Free Lowlander Silverback (Gorilla Shifter Royalty 1) by T. S. Joyce Page B

a shaking, knobbed finger to the pirate romance Layla had gotten him from the library. “Read to me a while?”
    Kong nodded and replaced the thick book on the end table with the goodbye note he’d brought for Layla.
    “The second to last page of chapter sixteen,” Mac instructed.
    Kong flipped through to the right page and read aloud. “As he watched his love float away at the helm of the small tug boat, he knew he’d made a grave mistake. A necessary one for her since she would be better off safe on land than on the arm of a high seas criminal, but a detrimental one to him. With every stroke his first mate rowed her away from him, his heart turned blacker, darker, and more hollow as a pain reared up inside of him and became too harsh to bear. He was killing himself by sending her away but saving her in the process, and all because of who he’d turned out to be. So many decisions in his life that had gotten him to this exact moment in time would haunt him, but he couldn’t regret the journey. The jagged road he’d taken in his life had led him to a few glorious moments with her. He’d lived more in the last two weeks than he had in the entirety of his forgettable life because he’d known love—the bone-deep kind that changed a man from the inside out. And now…he knew sacrifice.” Kong’s voice cracked on that last word, and he shut the book, unable to read anymore. He swallowed several times before he braved a glance back to Mac. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
    “I’ll give her the note,” Mac said in a frail voice.
    “Thanks.” Kong stood and strode for the door.
    “Kong?” Mac asked.
    Kong stopped and turned, leaned on the door frame. “Yes, sir?”
    “You should read the ending to that book someday.”
    Kong nodded, knowing he never would. “I’ll see you when I see you, Mac.”
    The old man’s thin smile lifted and fell. “Goodbye, Kong.”

Chapter Seven
     
    Layla was supposed to be off tonight, so when she bustled through the door and behind the bar top, Kong was utterly gut-punched.
    “She isn’t supposed to be working tonight,” Kong muttered to Creed, dark-eyed alpha of the Gray Backs. “That’s the only reason I was okay with having this here.”
    Jason was talking to Kirk in the corner while Kong shot pool with Creed. Beaston, the clever monster, had apparently told his crew about Kong’s troubles, as well as about Layla, and they had set up a going-away shindig at Sammy’s. They were also doing a bang-up job of keeping Kirk at a distance, which he appreciated more than they knew. Rhett had said he’d rather cut off one of his own balls than come to a Kong celebration, so he was getting a night off from that relentless prick as well. The going-away party had gone great until Layla came in looking like a million fucking bucks in a short, ripped-up jean skirt, fishnet stockings, and black combat boots that came mid-calf. And always with the tank top that showed the top half of those buxom tits of hers. And now, after one second of drinking her in, his dick was knocking on the seam of his jeans.
    He forced his eyes back to the pool table to line up a shot before Kirk noticed his flighty attention. Willa danced by with a red feather boa around her neck singing a song about a matchmaker finding a find and catching a catch. He’d bet his sawmill the pint-sized red-headed hellion had something to do with Layla taking over Jackson’s shift midway through the night. Kong hid a smile and shook his head as he popped the cue ball into the red three. It blasted into the corner pocket. Damn, he was going to miss these bears.
    “We got you a going-away card,” Willa said with a graceful spin before she leaned onto the pool table. She pulled an envelope from her bra and grinned up at him. “It’s not money.”
    Kong snorted and ripped into the thick envelope. Inside the card read, Don’t Go Asshole in ugly bubble letters, and the Gray Backs and Ashe Crew had all signed it. In the very