Promises (The Kings of Guardian #14) - Kris Michaels
Chapter 1
“I hate fucking parties.”
Jacob King choked on his bourbon at his brother Joseph’s words. Joseph gave him a side-eyed glare, but damn it, the guy was hilarious. When he could suck air, he replied. “You hate everything.”
Joseph rolled his eyes. “Not true.”
Pushing Joseph’s buttons probably wasn’t smart, but the bourbon was going down easy tonight which, according to Tori, always made him a bit stupid. He grinned. Stupid was fun, especially around his brothers. He pointed at his brother with the same hand that held his glass of bourbon. “Name one thing.”
“Ember and Blake.” Joseph rasped his wife and son’s names. A rare smile appeared. “That’s two.” A satisfied sneer crossed Joseph's face.
Jacob shook his head. “That’s a given, and it wasn’t what––”
“Miss Amanda,” Dixon piped up.
“Frank,” Drake added.
“Knives.” Chief sniggered the word and lifted his damn snifter of cognac.
“Fighting.” Adam leaned back in his chair and let a shit-eating grin spread across his face.
“Family and, believe it or not, I think that even includes you, Jacob,” Justin added as he sat down in the plush back room of a club in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Jacob straightened. “Hey––”
“That godforsaken desert,” Christian said and nudged his husband, Jared, who nodded and added, “Torturing the people who go through the training courses in that godforsaken desert.”
Maliki Blue laughed and grabbed the bottle of bourbon that was behind him. “That’s the truth, but I’ll admit I know one thing this man is madly happy about that none of the rest of you do.” He poured the men gathered another round except for Chief and Jason. Jason had his ever-present soda and Mike drank that damned frou-frou cognac that he’d taken a shine to when he was undercover as David Xavier.
The door opened, and Zane Reynolds ushered in Nic DeMarco and Chad Nelson. “Son of a bitch! Do you get that everywhere you go?” Zane shut the door behind him and motioned to Chad, the rumpled country singer. “The high-class clientele out front mauled Chad. I could only imagine what would happen if he walked through a honky-tonk.”
“It’s part of the job.” Chad tugged on his shirt and tried to see the back. “Did she rip it?”
“No, but it was a close call. Man, those fans need rabies and distemper shots.” Nic ambled over to the bar and grabbed three tumblers.
“I rarely enter through the front doors. Jazz arranges for us to enter and exit through other entrances. She keeps us out of the public eye and safe.” Chad tugged on the sleeves of his shirt and took an empty tumbler from Nic. They dropped into chairs and held out their glasses. “What did we miss?”
Jacob answered, “About four rounds of great bourbon and Joseph declaring he hates parties.”
Zane chuckled. “What about the one in Belfast?”
Joseph barked out a laugh. “That wasn’t a party, that was a melee, and it was one of the best times I’ve ever had.”
“Your definition of a good time needs work,” Jason chuckled and turned back to Maliki. “You were going to say something?”
“Not if he values his life, he wasn’t.” Joseph leveled a stare at Mal.
“Dude, lose the grump, I wouldn’t actually say anything to them unless you brought it up first.” Maliki finished the bottle and headed to the bar to get another one.
“Brought what up?” Jacob turned to stare at his oldest brother.
A slow smile spread across Joseph’s face. Jacob had seen that pride before. Hell, he saw it in the mirror every time he thought about his boys. Jacob blinked. Could Joseph and Ember be… “No.”
Joseph nodded.
“No way!” Justin hooted.
“Yeah, we’re pregnant.” Joseph’s smile lit the room up.
“Holy hell! Congratulations.” Jacob gave his brother a bear hug and then got the fuck out of the way as the rest of the men took their turns congratulating the oldest King.
Joseph flipped off his best friend. “You were told not to mention it tonight, asshole. This weekend is about you and Poet.”
“It still is! There is more than enough happiness to go around. Just don’t let our mothers find out about the baby or they will plan the world’s largest baby shower.” Mal pulled a box of Cuban cigars from behind the bar. “Besides, now I can smoke one of these bad boys.”
Joseph narrowed his eyes and grabbed a Cohiba Siglo VI. “Damn straight, and as this is your bachelor party, shouldn’t we be doing some drinking and smoking anyway?”
Jason took a cigar and smiled. Jacob loved to see his brother be able to partake in the camaraderie. His