Page 1 of The Spare (The King Dynasty #2)

Mason and Melody's First Meeting

A t King Compound, I lean my head on my fist and tear my eyes from the two story windows showcasing the dusky evening, watching Isobel go to her knees in front of my mother and take baby Vi into her arms. I'm utterly bored, itching to be anywhere but here.

In my peripheral, Hendrix's eyes snap to mine, waiting for me to acknowledge him, but I don't, averting my eyes.

I greet his ass every week. He'll be okay if we skip one.

I do, however, give Isobel a small smile when she turns her head to me and says hello. My beef isn't with her, just her fucking husband.

Hendrix sits down on the couch near Isobel, and gets this look on his face that informs me he's completely whipped. Bending my elbow, I look at my watch on an eye roll just as Father leans towards me.

"Mason, have you thought any more about the talk that your brother and I had with you about the family business?

" I slowly turn my head to the side, and as I meet Father's blue eyes, I find myself searching for even a hint of something that I'm more than just a work horse for this family's reputation.

A futile effort as usual, because there's nothing.

All his affection is reserved for Mama, Teresa, and now Isobel, apparently. Typical Richard King.

I hesitate answering because this is bullshit.

I could be on a beach in Bora Bora right now with my friends for two weeks, but Father forced me to cancel my trip because we're supposed to be meeting Isobel's family.

Now, why I have to meet them makes no sense to me.

They're not my in-laws; they're Hendrix's.

But, as the Golden Child, the world will continue to evolve around him.

"Well?" Father says, arching an eyebrow as he takes a sip of his whiskey.

"I'm interested in the finance aspect-" I cut my words off at the disgusted expression that slides over Father's features, looking away from the familiar stern stare that lets me know I should have just kept my mouth shut, because it doesn't matter what I want. It never has.

"I thought I'd told you that I'd already given you my answer regarding that, Mason. To put you over the King Dynasty financial future after you've done nothing to earn that spot isn't going to fly. No. Find something else."

A surge of anger rises up in me, so vicious that my eyes narrow. "But this is what I'm good at, Father. There is nothing else."

Not for me.

"Anything else," Father stresses as his brow pulls low in that all-too-familiar stare that lets me know I need to rethink how I push back at him.

"Just find something that doesn't involve you in the forefront of billions of dollars of our company and client's assets," he says sternly.

"It's not exactly a hard request, Mason. "

A muscle ticks in my jaw at the request because finance is the only thing I'm good at. Numbers, stocks, bonds; the green shit that makes the world go around.

It's why I wanted in with Balducci. The money I could have made there, the connections, would have been unlimited.

Helping the underground families further their financial interests would have propelled me even higher than Richard King's status, and would have aligned me with the world's most powerful.

I wouldn't have been limited to Richard King's Dynasty.

I could have had my own.

And the fact that I was foiled at every attempt burns my ass up in a way I can't even verbalize, so I keep my mouth shut for the most part. Not a hard feat, as they never want to hear from me anyway. I'm the family's black sheep. I wonder how they'd take it if I baaed at them instead of talking.

Maybe I'll bleat at Hendrix next week, instead of saying hello.

Just then, my parent's butler comes into the room announcing the presence of Isobel's mother and sister, Donna and Melody.

Thankful for the distraction, I look up, seeing a beautiful African American woman with tiny, intricate locks that are twisted up in a rather elegant crown on top of her head.

Some escape out to frame her face, hanging past her breasts.

My first perception of her is, simply put, shocking.

She's young. Maybe around forty or so? Whatever her age, Donna does not look near old enough to have a child Isobel's age.

My interest piques just about as high as my brows raise as I take in the woman's physique; her skin gleams, showcasing delicate collarbones that flow into impressive arms of steel. She's dressed in a lavender dress and sandals. This is not what I expected Isobel's mother to look like, honestly.

"Hello, everybody!" Donna greets us all with a reserved smile.

She must think we're all idiots because we're all struck rather dumb at the statuesque woman, and no one says anything at first. Suddenly, a movement behind her draws my attention.

As my eyes cut to the flash of blue fabric, both the blood and common sense leaves my body as I lock eyes with the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life who has to be Melody.

I can't think straight.

