EVIL VILLAIN (The Royal Court #3) - Rebel Hart Page 0,81

of us, leaving only Cherri, me, and Nathan behind. Felicity eventually brought down the bags of things I’d amassed since living with her—all the things I only had because she loved me like a mother and bought them for me.

“Your weights,” she said weakly.

I shook my head. “Keep them here for when I visit.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

We embraced once more, that time for much longer. When I pulled away I smiled down at her. “I love you, mom.”

She laughed. “I love you too. Be safe in Postings. You’re still wanted, remember that.”

“I’ve already made certain arrangements,” Nathan said.

Felicity exchanged glances between Nathan and Cherri. “You two take care of my boy.”

Cherri nodded. “We will. We promise.”

25

Deon

Most of the ride back to Postings, I slept in the backseat. Every few minutes, I’d come to and hear Cherri and Nathan talking as if they had always been best friends and nothing had come between them. Nathan was less snotty than he was when I spoke to him last, and Cherri was much more of a spitfire. There were times in the drive that I felt like I wanted to ‘wake up’ and join in, but it was actually nice to see the woman I loved and my brother getting along so well, especially considering all of the reasons they had to not. From what they talked about, it sounded as if The Royal Court had quite the journey of introspection and had changed dramatically for the experience.

Glad I wasn’t the only one.

Eventually, we made it back to Postings, and Nathan drove us back to his family’s estate. The last time I’d been there, I was brazenly flirting with Cherri in the back gazebo despite knowing she was dating Nathan at the time. Something about the energy of the place simply felt different. There were several cars parked out front, and when we walked in, all the members of the Royal Court were hanging around, Sicily included.

“Hey!” Colette said when we walked in. “Welcome home!” She fanned her arms out and stood in the entryway where we couldn’t walk past her.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cherri asked.

“Oh nothing,” Colette responded. “Just welcoming you back.”

“We’re done!” Avery’s voice called from the living room.

Colette dropped her act. “Oh, thank god. Come on!”

She turned around and led towards the living room. I saw colorful balloons and a welcome home banner. There was a cake sitting on the table that also said “Happy Birthday,” and I tilted my head. “Whose birthday is it?”

Brayden scoffed and dropped onto the couch. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

“Deon,” Nathan said. “It’s your birthday.”

I stood in silence for a moment, trying to wrap my head around that information. The last time I celebrated my birthday, I was still locked up, days away from getting out. Venom got cupcakes from the commissary and pretended the wrappers were candles because we couldn’t have real ones. He even forced me to blow out the fake flames.

Had it already been a year since that happened?

“Today’s the fifteenth?” I said.

“Uh huh,” Avery said, then she fanned out towards the table with the cake on it and a single present. “Happy birthday, and welcome home.”

“Wow,” Cherri said. “I didn’t realize at all.” She looked at me. “Happy birthday.”

I leaned down and kissed her, thinking that being reunited was about the best gift she could give me. “Thank you.”

“Actually, none of us really realized it was already that late in the summer. Sicily still thought it was June,” Nathan said.

“For like three minutes,” Sicily grumbled.

“I opened my phone when Nikki called me to tell me where you guys were and I saw the reminder on my calendar. So we threw this together. It’s not much, but I hope you like it,” he explained.

I set a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “It’s awesome. Thank you.”

Like them, the day of the year had been totally lost on me up that point. Part of me felt bad for denying Felicity the joy of celebrating with me, but maybe her not knowing made it at least slightly easier to let me leave.

I approached the table and a smile slowly came to my face. The present was a very small box, and I picked it up and turned around to face the group. Nathan nodded his head at me and said, “Open it,” and I lifted the top off. Inside was a key ring with several different keys on it. I pulled it out and Nathan walked over. “This key,” he said as he grabbed a