Page 134 of The Spare

"Right under Lucien?"

"Yes."

I glance up at him sharply. "You've killed people?"

A wince crosses his face. "Yes."

"Ah." I stare ahead, keeping my arm twined around his as I glance at the beautiful foliage in the distance and try to imagine my dad killing someone. I'm a bit surprised that this doesn't bother me the way it probably should.

I guess I'm silent for too long because he gets an uncomfortable look on his face and blows out a heavy breath.

"Mel, I know it's a lot…"

"So I'm a cousin to the Donnn,"I drawl, my brows furrowing as I look up at him. "That seems like it might not be a big deal, though?"

He frowns. "It's actually a very big deal. Amelia is your first cousin as well, and Lucien married her off to protect her and to ally the two families. You probably would have been treated the same had you grown up in this family."

"Sooo what you're saying is I'm a mafia princess?" I snort.

Wild.

Seeing as I'm not distancing myself from him, he gets a relieved smile on his face, his eyes turning even more warm.

"Well, only if you want to be, I suppose," Maximus chuckles, tucking me under his arm as we stop to admire a hedge of dogwood.

I laugh lightly. "I don't know what I want to be. That's the problem." I lean forward, pressing my nose to the petals and smelling. We turn and continue our journey.

He hums, keeping his eyes on our feet as we round a corner and under an archway of climbing roses, meandering through a beautiful piece of his garden where the various plants are designed in almost a maze, keeping you moving through so you can take in all its beauty.

"It's okay to not know what you want to do, Melody. Part of the joy of life is figuring it out as you go along."

I nod, wrapping myself even tighter around his arm as we journey deeper through the gardens. It's a few more minutes before he speaks, his words coming out hesitantly.

"How's your mother?"

I scrunch my nose, still feeling the sting of betrayal. But thanks to some time and distance, it's lessened. "Well… I guess she's okay."

Truth is, I've barely talked to her in the weeks since the fiasco at the Balducci wedding.

He grunts lightly. Putting a hand to his nape, he squeezes, now staring straight ahead. "Is she still talking to that William guy?"

"Ummm…"I say slowly. "From what Izzy has told me, their relationship has been something that's been driving a thorn deeper into the King Dynasty family dynamic. So it's a little touchy there, I suppose."

He looks at me. "What do you mean?"

"Her and Richard's wife, Mason's mother Maribel, are very close. But William and Richard don't get along. There's a very, very old family secret and some other drama that's severed their relationship," I pause. "It's part of the reason Mason and I are out here, actually. Mason wants a relationship with William. Richard doesn't like it and has disowned William. It'ssocomplicated. We needed some distance from it all."

"What's the other drama?"

I shrug a shoulder. "Who knows. Richard won't talk."

"Richard sounds like a hard-ass," he mutters.

"Hm,Richard's not a bad man but…" I trail off, twisting my lips as I find a way to word it. "He's got a lot of trauma behind something really awful that happened in the family, and it's caused him to be wary of men. Including the ones in his family. I feel really bad for him…"

"Sounds bad, sweetheart," he says quietly, clearing his throat. "You know I, uh…I don't get along with one of my brothers either. Lucien's other uncle, not his dad," he corrects on a deep, heavy sigh. "Though we haven't disowned him, wearejust merely tolerating him. Family ties are tough, Mel. They're never perfect. Especially in our world." His eyes find mine and he gives me a little, sad smile. "But we're happy to have you, sweetheart."

I smile back, feeling shy. Still not quite believing that I have a father, much less a whole family to get used to. And I'mwelcomed.