Page 51 of Wild King

We fall into an uneasy silence until I finally say, “I’m sorry to hear about your mother. That must have been hard for you.”

For one of the rare times since I met him, Kellen looks uncomfortable now. I’ve seen him happy, enraged, and miserable, but the expression on his face after I said that seems almost like he’s lost.

“It was hard when my mother died. I wasn’t even a teenager, and Ronan had just turned ten.” He stops for a moment before adding, “I just realized that we’ve lived longer without her than we had with her.”

I’m not sure, but I think his eyes get teary for a moment before he jumps down from the stool and makes his way to the refrigerator. Clearing his throat, Kellen says, “So my buddy Nathan is from this corner of the world. Weird. I’d think I would have seen him before. I mean, it’s not like you can miss the guy. He’s the size of a house.”

“He said he lives in the Bronx now. Maybe he moved away before you could have seen him around. He also mentioned he went to a different school than you did. That could be why you don’t know him.”

Spinning around to face me with a bottle of Coke in his hand, Kellen smirks at me. “Ah, the old he’s a regular guy and the King boys were privileged and went to a private school thing. More facts to help support the idea that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, so why would I deserve to have anyone be nice to me.”

“Nathan didn’t mean anything like that, Kellen. I’m sure of it.”

After taking a swig of soda, he slams the refrigerator door closed and levels his gaze on me. “Not Nathan. You, Salem. You’re the one who has the problem with who I am and what I have. Have a nice night. Enjoy your crumbly sausage.”

I sit there stunned at his words as I watch him walk away with the bottle of soda and the box of pepperoni pizza. I don’t know what I said, but I must have hurt his feelings.

God, this job gets harder and harder every day I’m here.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Kellen

All day,I’ve avoided Salem. I don’t know why. Well, that’s not entirely true. Part of me doesn’t want to talk to her because I’m pretty sure we’re going to have another argument. But another part of me just doesn’t want to talk to anyone today.

I’ve spent most of the past four hours sitting here in my bedroom thinking about my mother and how hard it was when she died. Everyone always said Ronan had it hardest because he was so young when we lost her, but I was only two years older. Just because I didn’t break down into a puddle of tears when she died didn’t mean it didn’t hit me hard.

How proud she’d be of me now. An underling at the family business. Accused of sexually harassing a co-worker. Forced to take a leave of absence from my job because of that mess.

Oh, yeah. She’d be thrilled.

I try to remember my mother’s face, but it’s been so long since I saw her that it’s nearly impossible. I can make out shadows of what I recall she looked like, but that’s it. I rememberher eyes most. Big and brown, just like mine. She could look at a person and say a thousand words without uttering a sound just by staring into their eyes.

As I think about her and try to reconstruct all the good times we had together, I can only remember one time when she and I were alone. That wasn’t her fault, though. Having five kids meant none of us really ever got to be alone with her. That gift was one Matthias only got to enjoy, and that only lasted a couple years until Theo came along.

In my mind, I see her standing by one of the big floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room at the old house. She’s wearing a sundress, maybe pink since it was her favorite color, and she’s waving me over to her. She holds a small box in her hand and smiles at me when I stop in front of her.

I remember that day. She was already sick, but none of us knew it. Even my father didn’t know. My mother knew, though. She knew she wouldn’t be around for long.

Taking a deep breath, I let the memory unfold. She opens the box and inside a watch sits in a cushion of deep blue velvet.

“I found this when I was cleaning out my closet this morning, Kellen. It was your grandfather’s. When you grow up and take over the world, I want you to have this.”

She places the box in my hand, and I look down at the gold watch with diamonds around the face. “Can I wear it before I grow up?” I ask, eager to show it off to my brothers.

My mother shakes her head. “Not yet, honey. But promise you will when you are older and a titan of industry.”

That’s what she always said I’d be. A titan of industry.

I’ve never worn that watch a single day in my life. It still sits in that blue velvet inside that black box. I forgot about it for a long time, and then when I did see it right after I graduated from college, I couldn’t bring myself to put it on.

My mind flashes forward to the day she died. I was so angry at her. It wasn’t right or rational, but I was. The one member of my family that always noticed me was gone.

My father never paid as much attention to the three of us in the middle like he did with Matthias and Ronan. As the oldest, Matthias held all my father’s hopes for King Industries, despite the fact that all I ever wanted was to take after Maximillan King and Matthias would have killed to be released from all those expectations my father had for him. And Ronan was the baby, and for whatever reason, that meant something.

But Theo, Marius, and I were merely his sons. Sure he loved us, but we weren’t the ones he focused on. That meant we got away with a lot more than Matthias and Ronan, but that never made up for how much I missed my mother.

I wish she was here now. So much of what happened after she died would have been different if she was still around.