But I didn’t even last as long as he did.
I had barely been the Skull King a year before I retired.
A bit pathetic.
But with Catalina at home, I knew I would still feel like a king.
Because she was the Skull Queen.
She had the same kind of criminality in her veins as I did, but she was also wrapped in a pretty bow of innocence, having no idea what kind of history was in her blood, where that feistiness came from, where she got her edge.
So, I had something to look forward to when I got home.
The rest of my life.
Steel sat beside me. “You still seem angry.”
I turned to him, my mind somewhere else. “Just a bit sentimental.”
“Sentimental?” he asked. “I’m surprised you even know what that word means.”
I gave him a teasing glare.
“Why are you sentimental?” he asked, turning serious.
I slipped my hand into the front pocket of my jeans and withdrew the ring. I held it up, looking at it one last time, finding it difficult to part with the biggest symbol of my identity. It was a piece of me. But now, I would wear a new ring.
Steel’s eyes narrowed.
I extended it to him. “You’re in charge now, man.”
His hold on his beer loosened until it started to drip over the edge. He quickly corrected himself, brushing off the beer that spilled on his knee. “Heath, what are you talking about?”
“It’s time for me to move on. You’re my replacement.”
“I don’t understand.” He set down the beer. “You’re a great Skull King. Why would you want to leave?”
That was why I loved Steel. He’d always been loyal to me, even when power dangled right in front of him. “It’s time for me to move on,” I repeated. I placed the ring in his hand. “Wear it well.”
He stared at the ring in his palm, watching it shine like a prism, and then he closed his fingers around it before he gave a slight nod.
“I’m just a phone call away.” I patted him on the shoulder before I rose to my feet, feeling the weight off my shoulders now that I’d sacrificed the title I thought I would never shed. Walking away from my power was harder than I made it seem. I gave an unequivocal answer when Richard put me on the spot, but that was the price I had to pay to have his daughter, and I paid it.
I walked past the guys, clapped them on the shoulders, shook hands, said a few final words, let time slow down as I stepped away from my reign of power and returned to civilian life. I had enough saved to take care of us for the rest of our lives, but she never asked me about my finances.
Because she didn’t care.
I walked out of there for the last time. Closing that chapter of my life.
And opening a new one.“You seem to be alright, all things considered.” Balto sat on the opposite couch while the morning light filled the living room. Cassini was still asleep, probably tossing and turning all night while her husband was gone, risking his life…again.
I shrugged. “I thought I would last a lot longer than that.”
He shrugged. “So did I.”
“Wow, I’m an even bigger pussy than you…”
“Hey, I just risked my neck to save your ass—”
“Catalina’s ass. And she has a nice ass.”
He rolled his eyes. “In all seriousness, are you alright? Couldn’t have been easy to give up your ring.”
“It wasn’t.”
He watched me for a while.
“But Catalina gave me a ring to wear…so that’ll be my replacement.”
He nodded.
“And she’s worth it.”
He nodded again. “It’s not fast-paced, it’s not unpredictable, but…it’s somehow the most exhilarating experience ever.”
I could picture that with Catalina, a long and happy life, a life full of her feistiness and my stubbornness. “I’m gonna tell you something. It stays between us.” I pointed between our chests. “You can’t tell Cassini either.”
“You know I’m a locked vault full of secrets.” He stared into his glass.
“When I was with her family on Christmas, I was talking to her father…”
He raised his head and looked at me.
After a long pause, I finished the statement. “He used to be the Skull King.”
Balto had the best poker face in the world, but even he couldn’t hide his surprise at the revelation.
“That’s why he and I…click.”
“When?”
I shook my head. “He didn’t say. I didn’t ask. It doesn’t really matter anyway.”
“How old is he?”
“In his seventies.”
“So, this must have been like thirty, forty years ago.”
“Yeah.”
“The Skull Kings have been around for almost a hundred years.” Balto swirled his drink before he set it on the table. “It’s had a lot of members, a lot of rulers.”
“Yeah.”
“Catalina doesn’t know?”
I shook my head. “He told me to never tell her. Damien doesn’t know either.”
“But he told you… I think that’s the best approval you’re going to get.”