She doesn't look like her sister.

Whereas Isobel has light skin, cat-shaped hazel eyes, deep auburn hair, and a curvaceous body, Melody has hip-length dark-brown hair, darker skin, almond-shaped eyes, and freckles all over her face.

My eyes tear from hers, dragging down her body to take in her slender arms. Her mid-thigh length dress showcases the toned legs of an obvious athlete.

She's got an inverted A-frame body type with breasts on the smaller side.

And she looks…shy.

She hasn't said a word yet, which is fine because neither have I. My eyes snap back to hers, seeing she's blushing furiously.

Suddenly, Hendrix's infuriated face steps into my eyesight, and he snatches me up roughly by my elbow.

I rise fluidly from the chair, looking past him to catch her eye again.

Her head turns to keep my eye contact, and a grin tugs at my mouth as he pulls me behind him, moving to the other side of the room and well out of the ear shot of our families.

"Hey, Hen. Let go of me!" I snap tugging against his hold, but it just makes him tighten down even harder as he jerks me around to face him.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he says roughly. "She's sixteen, Mason!"

Irritated, I throw his hands up and take a step back, getting some distance between him and me. Seriously, it's too much after my conversation with Father. I need them to leave me the fuck alone.

"Nothing, Hendrix. Goddamn, you are such a fucking killjoy .

I thought being married to Isobel would calm you down a little because you're finally getting laid on a regular, but nope, still just as uptight of a dick as ever," I snap, snatching my arm away on a frustrated grunt and narrowing my eyes at him.

He narrows his eyes back, pointing a finger at my face. "Stay the fuck away from her, Mason. She's underage!"

"All I did was look at her! Goddamn, bro.

Can you mind your fucking business for once?

" I clench my jaw hard as I avert my face and fold my arms, leaning a shoulder against the wall.

Across the massive room, Melody is taking a seat on one of the leather couches, away from the others.

She pulls a throw pillow to her chest and hugs it.

"No," he snarls. At his violent tone, I drag my eyes from watching Melody, and see he's clenching his fists. Good, I hope he tries it. My eyes slowly slide back to his.

"I want her."

He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Ohhh, Jesus. You have really lost your goddamn mind." He takes a deep breath.

I guess it'd be too much to ask that he hold it till he passes out for once.

My eyes slide back to Melody, uncaring of what he thinks about me.

I've pretty much given up ever receiving approval from him or Father.

Melody shakes her head as Teresa offers Vi to her to hold, and the soft, apologetic smile that graces her face does something to me.

My heart tugs at the way her doe-shaped eyes can't quite maintain anyone's eye contact, and she doesn't try to take up any more space than she has to.

Instead she works to make herself smaller. As far away from the spotlight as possible. She tucks her hair behind her ear, shaking her head no once again as my father offers her a water.

Her movements are insular, graceful.

I feel a connection to her I can't explain. My eyes slide back to Hendrix, seeing him staring at me with a perplexed look on his face.

"No, Hendrix. You don't understand, I want her."

As we stare each other down, his eyes widen.

"No!" he says sternly, shaking his head and taking a threatening step towards me.

" I forbid it! She's too young. Stop thinking with your motherfucking dick!

She's not a conquest, Mase. Not one of your back alley whores you pick up at the strip club.

That's my wife's sister, and I won't hesitate to fuck you up if you hurt her. "

My eyes narrow, because I haven't even thought once about fucking her.

"I didn't say I wanted her today," I stress quietly. Turning my gaze back to Melody, I continue to watch her, fascinated. As I think, I tap my hand nice and slow against my bicep. "But in any event, I'll wait. Say, what do suppose you call your sister-in-law if she's also your brother's wife? "

Melody crosses her long legs, and though she's in a skirt that goes to her knees, the action causes it to ride up showing plenty of thigh.

Heat crawls up my neck at the sight. Hendrix scoffs, turning on his heel to walk to her, snagging a blanket off the back of a leather chair and draping it over her legs.

She looks up at him, arching an eyebrow.

Pulling out my phone, I type out a text.

Fuck you, Hendrix. -Mase

Hendrix pulls out his phone, before being distracted by something Donna says to him. I walk over to join them, deciding I'd like to get to know her. I sit down directly next to her, ignoring Hendrix's face turning pink. The first thing I notice is her smell. She smells sweet. Innocent.

