Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(15)

Nick barely kept from wincing as the priceless table cracked. “Everyone likes Ireland. It’s green and cheerful.” He tried to read the thoughts of the two immortals, but both could keep him out. “Somebody needs to explain the familial connection,” he muttered.

Simone stiffened and swung her gaze to Nick. “The story isn’t that long. My mother had a one-night stand with Bear’s father, who seemed to have a gift of procreation without mating.”

Nick blinked. “The bear shifter wasn’t mated to either of your mothers?”

“Nope,” Bear said. “Talented *, right?”

Incredibly rare, actually. Nick shook his head. “How long have you two known?”

“About a hundred years.” Bear shook out his leg in the pressed pants.

Ouch. Simone hadn’t even thought of confiding in him, but it wasn’t like he could blame her. “Where’s your father now?” Nick asked.

“Dead,” Bear said simply.

Okay. So many questions. Nick frowned. “How did your father keep Simone’s lineage a secret? It’s nearly impossible these days.”

“He was great with secrets.” Bear plucked at a loose string on his pants.

Nick slipped his thumbs in his pockets. “What aren’t you two telling me? How did your father die?” Something wasn’t quite adding up.

Simone shook her head. “He died so far in the past, let’s let him rest.”

“I investigated for years, but never found the truth.” Bear scratched his head, ruffling his thick hair. The scent of a lie filled the room.

Nick cut Simone a hard look, and she pressed her lips together. “Zaychik moy? Come on. Give me the truth.”

Her eyes darkened. “He was a real dick who showed up and tried to kidnap me shortly after you deserted me. I ended up killing him.” Her hands visibly shook on the ledger.

Instinct whipped through Nick like nails. “Wait a minute. When?”

“In my place about a century ago.” She shrugged.

Oh God. “Broken window, blood on floor, huge guy with a green gun?” Nick’s gaze narrowed as his mind clicked facts into place.

Bear jerked his head around. “How did you know that?”

“I was the one who killed him.” Nick leaned back, awareness rushing into him. “I knew Simone was in danger, I showed up, and I saw him shoot you. I killed him, thinking he was an assassin targeting the Nine.”

Simone blinked and shook her head. “What the hell are you pulling?”

“Nothing. The timing is right.” Shit. He’d killed their father.

Bear shook his head. “You’re a damn liar, demon.”

Anger swelled in Nick. He was many things, tons of them bad, but not a liar. “Whether Simone likes it or not, she and I have a connection that was never quite severed. I felt her in danger and had a friend teleport me to Ireland.” They’d only just broken up, and he’d still been able to sense her emotions. Or perhaps fate had been helping him out. Who knew?

“Bullshit,” Bear said, while Simone looked on with widening eyes.

The damn shifter was about two seconds from getting his head torn off his body. “I heard a fight and rushed in just as Simone went down. So I killed the attacker.”

Simone slowly shook her head. “I know I passed out, but I still thought—”

“No,” Nick said gently.

Fire lashed through her eyes. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“I had to get out of there before the Enforcers showed up.” Nick winced. “I didn’t think it mattered.” Sometimes he forgot that not everyone lived with so much blood on their hands. He had just killed his uncle, along with several of his uncle’s backers, and one more hadn’t made an impression. Maybe he’d been doomed from that point, anyway. “I kept in touch with the Nine afterward, and no announcement was ever made, so I figured the Enforcers had taken care of the entire issue.”

“Unbelievable,” Bear muttered.

“Sorry, Bear. What did you do next?” Nick asked, his mind reeling.

“I got on with life with the bear shifters.” Bear rolled his neck. “It wasn’t like Roman and I were close.”

Roman? Their father had been named Roman. “I’m sorry,” Nick whispered.

Sympathy glimmered in Simone’s eyes for the briefest of seconds before it was banished. Her gaze swung to Nick.

He gave a barely perceptible nod. Although he’d been there to defend Simone against her father’s attempt to kidnap her, probably nobody had defended Bear in his childhood. “Your father, ah, raised you?”

“Yep.” Bear stood and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I want my jeans back.”

“I’ll make sure they’re returned to you,” Simone said softly.

Nick eyed Bear. “Your mother?”

“Um, a bear shifter who didn’t live through childbirth,” Bear returned. “They weren’t mated.”

How very odd. Nick rocked back on his heels. While it wasn’t unheard of for an immortal to impregnate someone without a mating bond, it was extremely rare. To be able to do so with two different females, of different species, was impossible. “That’s amazing.”

“The old man was one of a kind,” Bear said, turning to study a Brenna Dunne oil painting on the far wall.