Confession of a King

It had been five days since the photo of me was sent to Behemoth and our whole world was flipped upside down. Christ was living out of a motel on the other side of town, acting as a mole and tailing a few people in Behemoths’ circle to get more information. Zacky was trying his best at hacking into their systems to see if they had anything on file, but as of now they didn’t. They probably knew better than to leave an electronic trail other than via text/call. Brian was dark; evil. I hadn’t seen him so worked up and interested in killing. He was ready for a hostage situation at any minute, as he would be the abductor.

Chelsea was living with us now, and it was obvious that she was taken back by Brian’s behavior. He was much more harsh with his words; much less caring and compassionate as he usually was. Even at dinner that night, he was cold and distant. Chelsea already had a few meltdowns to me over it, but I understood her. Matt’s switch flipped, too. They were all in their gang-mode. It wasn’t exactly Zacky, Brian and Matt anymore; it was Vengeance, Gates and Shadows. With Christ it was easy, he was always this way, but the other three, this was tough to shake.

Corey’s men had moved in as well. There were four of them living with us; Jeremy, Shaun, Mike and Ryan. They all seemed decent, but they were busy and business oriented at the time. They had pretty much taken over the guest rooms and the living room, but it was as to be expected.

I knocked on the door to the den and stepped inside, eyes of all of the men in the house falling on me. They were in a meeting about their next move and what progress Christ had made. I knew the end goal was for Matt to kill Behemoth, which made me shudder just thinking about it. I pulled myself from my thoughts and licked over my lips, glancing around the room but then staring at Matt, “I know you are busy, but there’s enough food in the kitchen to feed a small army.”

His stone face melted into a smile, “Thank you, baby. We’ll be right out once we’re done. Close the door behind you.”

I nodded and exited the room, closing the door behind me and leaning against it, letting out a breath. Matt had brought up to me the possibility of going to see Alec today if time was available. I missed having my son around, and I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t be nice to get away from this stress for a bit and just spend time with the Sanders family. I had met his parents when we dropped Alec off a few days ago, and only had ten minutes with them, but they seemed genuine.

I walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table next to Chelsea. I grabbed her hand in mine and gave her a small smile, “I know this is hard for you, and it’s hard for me, too. Just have faith that they know what they’re doing and it will all be over soon.”

“I just can’t believe this whole thing started because the guy wants to kill Matt,” she frowned and looked toward the window over the sink. “What could Matt have done that he hates him that much?”

I let out a small laugh, “Brian needs to teach you some things about their world, Chel. It has nothing to do with what Matt has done, but what Matt has. Avenged is on top… they have the most money and most success with everything. The way you make yourself on top is by taking out the one who’s holding you back, and to Behemoth, that’s Matt.”

“If Matt is on top though then why is it so difficult to end this? You’d think that things would be easy, peasy, lemon squeasy,” she huffed and pulled her hand out of mine. “I don’t get why I had to be drug into this bullshit either.”

I rolled my eyes, “Because it’s my fucking life on the line, Chel. Matt has to make sure he’s making all the right moves so that I’m not killed and Alec isn’t left for fucking dead. It’s been this way since the beginning. They were trying to use me as means to get to him. If Behemoth had it his way, he’d kill me in front of Matt. You’re the one that decided to date Brian. I told you not to in the first place. I know it’s hard, but this is your life now and you have to deal with the consequences of the choices you made.”

I got up from the table and pushed my chair in, shaking my head and scoffing at her attitude. I walked about two feet out of the kitchen when Corey bumped into me, a confused look on his face when he saw my heated complexion. I brushed myself past him to make my way toward the stairs, just wanting to be by myself. Of course, that was impossible when Matt’s arm snaked itself around my waist and pulled me into his chest.

“What’s got you so angry, kitten?” He purred into my ear as he released me from his embrace, holding me away at arms length and looking me up and down.

I frowned, “Chelsea is stressed over the situation, and I get it, but she’s being a fucking bitch about it.”

“You were in the same boat at one point, Ivy,” he flicked my nose, playfully. “Cut her some slack. Remember how pissed you were at me when I took control of everything in your life?”

I rolled my eyes, “You’re supposed to side with me, Matthew.”

“Hey now,” he glared. “Don’t use my full name with all these people around.”

I smacked his chest, lightly, “Sorry, I forgot that everyone just assumes your real name is Shadows.”

Brian and Zacky pushed by us without saying a word, Corey’s men following behind them quietly into the kitchen. I guess everyone must’ve been hungry. I pursed my lips watching all of them round the corner and disappear.

Matt snickered, pushing me against the wall in the hallway, “Stop staring at other guys before I knock you the fuck out.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me up and held me against the wall. My legs then wrapped around his waist and I pulled his face in toward mine, our lips a few inches apart, “Go ahead and knock me out, Shadows.”

Matt grinned and kissed me roughly, pressing his lower region up against mine. My hands raked through his hair, scratching at his scalp. He pulled away from my lips, catching my bottom one between his teeth and causing a whimper to emit from me. I was ready to tear his clothes off when his stomach growled, ruining the moment.

“I just lost all sexiness, huh?” He chuckled and gave my ass a light smack.

I shrugged, “Sadly, yes. You should probably go eat before there’s nothing left. We both know that you need at least three servings to fill your big ass up.”

“Is that a fat joke?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe I’m trying to get you fat so that I look better. Life is hard with a boyfriend that’s hotter than me,” I smiled and leaned forward, kissing him again. “Can I ask you a question?”

He pursed his lips and acted like he was thinking, “If you’re going to ask if we can go see Alec after I eat, the answer is yes.”

I was beaming at his statement, “That wasn’t what my question was, but thank you, baby. I was really hoping we would be able to go see him today. How much time do you think we’ll be able to spend there?”