I hate she's tainted by this family. She deserves to be free.

My phone pings.

I'm going to haul you to the backyard to beat your fucking ass. Go sit somewhere else, NOW!- Hendrix

I'd like to see him try. I'd lay his ass out so quick he wouldn't know what hit him.

Thoroughly annoyed with my oldest sibling, I throw him a filthy look before shifting my stance; I spread my legs and cross my arms, grazing Melody's thigh with mine.

She shoots me an innocent look and smiles, shifting herself to where she's facing me a little bit more head on and pulling her leg away.

I give her a smile, looking back at my phone to text Hendrix back.

No, I don't think I will. Is this how you felt when you first met Isobel? -Mase

Looking up I give him a sly grin before turning to Melody, who's clueless.

"Damn, you got some legs, girl!" I tease in a lighthearted voice that's in direct contrast to how I currently feel on the inside. The longer she looks at me, the more the room falls away. Leaving just me and her. "You a runner?" I ask, striving for nonchalance.

Her head tilts a little and a bright smile almost splits her face in half.

She's got a wide, endearing mouth that's warm and welcoming. And the fact I just made her smile like this chases some of that resentment away that's always there regarding my relationship with my family, and it causes this sudden yearning for her to deepen.

Nothing, so far, has worked to pull me out of this pit of hate that's been my home for so long that I can't even remember when I first fell into it.

My eyes roam her face, enamored with the fact that an innocent girl with doe eyes, a wide smile, and twenty three freckles managed to do with one smile and twenty seconds what countless experienced whores across four continents haven't been able to accomplish in seven years.

"Yeah, I'm in cross country," Melody says, her soft voice reeling me in the rest of the way. With that tone she's got me hook, line, and sinker. I'm gone. "I can run ten miles without stopping."

"Jesus," I drawl lazily, running my gaze across her face.

"That's impressive. Sounds like you have some stamina.

My name's Mason; I'm Hendrix's brother." I hold out my hand but don't move to actually shake hers, merely wrapping my fingers around her slender fingers and squeeze gently, content to have her skin against mine.

"I'm Melody. Pleased to meet you too, Mason." Melody deftly plucks her hand out of my grasp, and my eyes flicker to her lips for a hot second.

When she looks away back towards the baby, they go even lower to pause on her breasts before flickering back up to her eyes. I give her my most devilish smile in an attempt to catch her attention once more, and pleasure fills me as her face goes bright red.

"No, I'm pretty sure the pleasure's all mine, Mel," I say.

"Baby, are you pregnant?"

Donna's voice breaks our spell, and we turn our head in unison to where she sits across from us staring rather hard at Isobel, who's tucked under Hendrix's arm looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Yes, we just found out yesterday," Isobel says with a sheepish look on her face. "I wasn't going to say anything because it's Vi's day and we didn't want to dim her shine."

Curious, I glance at Melody who's oddly silent, making me wonder if she knew. Something tells me she didn't, though. When she clutches the pillow to her chest even harder, I lean into her, sliding my palm to her back as I whisper in her ear.

"Seems we're going to have so many kids to spoil, huh, Auntie?" I whisper conspiratorially. "Congratulations."

"Get your hand off her," Hendrix says quietly, giving me a narrow eyed look. I roll my eyes, turning my attention back to Melody, who's frowning at Hendrix.

She's so intriguing.

"It was nice meeting you, butterfly," I whisper, pressing my hand slightly harder into her lower back before pulling away and standing up to walk over to my father, who's sat back down in his chair after fawning all over Isobel.

Blatantly ignoring Hendrix, I straighten my spine, aware of Melody's eyes on my back and make my decision.

I'll claw my way to the top if it means I get to have her, I don't care who's in my way.

Family or no family. Bending down into Father's ear, I put my hand on his shoulder.

He turns his head slightly, his eyes finding mine.

"I'll do it without you," I say coldly, turning and striding out the door, only giving Melody one last look as I head out.

Playtime is officially over. By the end of the week I've secured a two million dollar loan from Uncle William, and I'm firmly on my way.