Page 48 of The Spare (The King Dynasty #2)

"So what's your uncle like, Mase?" Melody asks, drawing my attention from the dresser where I'm busy clasping my watch and trying to pick out a pair of earrings for her. She's seated at the little vanity by the window, struggling with her eye liner.

"Truthfully, I don't know much about him," I respond, settling on a simple pair of emerald studs and a delicate gold bracelet.

"Really?" she says in a shocked tone before scoffing, pulling out a makeup wipe in an agitated movement.

I hum. "Really. He doesn't come around much."

"Why not?"

Her voice sounds weird, I turn my head, seeing she's leaned two inches away from the mirror and her mouth is open wide as she concentrates.

She grumbles, fucking up the wing again.

I scrunch my brows and fold my arms, leaning a hip against the dresser as I watch her smooth the wipe against her skin and take a deep breath before picking up the eyeliner pen.

"He and Father have some sort of… beef."

She turns, putting curious eyes on me before going back to the mirror.

I grab our beaded matching bracelets that we'd gotten from the vendor in the market yesterday and pull mine on the same wrist as my watch.

I pull out my phone, texting Dante and Stephen that we're almost ready and to meet us outside of our suite so we can head out to the cars together.

Sensing she can't do her makeup and hold a conversation at the same time I keep talking.

"You know, we were never really told other than something happened between Father and him that they can't get past." I elaborate, walking towards her and place my hands on the back of her chair, leaning in as she takes another makeup remover wipe and scrubs at her eye.

I tsk my tongue and turn her gently, stepping between her legs and reaching for the liner .

She arches a brow at me, recoiling her face and pinning me with an incredulous stare. "What are you doing?" she asks sharply as I tilt her head up and to the side, pulling the cap off and tossing it to the vanity table.

"Doing your liner for you since you can't seem to manage it," I say, getting closer and putting the tip of it to the corner of her eye.

"Have you ever done this before?" she says with amusement, blinking.

"No. Now be still and close your eyes for me."

As she does, I begin to stroke the pen carefully across her eyelid, going slow.

"You know," she says quietly, "I wonder if it has something to do with the missing journal from their archives.

" Finishing the wing she likes so much, I pause.

Pulling back, I frown at her as she opens her eyes and swivels her head to look in the mirror.

"Hey! You did it, and it looks so good, too." She gets a wide smile; however, I can't enjoy it, curious about what she's talking about. "There are three missing journals, actually: your parents’, your grandfather’s, and your Uncle William’s."

"Oh," I say absentmindedly. "Well, my parents just don't want us to see how raunchy they were, so they closed it off from us kids.

As far as my Uncle, he never took a spouse so he wouldn't have one," I pause, helping her off the little bench and taking her hand in mine as we walk to the door to head down to the cars awaiting us outside.

"That I know of, I mean. He dropped out of the family about four decades ago, and when he was here four years ago he never mentioned any cousins of mine so. .. I guess not."

"Well, that's sad," she says in a mellow tone. "He didn't wan't to come to our wedding?"

I shake my head, giving her hand a squeeze. "Nah, he told me once a decade was more than enough. He said he'd be more than happy to meet you on our honeymoon."

"Four decades," she breathes. "Mason, that's a long time to not have your siblings, your nieces and nephews. No spouse and no parents either? The poor man must be fucking lonely," she says as we take a grand staircase down to the lobby, our security tailing us in discrete clothes.

As we slide into the back of the car, she puts on her sunglasses, protecting against the Mediterranean sun. I hand the driver my uncle's address and click my seatbelt on. We ride in silence for a bit, and I hold her hand as we both take in the beautiful coast.

"It's so pretty here," she states quietly, looking out the window. "I'd love to live somewhere off the water one day. What sea is this?"

"It's the Adriatic Sea. William's got a place near here about fifteen minutes away that butts up to the water, so I'm told."

"Jesus," she scoffs, turning her head to look at me. "Italy's a pretty far place to relocate."

I hum. "It is. Hendrix gifted Vi a villa somewhere near here. We're supposed to drop in and check on it at some point."

Our attention is riveted to a pair of iron gates that open easily, letting us onto a property that hosts a sprawling villa.

