Page 137 of Kings Don't Break

“He’s been held captive. Some kind of… of cult had him. He managed to escape, but they’ve still got others. They’ve got some relation to the Road Rebels.”

Understanding dawns over her face. “Oh my god, that’s horrible. The things he must’ve gone through...”

“It’s fucked him up. He didn’t tell us everything—or even half of everything—but I can sense it all over him. He’s like some soldier returning from war.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he has PTSD. How is the club going to handle this? If the Road Rebels are involved, then there’s no telling how deep it goes.”

I clutch Korine’s hand and walk her over to the dining room area that flows into the kitchen. Before I can even offer, she’s beating me to it, bustling over to pour us some iced sweet tea. She returns to the table with both drinks and then drops into her seat with an expectant air.

My girl’s always got my back. She’s always wanted to be by my side whenever trouble’s arose.

Not that she’ll be involved in this. She’ll be kept far from it.

I sip from the ice-cold sweet tea and let out a breath. “We’re gonna have to take ’em out. For what they did to Logan and for what they could do to us. He said they’ve still got hostages. His wife. Some woman, Teysha.”

“Teysha,” Korine repeats, then she gasps. Her eyes widen and she gapes at me much like she’d stared at Logan earlier. “It can’t be the same Teysha that went missing from the diner. Blake, don’t you remember when we picked out the Christmas trees?”

I stare at her, giving no reaction. The name doesn’t ring a bell.

“Teysha!” she says a third time with even more emphasis. “Remember when we stopped at the Sunny Side Up diner? That older woman Sydney spoke to who was crying about her missing niece?”

It slowly comes back to me thinking on that evening. “That’s right. She’d said she’d been missing for months. It can’t be the same girl…”

“It could be! The woman seemed to think she’d been taken. Did Logan describe her?”

“We didn’t press him for that many details. Mace didn’t catch it either. We’ll have to mention it to Sydney and have Logan describe her.”

Korine shakes her head, her expression one of deep worry. “I can’t even imagine going through what they’ve gone through.”

“Hey, we’ll survive.” I forget about the iced tea and grab both her hands to pull her toward me. Once she’s seated in my lap, I lock my arms around her hips and go in for a kiss that’s full of the love I have for her. She indulges me, smiling against my lips, then resting her brow against mine. “We don’t break,” I tell her. “We survive. We rise up. Never forget that, Kori.”

“I’m not a King.”

“You’re my old lady. Good as.”

She brushes her mouth to mine, teasing another kiss. “I’m yours. I know now I never wanted to be anybody else’s. Even if I pretended otherwise for a while.”

“We were both pretending. Both trying to move on. But we never could. ‘Cuz you’re always gonna be my girl.”

“And you’re always going to be the boy who can’t climb a tree,” she laughs, and I do too.

It’s how we spend the rest of the evening—enjoying each other’s company, being the best friends in love that we’ve always been.