Page 23 of The Lost Kings
That was one thing that I hated about Adrian. He knew I was skilled in combat and shooting. I had no upper hand whatsoever with him, and I blamed Scotty entirely for it.
“I’m not nearly as immature as you make me out to be.” Yes, I was, but I owned it.
Adrian followed me as I walked toward the kitchen. I loved his chef, Leon, and enjoyed hugging him whenever I came to visit.
“You’re not immature in the least,Bellissima.”
Leon was chopping vegetables as I walked up to him and gave him a hug. He wrapped me up nearly as tightly as my own dad did. He was old enough to be my grandfather, and suddenly I ached with the grief that I had never known mine.
“Tell him to stop calling me beautiful,” I muttered into Leon’s neck.
His body shook with a laugh as he pulled back and held me at arm’s length. “Can you blame him? You have a heart that’s built for a man like him, that paired with your pretty eyes, he’s a goner.”
I glanced over at Adrian who was blushing.
I’d never seen him blush before and it did something strange to my chest. I was still seventeen for another several months, but it didn’t change the fact that he was only two years older, and thatsometimes I caught him staring at me in a way that made me think of someone else who used to get caught doing that.
The ache in my chest grew as I fought to push out memories of the twins and focus on the here and now. This was a distraction, that was all.
“You’re reallygood at tracking the stars,” Adrian praised me from the cushioned patio lounger next to me.
We were outside, listening to the waves crash below the cliffs and staring at the glimmering stars set against the navy sky above. I had a blanket wrapped around me while I ate freeze-dried Skittles. Adrian acted appalled at my snack choice then continued to steal them from me every few minutes.
“My best friend taught me how. He is really into astronomy.”
Adrian paused for a second before replying, “I didn’t realize you had a male best friend.”
I let out a tiny laugh while locating the Gemini cluster. “I have two actually.”
“Two best friends?” The bag of Skittles was gently tugged from under my arm as Adrian began munching.
I glanced over at him. I liked that he didn’t turn on any lights and none of his staff was out here with us. It made this feel more intimate and relaxed. It was stupid of me, dangerous even. No one here to stop him from tossing me off the cliff, other than my sheer ability to stop him myself…but I felt relaxed enough not to worry about it.
“Twomalebest friends. They’re twins.”
I couldn’t make out his expression, but Adrian hummed something as if he were surprised.
“You made it seem as though you grew up in somewhat of a secluded environment. How did you meet these incredible men?”
Hearing them referred to as men reminded me of their birthday, and how they’d turned eighteen on the last night that I saw them.Maybe I was just being worn down by Adrian’s kindness and the way he knew I loved a certain kind of pasta and always had Leon make it, or that I enjoyed my coffee strong, with cream, and made sure it was ready every morning for me…but it had my inhibitions low enough that I opened up.
“The twins grew up with me in the manor. They were like my family…but not actually related to me, if that makes sense. Their dad and mine became allies in a strange sort of way; at least that’s how I heard it, but they’ve been with us since before I was born.”
Adrian hummed again while popping another Skittle into his mouth. “So how do they feel about you coming to visit me?”
A sour taste seemed to fill my mouth, something that wasn’t from the sweet treat I was eating. The twins would always remain my best friends no matter what, but how did I explain that they hadn’t spoken to me in over ten months?
“I wouldn’t know. We sort of had a falling out several months back.”
The waves crashing against the rocks below shut out the sound of anything else until Adrian tossed the bag of Skittles back over to me.
“I’m sorry,Bella.”
I smiled, finding his use of beauty vs beautiful, cute. I pushed a few pieces of freeze-dried candy into my mouth, choosing not to say anything this time.
“Would they like me though?” Adrian moved from his seat and was suddenly crowding mine, shoving his hand back into the bag of candy. I tried to pull it away to prevent him from eating any more.
“Heyyyy.”
