Just Like That (The Kings)

Thirty minutes earlier . . .

My shoes clacked on the sidewalk as I made efficient progress toward my small downtown office. The sidewalks were unusually busy for mid-August, even though it was still considered tourist season in Outtatowner. People were milling around, seemingly searching for something. They all appeared preoccupied by it, but I didn’t have time to stop and ask what new drama was unfolding in my small town.

Also, I didn’t care.

My life was already too full with carrying the stress of managing a billion-dollar company in the face of a scandal. It was plastered all over the news, and the sharks were out for blood. My father had royally fucked us, and I was charged with making it right.

Outside of his tattoo shop, my brother Royal was scanning the sidewalks when I approached.

He held out his hand in greeting. “JP.”

I nodded and took it. “Royal.”

I exhaled and squinted against the sun as we watched the tourists filter in and out of the downtown shops. “This fucking town . . .”

I was never supposed to be stuck here.

King Equities was meant to be the launching pad of my own successful empire, not the family company that had the potential to ruin my entire career—not to mention my reputation. If I wasn’t careful, my father’s actions would dismantle my entire life brick by brick.

“You could do it, you know,” Royal eventually said. I glanced over, unsure of what he meant. “Get out of here,” he clarified. “Start over in a big city where you can make a new name for yourself.”

I nodded slowly, looking down at my shoes and trying to find the right words to explain the many, many hours I’d spent dreaming of doing exactly that. “I could.” A shrug was all I could muster. “I might.”

Shock and disbelief at what my father was accused of had made its way through town like wildfire. He’d all but admitted he’d murdered our mother when we were children. She had found out about a second family in Chicago, and she’d had plans to leave him and take us with her. Instead, he took her from us, and we’d spent our entire lives believing she had simply abandoned us.

I was still grappling with the guilt that I’d blamed her for so long. She was trying to take us with her––to leave him behind and keep us safe––when he’d killed her for choosing her children over him.

Many in town went out of their way to express their support for our family. Others stood by the man they had thought my father to be and vehemently denied he was ever capable of murder.

They branded our mother a whore and a flake—claimed my father was a saint for raising six kids when she left him.

They have no idea of the hell we lived through.

I had the money and the power to leave it all behind me. All I had to do was sacrifice any relationship I had with my siblings and I’d be rid of them and the curse of the King name.

I simply didn’t have the balls to do it.

“Who am I kidding?” I sighed, hoping Royal didn’t detect the slight wistfulness in my voice. “There’s too much shit here to take care of. Who’s going to help you keep the Sullivans in check, if not me?”

Royal chuckled and clamped a hand on my shoulder. “I appreciate that. You know, I have been thinking Wyatt is due for a little pestering.”

Our small town was a ridiculous place where centuries-old family rivalries morphed into grown men pulling pranks on one another and acting like idiots for no good reason. At least, reasons none of us could remember.

Hell, our sister Sylvie had even married a Sullivan and had his kid.

I forced a smile and shook my head. “You are such a child.”

Royal pushed my arm. “Nah, I guess they’ve been all right.”

In fact, the family we’d been groomed to hate had been more than all right. Over the past three weeks, the Sullivan family had rallied behind us Kings after we’d uncovered that our father was behind the disappearance of our mother. He had let us all believe she’d left us as children, but we’d uncovered the truth.

He’d taken her from us because she had chosen to love her children more than him.

Together we petitioned the Department of Natural Resources to allow Wabash Lake to be dredged. We didn’t know what we might find, but if there was any chance our mother’s remains were there, we wanted to know.

I just wanted it behind us, once and for all.

“The Sullivans and Kings working together.” I shook my head. “It’s weird, though, right?”

Royal laughed. “So fucking weird.”

I crossed my arms to cover the tugging sensation at the center of my chest. Part of me was restless, wanting to get back to work and get shit done. The other part—the part that was acutely aware of the gaping hole in my chest that should contain a heart—warned me to at least try to connect with my older brother.

I simply wasn’t that guy.

