Page 68 of King

Her pulse stuttered. No way in hell was she telling him the truth. But maybe… maybe she could misdirect him. Turning away, she busied herself with the chicken, keeping her eyes firmly on the pan. She was never good at lying or deceit. And that’s precisely what she was doing.

“I need to go to Joey’s house before Saturday to get him clothes for the funeral,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “And I need to go to my apartment for some of my stuff. My camera, too. I need to find some work, but I hate asking because I know it’s a lot.”

She turned with the platter, relieved at how natural it sounded. But before she could take another step, King effortlessly plucked the dish from her hands, his sharp eyes never leaving hers.

“I already told you I’d take you wherever you need to go.” He cocked a brow, smirking. “Good try. We’ll talk when everyone leaves.”

Damn it. She muttered a quiet curse, scowling as she grabbed one of the pans to take to the sink.

“Leave that for later,” King ordered, stopping her before she could grab another pan. “Get your food first. And Joey’s. They can have whatever’s left.”

Her stomach did that stupid flip-flop thing again. It had been so long since anyone cared whether she ate at all.

Nodding, she grabbed a plate and put a few pieces of chicken on it, then headed into the living room. But before she could escape, King’s hand shot out, stopping her again.

“Wait a minute.” He took the plate from her and added another piece. “I know for a fact Joey will want more than one. And you need to eat, Amara.”

Warmth flooded her chest, making it impossible to meet his gaze. She swallowed, gripping the plate tighter.

“Yeah, okay,” she murmured, slipping past him before she did something stupid like fall even harder for the man who was already unraveling her piece by piece.

CHAPTER 30

King leaned against the wall, his sharp eyes locked onto Amara as she slept curled up on the sofa. The chaos of the game consoles and controllers clicking around them didn’t seem to bother her, and he found himself mesmerized by the peaceful rise and fall of her breathing.

She’d played a few more rounds before finally dozing off, and King was still amazed by her gaming skills. He’d never seen anyone, let alone a woman, play like that. And how she handled the trash talk from faceless idiots online was priceless. It had taken everything in him not to track those assholes down and teach them a painful lesson. He had even asked Adam if there was a way to find them.

Amara had told Adam that gaming helped her relax, and even now, King smirked at the thought. He still couldn’t wrap his head around how running around in a virtual warzone, shooting and getting shot, was supposed to be calming, but for her, it seemed to work.

A loud yawn from Joey snapped him out of his thoughts. King glanced at his watch. It was late.

“Alright, guys,” he said, pushing off the wall. Steve had left an hour ago, leaving Viktor, Adam, and Bishop still playing.

“Let me finish this game,” Bishop muttered before cursing. “I swear, if this little bastard knifes me one more time, I’m gonna lose my shit.”

“Damn it, Bishop, stop getting killed.” Viktor shook his head. “You suck at this game.”

“You’re not any better,” Bishop shot back before letting out a string of curses and tossing the controller at Joey. “This game sucks.”

“No,” Joey snickered. “You suck.”

Bishop growled at him but still gave him a high five as he got up to leave. Viktor fist-bumped Joey before glancing toward Amara, then back at King. His expression grew serious.

“If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask,” Viktor said, stopping at the door. “You’ve got two very special people here. Lacey and I will be there Saturday.”

“Appreciate it,” King nodded, his gaze shifting from Joey, who yawned again, then to Amara, who shifted in her sleep, curling up tighter.

The door clicked shut behind Viktor just as Adam stood, stretching.

“You need anything else?” Adam asked.

“Nah, man.” King shook his hand. “Appreciate you and Steve setting all this up.”

“No problem.” Adam glanced over his shoulder at Joey, whose eyes were now closed. “Kid’s hurting bad, but he’s hiding it. Figured you should know.”

King frowned. “Did you read him?” He still wasn’t completely comfortable with Adam’s abilities. The idea of someone being able to dig through his thoughts didn’t sit right with him.

“Yeah,” Adam admitted without hesitation. “I was wondering why he wasn’t acting like a kid who just lost his dad. I thought maybe he knew more about what happened than he was saying. But it’s not that.”

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