Page 34 of The Lost Kings
“Bottom line, boys. You need to understand that Presley isn’t ever going to live a life that others would call normal. She’s not ever going to be the girl that’s carefree like Carter is. She will always be held to a higher standard, and if that’s going to be a struggle for you both to be around, then we need to discuss the possibility of separating ou?—”
“No!” Gio shouted right as I shook my head.
Dad stared us both in the eyes before gnawing on his lip like hewanted to say more but was holding back. “I can’t have you stabbing people in this house because you don’t agree with how Presley is being trained.”
Gio threw himself back on his bed with a huff. “Fine. I won’t ever stab him again.”
“Not just him.” Dad swung his gaze over to me. “I know you don’t particularly care for her father either. We live in peace, or we don’t live here at all. Respect how she’s being trained or I’ll remove you from her life.”
“Dad, you can’t do that!” I yelled right as Gio sat up in a panic.
My brother’s voice broke as he stood to his feet in front of Dad. “We’re just worried about her; she’s our best friend.”
“She’s like your sister, I get that,” he corrected Gio, but it felt strange, almost like he was trying to remind us. But I didn’t think of Pres as a sister; it felt infinitely different with her than it did with Alex.
“She’s ours,” I muttered, but Dad’s glacier expression told me that was the wrong thing to say.
He shook his head and snapped a little too aggressively. “She isn’t yours.”
Yes, she was. but I wasn’t going to argue that with him.
Our dad stood and heaved another sigh. “I just need to make sure you both understand. Presley isn’t going to change her training, nor will the methods used to help her get there. You need to accept it, or I promise you, we will leave.”
My stomach tilted in the wrong direction, but I gave him my agreement just the same.
Chapter 13
Presley
PRESENT
Istole Scotty’s phone.
He must have disabled the password, or he never set one up, which was possible because he frequently used burners. Didn’t matter. I had it, and I had finally succumbed to reading through the messages that had been forwarded to his phone ever since the twins left.
Anger was a twisted root around my heart as I thought back to what Scotty said. As if he didn’t play a role in how things ended with my two best friends. As if he hadn’t been the reason it all got messed up.
My thumb slid along the screen as I went back to the texts that had come in all those months ago.
They’d created a group chat and aside from calling, all the communication seemed to be there.
I clicked on the thread and began reading.
Kingston: Pres, can you please answer one of our calls.
Gio: We said some things that we need to explain…please answer the phone.
Kingston: Presley, please.
Gio: We need to explain why we left early…it wasn’t our choice.
Kingston: We’re both pretty fucked up not getting to say goodbye.
Kingston: we’re sorry, mi reina.
I scrolleddown seeing more from the months that passed.
Gio:The stars out here where my uncle and aunt live are on another level, Pres. Wish you could see them. How are the stars back home?
