to a set of tits.”

“Typical,” I mutter, before cursing for not calling the girls before I left. My worry for Sarah has made me reckless. There’s no time now.

“Why were you coming to find me?”

He looks confused for a minute.

“Last night?”

“Oh, Cain wanted to—well, it doesn’t matter anymore. I just wanted to check and make sure you were okay. But I couldn’t find you.”

I don’t tell him where I was. It’s irrelevant, but I’m curious to know the ins and outs of their argument, especially since it involved me. One look at him and I doubt I’ll get any more info. I don’t ask.

I take the turn faster than I should and slip my hand into my pocket, hitting the button on the side of the cell three times to activate the SOS. It’s the best I can do until I get there.

“Can I ask you a question?” I look at Abe quickly before turning back to the road. He has on dark jeans and a gray hoodie with those little holes in the cuffs for his thumbs. The silver ring on the thumb poking out flashes even in the dark interior of the car.

He looks every inch a lost and sullen teenager tonight, not the man who fucked me over the kitchen table not so long ago.

“You wanna know how Cain is all tangled up in this, and I’m not?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Cain’s the heir, I’m the spare. If anything happens to him, they tap me to take over, but there can only be one king.”

“Isn’t the king your grandfather, though?”

He looks at me in shock. I don’t know why, he just said Cain was the heir. Who the hell did he think I was going to assume he was taking over for?

Ah, wait, his dad.

“You didn’t know that I knew your dad was dead?” I state softly.

His posture is stiff like this is a topic he has put in the off-limits basket, but I’m forcing him to spill anyway.

“My dad died, allegedly, after killing my mom and turning the gun on himself.”

“Allegedly?”

“My dad loved my mom. He wanted no part in the family business, no matter how hard my grandfather tried to drag him into it.”

“He was set up?”

“He was made an example of. They killed my mom, then killed my dad and framed him so anyone who thought they could tell the great Albert Eveson no would think twice.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It is what it is. As soon as I’m free of this place, I’m out of here. I’ll find somewhere to hide where nobody will find me.”

He looks at me. I can feel his eyes moving over my face, so I look at him briefly.

“My grandad wants to step down, retire, which basically means he wants to sit in his castle and fuck his bitches while he can still get it up. That’s where Cain comes in. Once he’s completely trained, he’ll step up, and everything will remain the same.”

“But not for you.”