“It looks like today should be pretty clear and we’re going to lay low. I think we should be able to spend a couple hours with my parents and Alec, which will be good so you can get to know them. Christ’s information to us is that Behemoth hasn’t planned out his next move yet, so we’re just going to keep everyone on stand-by and bring Christ home tomorrow. I’m still not comfortable with Alec coming home just yet, so I want to have a discussion with you and my parents about that later,” Matt smiled at me, his hazel eyes and dimples crushing my heart.

I gnawed on my lip, then released it, “Should I make anything to bring to your parents? They’ve been watching him for days. I feel like we should do something for them.”

“Baby, stop,” Matt laughed. “You’re nervous that they aren’t going to like you, but they love you already. They are happy to be watching Alec. You don’t need to do anything.”

I frowned, “You know it worries me. We should do something for them.”

“We can just pick up some flowers and a bottle of wine on the way. I don’t want to waste too much time before hand. I’d like to go see my son as soon as possible,” Matt balanced me against the wall and ran his hand through my hair, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “Now what was your question before we started talking about this?”

My mind switched back, “Oh,” I laughed. “I was just wondering why the other two can’t seem to snap out of gang mode. It’s like they are either fully one way or the other, but you’re able to balance the two. Like you’re not Shadows when it’s the two of us, but when I talk to Bri now, he’s fully Gates.”

Matt sighed, “They don’t know how to turn their brains off, especially Brian. He has one thing on his mind and that’s torturing Ashley. I’m lucky enough to have two beautiful distractions that mean more to me than anything else in this world, and I’m able to balance my work life and my life with you and Alec. If you weren’t in the picture I’d be just like them.”

I nodded and pushed back on Matt’s shoulders, “Let’s get you fueled up and go see our baby, daddy.” He released me and caught my hand in his, then kissed it and left me to go eat while I got myself together to go see his parents and Alec.

I decided to just wear a pair of jeans and a v-neck t-shirt; I would probably get baby drool on me anyway. My hand was laced with Matt’s as we sat on the patio at his parents house, Alec playing on the ground in front of us. We had been here for about three hours now and enjoyed time together… playing with Alec, eating dinner and getting to know one another. Mrs. Sanders, Kim, walked out the back door with a two cups of coffee in her hands and a smile on her face, handing one to me and taking a seat across from us next to Mr. Sanders, Gary.

“Matt, I’m telling you. I don’t know how you did it, but she’s a catch and I’m proud of you,” Gary smirked at his son while taking a sip from the beer bottle in his hands. “Matt told us that you are looking into going back to work in the near future?”

I nodded with a smile, “I’ve been tossing the idea around… as much as I love to stay home and play house, it would be nice to get back to work doing something.”

“She won’t listen to me when I tell her to be a stay at home mom,” Matt laughed from beside me, giving my hand a squeeze. “She’s assured me multiple times that even if we had all the money in the world, she would work.”

I rolled my eyes and looked next to me, my eyes catching Matt’s, “The stay at home mom thing isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. It’d also be nice to get some time away from you.”

Matt’s jaw dropped a bit and I heard Kim laugh while I smirked. His parents were so sweet and easy to get along with, so I felt comfortable joking around in front of them. I pulled my hand from Matt’s and got up from my spot, crouching down and grabbing Alec and holding him in my arms. I had really missed him so much over the past few days; I didn’t know how much longer I could take without having him back home with me.

“You know, since we are both retired, we are more than willing to watch him rather than you enrolling him into a daycare when the time comes,” Kim spoke up. I turned to see her smiling down at Alec and I, “I enjoy having a little one around the house again.”

“Thank you,” I smiled back at her. “Maybe we can think about that once things die down a bit?”

Kim nodded and Gary cleared his throat, “How are things going with the situation, Matt? Have you gotten anymore information?”

It shocked me that Matt was so open with his parents about his career and what was going on, but I kind of understood it. They had a right to know why we had dished Alec off on them randomly, and also had a right to know that at any moment their son could be killed. Matt had confided in me that Kim wasn’t very approving of his career choice, especially with him continuing it after being released from prison, but there was something sketchy about the way Gary communicated about it so easily.

“As far as I am concerned, no,” Matt sighed leaned back in the chair, his hands behind his head. “Last I heard was that they are at a stuck position and do not know how to make their next move. They are aware that we are armed and ready, and that I’m taking this seriously.”

Gary nodded and set his beer bottle down, “You let me know what I can do to help you if it comes down to it. I look forward to you solving this and leaving the field.”

“Me too, dad,” Matt frowned and looked at the watch on his wrist as I watched him through my eyelashes. He looked down at Alec and I, “We should probably head home, baby.”

I nodded and stood up, bringing Alec over to Matt to say goodbye. It broke my heart to see him cling to Matt’s shirt and look up at his daddy with a big grin. Soon he would be home with us, in our new home, and everything would be settled. Matt spoke some words to Alec and gave him kisses all over, then looked at me with a smile. I pressed my lips to my son’s forehead and whispered that I loved him before Matt handed him to Kim. We bid our farewells to his parents and walked toward the car for the twenty-five minute ride back home.

The drive was mostly silent other than the radio playing; Matt’s hand resting on my thigh the whole time, our fingers interlaced. I would glance over at him, his brow furrowed and deep in thought. I couldn’t imagine what all was going through his head right now, but I figured it had to do with the situation. I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning my head back and starting to feel myself slipping to sleep.

“Ivy, get down!” Matt’s voice snapped me out of my dazed state, his hand grabbing the front of my shirt and pulling my chest to my thighs. The sound of glass shattering and something bouncing off metal filled my ears. I felt the glass fall onto my back and told myself that this couldn’t be happening.

Notes