Page 55 of The Lost Kings
He waited for me to elaborate, and when I didn’t, he gave the order.
“See them in.”
My face burned as I followed Adrian up the stairs, and he released me near my bedroom door. “Get changed, I’ll meet you in the main room to receive your guests.”
The door clicked shut and I immediately pulled out my cell phone and dialed the only person who could help me. With the screen to my ear, I began pacing and pulling on clothes.
“Hello?”
“Scotty, why are the twins here?” I whisper-yelled, glancing out my window as if I could see anything other than the back terrace from it.
My uncle waited a second before replying, “Presley, I fear I cannot help you with this.”
“Oh bullshit. Did you give them this location?”
He paused while muttering something in the background. “I didn’t. However, you should be aware of a few things that have developed within the last week.”
I paused my pacing, staring at the side wall where the sun was reflecting off the diamond jewelry that Adrian had gifted me. “What things?”
“Things that require your removal from the Adesso residence,and while I was not the one to send Gio and Kingston to you, I would have.”
My breathing slowed as I thought through the reasons that could have led to Scotty needing me away from Adrian.
“What happened, Scotty?”
He muttered another order over the phone to someone else before briskly replying, “Nothing I can share over the phone. You need to leave with the twins.”
“And how exactly am I supposed to explain that to Adrian?”
“I don’t know, but I know you’ll figure it out. Please be safe.”
With that, he hung up and I was left staring at my phone with absolutely no fucking clue what was going on.
“Just fucking great,” I muttered to myself. The gray hoodie lying on the foot of the bed was pulled over my shoulders. I was about to head downstairs when I eyed my suitcases and wondered if I should just pack. Scotty was on my shit list for getting me into this situation to begin with, but he’d never lie about something as important as my safety.
I really hated Scotty for this. Really fucking hated him.
I took the stairs slowly,holding tightly to the banister as I tried to focus on the fact that I might be in danger and not the fact that I hadn’t seen my two best friends in over a year and a half.
I found two of Adrian’s men stationed at the bottom of the staircase, holding assault rifles. They ignored me as I walked past them and continued down the hall. Adrian had left the back patio doors open, allowing the Mediterranean breeze to warm the villa with a heady, salty sweetness.
Two more guards waited near the hall that led to the kitchen. My bare feet pressed into the warmed wood as I neared the main room. I inhaled a silent breath and held it in my lungs like a captive beam ofsunlight, hoping it would warm me from within as the reminder of their abandonment resurfaced.
The natural light touched the tip of the hall, boasting of wide windows and a large panoramic view of the sea. I’d cuddled against Adrian’s chest just last night while the stars danced outside.
A shuddery breath left me as I turned the corner, and my focus found the only two men to have ever held it captive. Seated side by side, the twins wore dark T-shirts, which looked unfairly attractive against their brown skin; they were also toned and more defined than when they’d left me. Their raven hair was nearly identical, but Gio’s was cut shorter on the sides than Kingston’s, his was longer in the front, brushing that scar that now cut right through his brow from that time he'd lunged into the ring to protect me.
They stood at the same time, facing me, and my heart had nearly faltered as a pair of amber eyes and starry gray ones landed on me. It took me back to being six, curled against them in a warm bed. Back to blanket forts, games of hide and seek, playing pretend and a lifetime of other memories.
“Presley.” Gio’s gaze took in all of me as Kingston took a half step forward before thinking better of it.
I ushered out a rusty greeting that was as painful as scraping the darkest places of my heart and tossing them out on the floor. “Hi, guys.”
Adrian’s cool tone held restrained anger, which was the only reminder I had that he was standing silently by the fireplace with his arms crossed. “Presley, darling…please come take a seat as we chat with your friends.”
Kingston’s eyes cut over to Adrian as if he was going to kill him for calling me darling. Gio kept his eyes on me, raising a brow as if he wanted to make fun of me for it. A smile nearly stole my features as I remembered how this felt, to be with them.
Just the same, I did as Adrian suggested and walked over so that I could see them better. I was about to sit next to Adrian when he pulled me so I landed in his lap as he took a seat on the chaise.