“I don’t know. Maybe a little change around here is a good thing. Speaking of change . . .” I checked my watch, annoyed that our conversation was taking far too long already. “You planning to keep Veda around for a while?”

Royal unsuccessfully tried to suppress a grin. That man was down bad for his woman. Veda and I had been cordial business contacts in Chicago, and I had brought her into town to help me dig through my father’s business dealings.

It hadn’t taken long for Royal to charm his way into her heart.

Typical.

“Thinking about it. Why?” he asked.

I laid out the facts. “She’s fucking smart. And a hard worker too. I want to bring her onto the team full-time, but I don’t need you breaking my new employee’s heart and fucking with my plans.”

Royal’s face split into a wide grin. “If I get my way, she’ll be my wife, and then you’ll be stuck with her for the foreseeable future.”

I smiled back, satisfied. Having Veda on the team would double our efforts, and I needed someone as cutthroat and efficient as me. “Fantastic.” I shook his hand again. “Think she’ll want to officially sign on with a company that’s completely going to shit?”

Royal laughed. “I’m sure she’ll consider it a welcome challenge.”

I sighed. Though early, exhaustion was already settling in. I shook my head at Royal. “How you ended up with a woman like her is beyond me, brother.”

Before he could come back with a quippy response, my phone rang, flashing my brother Whip’s name across the screen.

I held up my hand, cutting off Royal’s response.

“JP,” Whip said over the line before I could even say hello. “You won’t believe this. I’ve got a kid here who says you’re his dad. You know anything about that? I swear, man, he’s⁠—”

“Wait, wait. Slow down. What the fuck are you talking about? Where are you?” I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“I’m at the fire station. Are you busy?” he asked.

“Yes.” It was ridiculous of him to even ask.

Whip scoffed and kept rattling on, despite my best efforts to brush him off. “You sure you didn’t steal from Dad’s playbook and have a secret family no one knows about?”

Irritation rolled off me. The constant comparisons between my father and me were plentiful. As if I needed another reminder.

“No,” I ground out.

“Cute kid. If he’s yours, you can tell me. I won’t tell anyone. Just Emily . . . and Sylvie . . . plus Abel. Probably Royal and MJ too.” Humor danced across the line, and the ever-present knot between my shoulders tightened.

Of course he’d run his mouth to his fiancée and our siblings just to goad me. I wouldn’t expect any less of my ridiculous older brother.

I huffed. “Of course it’s not mine.”

Whip clicked his tongue in disbelief. “Well, he’s pretty convinced—knew your name and everything.” His chuckle grated on my already fried nerves. “The kid looks just like you, man. Are you absolutely sure?”

I sighed again, my mind spinning. I had a sinking feeling that this wasn’t going away until I dealt with it. “I don’t know—Jesus, I will be right there.”

I quickly ended the call and shoved the phone into the pocket of my slacks.

“Everything all right?” Royal’s eyes raked over me.

“I have to go—that was Whip. Apparently some kid at the fire station thinks I’m his dad.” The muscles in my jaw flexed, and a hammering throb pounded behind my eyes. Without looking back, I stormed down the sidewalk in the direction of the fire station. “I do not have time for this bullshit.”

By the time I got to the fire station, my feet were fucking killing me. Twelve hundred dollars for Bontoni Italian designer shoes and I was still losing circulation to my pinkie toes.

I should buy the company and sell it off piece by piece, simply for the inconvenience.

I flicked away the rogue thought and came up short when the small gathering in front of the fire station came into view.

My sister Sylvie was standing next to Whip. Concern pitched her brows forward as she whispered something to him.

Lee Sullivan was there with his ever-present, shit-eating grin. He was enjoying every second of whatever was unfolding, and I had a feeling it would come back to bite me in the ass if I didn’t tread lightly.

Beside him, a little kid was prattling on and keeping his attention.

As I approached, my eyes snagged on a pair of long, smooth legs peeking out of dangerously short denim cutoffs. Legs that seemed to go on forever before flaring out into full hips and a tight, round ass. The woman’s hair flowed down her back in wild yet pale strawberry blond waves. The unique color reminded me of an expensive French Rosé Belle champagne as it swung across her back.