The car bumps over cobblestones, and when it comes to a stop, Melody and I climb out to the sight of Uncle William standing on the front steps.

Dressed in a pair of beige colored pants, a white shirt, and leather dress shoes, he leans against the white-washed stone of his villa with his hands in his pockets, looking way more welcoming than I'd ever seen him in the States around us.

"Uncle," I call. Taking Melody's hand I toss her a glance and smile down at her as I pull her up the steps. "How are you? "

When we get to the top, he immediately pulls Melody into his arms. "Buongiorno! Look at the blushing bride. You're so beautiful, just like your mother," he says in a boisterous tone that's reminiscent of my father's.

Her mother? My brain picks up on that little bit of information, storing it to go over it sometime later.

I feel a rather interestingly lighthearted joy at the sight of William. He looks calm, even peaceful, dare I say it, in his element. With not an ounce of stress that usually marks his face when he's around my parents. He lets go of Melody to eye me.

"Mason," he says, pulling me in next. I go a bit more cautiously than Melody did; nonetheless, William doesn't act like he notices, patting my back and fixing his smile onto me. Dare I say he's the more outgoing brother? "How's being married?"

I smile, my mind immediately going to us making love last night. I clear my throat and look down at Melody, whose lips are twitching as she tries to beat back that wide smile I love so much.

"Well," I say. "You won't hear me complaining one bit."

William gives me a knowing chuckle and turns us, gesturing for us to go ahead of him through the red stained double doors. As we walk through the white, open concept foyer, he turns to Melody. "I hear you have an appetite for books?" he asks.

This time her smile does break free.

"Yes, I love them."

"Well, then." He takes her by the shoulder and then bends down as if he's sharing a juicy secret. "If you go down that hallway, you'll find an extensive collection of books I doubt you've seen in the States."

Melody's practically salivating. "Really?" she half whispers, taking a step forward. Pulling up short, she turns her head to look back at me. I walk forward, placing a kiss on her lips and press gently into her lower back.

"Go," I say. "William and I should probably talk a while anyways. I'll come get you for lunch if you haven't found us by then." She laughs and then takes off in the direction of the library, and I turn eyeing my uncle who's watching me thoughtfully. "What?"

He shrugs, giving me another good-natured chuckle. "Nothing much, but oh, to be young again."

He pivots and leads me through the home and into a cozy, yet expansive den where the four double doors are opened, letting the breeze and mist of the sea filter into the home.

I can't help but be anxious now that we're alone.

Other than the time four years ago that I'd come to him desperate for a loan to start up my finance company, I don't know much about the man.

I never get a chance to see William, so, when Melody told me she'd wanted to honeymoon in Italy, I took the opportunity to get to know my elusive uncle.

Correction: ostracized uncle.

I step across the red bricks inlaid in the floor and take in the space, my eyes immediately going to a framed quote above the fireplace.

Assemble the shattered and broken pieces of yourself, safe in the knowledge that even scars can catch the light.

A jolt runs through my body at the words.

Seeing me staring, his eyes slide to the quote before flickering back to mine.

"It's there to remind me every day that the world doesn't wait, Mase.

" He turns back to the hand painted quote on the wall.

"Even when we need it to," he says softly.

"It's choosing to understand the raw truth about life: it doesn't wait until you're ready to break you down and strip you of your innocence and your preconceived notions of what love is…

or what family means. It's choosing to understand that life will break you down, and you have to get up and find that drive within you to keep going anyway.

" He turns, his eyes pinning mine. "That's why I gave you that money to start up. "

"You saw something in me my own father didn't," I say harshly, that pain of choosing to go at it alone those first two and a half years without the protection of my family name throbbing in my chest.

Even though I eventually formed my own sector under King Dynasty, I wasn't allowed in until my father deemed I was ready.

Uncle William's eyes soften; he folds his arms and shakes his head on a deep sigh.

"I saw a man who needed someone to take a chance on him.

A man who just wanted to survive. But I know what it's like to survive, Mason.

And I knew that if you were just let out of your corner long enough, that you might have half a chance of thriving. "

His eyes rise to meet mine. Emotion rolls through me, causing my throat to tighten and my eyes to prick with unshed tears, and his voice softens with his next words.

"But…I also saw a man who desperately needed forgiveness and understanding. Something I was never granted."