Her tank top scooped low over impossibly perky breasts in a way that screamed distracting. Her soft brown eyes swept my way, locking onto my face. Every cell in my body sparked and sputtered as they tried to ignite but groaned from neglect. I couldn’t even recall the last time I’d had sex, and there was no way in hell I’d forget being with a woman who looked like her.

Relief flooded my system.

Clearly there was a misunderstanding and I could be back to the office in a matter of minutes. All I had to do was make yet another problem go away, and I’d be done with it.

I folded my hands in front of me as I stood in front of the mismatched group waiting outside the fire station.

The pretty redhead’s eyes widened, and I cleared my throat as a sudden shot of nerves hit me. Clearly I’d been more out of practice than I remembered.

I turned my attention to my brother Whip. “You called?”

His eyes bounced between the mystery woman and me. He must have been expecting some kind of spark of recognition, but the only spark I was feeling currently resided behind my zipper.

The kid stepped between us, his small hand raised in the air for a handshake. “Hello.”

I slowly took his hand in mine and shook. “Hello.”

“My name is Theodore Adams. You are my father.” He was so sure of himself it was almost endearing.

“Uh . . . hi. I’m JP King.” A soft chuckle rumbled out of me as we awkwardly shook hands. “I’m afraid you’re misinformed. I assure you, I am not your father.”

The sheer ridiculousness of it was laughable. No one would ever be so cursed as to have me as a father.

I had always been careful.

A light scoff puffed out of the redhead’s nose as she stepped forward, gently placing her hand on the kid’s forearm, breaking our handshake. “Teddy . . .”

Her whisper was husky and thick. Instant desire ran through me, and my mind wandered before I could shut it down. I wanted to soak her in and discover if her laugh was as rich and thick as her whisper. I suddenly wanted to know everything about the mystery woman in front of me.

The boy frowned at the woman, and she shook her head. “Bro, come on.” She shrugged. “You needed a better opener.”

Bro?

The woman guided Teddy beside her as she adjusted the strap of her oversize purse and lifted her warm, brown eyes.

Whip suppressed a smile before jumping in. “I caught Teddy here trying to climb into the Safe Souls baby box.”

My gaze flicked to the kid. He had dark hair and sharp bluish-green eyes, just like me. He was a good dresser—I’d give him that—but there was no way in hell he could be my kid.

He had to be what? Five? Seven? Hell, I couldn’t tell.

His nose was in the air as his small shoulder lifted. “Well, isn’t that how babies get dropped off?”

I glanced over to where a small box was built into the side of the building next to a red button to alert those inside when a newborn baby was surrendered and left by its caretakers.

My brows cinched down. “You’re kind of big. Did you really think you were going to fit inside that thing? Be real.”

The woman stepped forward. “You don’t have to speak to him like that.”

Her temper flared and I hated myself for liking her fire, just a little bit. Still, there was no way on earth I was this kid’s father. I sure as hell would have remembered rolling in the hay with a knockout like her. She wasn’t the type of woman a man would easily forget.

Her chin rose and fury simmered behind her eyes. “Does the name Olive Adams mean anything to you?”

I avoided her gaze. It was far too distracting, and I could feel the eyes of everyone on me. My brain rifled through the filing cabinet of memories and came up blank.

“Should it?” I asked.

Her nostrils flared, and my eyes roamed to her lush, full lips. A flicker of annoyance pinched my chest. I shouldn’t have stared at her mouth.

Whip cleared his throat, cutting through the tension in the air. “Hey, Teddy. Want to see inside the fire station?”

The little boy’s eyes lit up like fireworks. “Can I ride down the pole?”

Whip laughed as he guided the kid toward the open bay door. “Maybe some other time. How about we watch Lee make a fool of himself instead.” He tipped his head toward Lee, who followed him toward the station.

Sylvie slunk backward, likely unsure if she should give us a moment of privacy or stay to watch the dumpster fire in front of her.

The gorgeous redhead in front of me was fuming.

I looked around, my palms facing upward as I scoffed. “So, what? I’m the asshole here?”