Page 86 of The Lost Kings
I paused in the threshold for only a second, needing to hear what else he had to say.
“The night of our birthday…we came home to an ambush. We weren’t given a choice, and Scotty lied to us. Told us you’d get our texts and our calls. He said he’d tell you first thing the next morning that we had left.”
I spun around; a sob caught in my throat. “I waited outside of your house for hours. No one told me that you’d already left. You didn’t call or text me.”
He stepped closer. “Yes, we did. I did…it was you who never texted or called. If you had, then you’d know we’d been reaching out.”
“I was devasted. You’d told me you were leaving…the last thing I wanted to do was annoy you by texting and calling you. You made it clear what the future would hold for us.”
He was getting closer, and my hands began to tremble. “Well, maybe I made a mistake, Presley. Maybe I messed up and haven’t stopped regretting it ever since.”
My chin fell to my chest and a single tear slipped down my cheek. “Maybe I’d believe that if you weren’t forced back by Scotty.”
My feet moved on autopilot, carrying me down the steps and through the yard until I was running back to the safety of the manor.
Chapter 32
Kingston
PRESENT
The sun glittered along the water, making the massive thirty-three-foot boat stand out like a sore thumb. I grabbed my bag, and Gio slammed the truck door on the other side.
“Think we’ll get shot on sight?”
I pulled my sunglasses on and smirked. “Probably.”
“I think Elvis loves us too much to let us get shot.” My brother sighed while walking toward the dock. We’d beaten Presley here, so there was no way we’d miss them, but she was going to be pissed the second she realized how easy it was to overhear Carter sharing her plans with my sister.
“You think there’s a chance she still loves us?”
I didn’t want to think about what she’d said last night or consider that she’d moved on from us. “You can’t erase what we had that easily. I think she’s angry that she still loves us.”
Scotty’s SUV pulled up across the parking lot, and I saw Presley climb out. Her hair was braided into a crown again, with little pieces framing her face. I strangled the strap of my duffel bag as I watched her walk in a bathing suit cover-up, which didn’t really coveranything up at all. Her tits were visible from here under that scrap of fabric. Carter followed her, wearing something similar, but it didn’t feel as revealing, nor did it make my stomach tighten when I looked at her.
“Do you think this will help win her over or make things worse?” Gio asked, walking ahead of me.
I didn’t reply, just followed him. Kyle, Rylie and Scotty trailed after the two girls.
Scotty wore board shorts and flip-flops, which made me laugh even though I’d seen him on beaches before. There was something so unserious about seeing him like this, like I could finally try and take the fucker out or at least sneak in a punch.
He probably knew we were on his tail. Wasn’t like we were trying to hide it, but the fact that he hadn’t turned around and told us to stay meant he didn’t really mind having us along. Which meant he didn’t trust Presley’s claim that Adrian was safe and wanted peace.
Interesting.
Why would he entertain this idea of peace if he didn’t believe it were possible? He was risking the entire family by agreeing to this. He also didn’t have the same intel that my brother and I had, which was that Adrian’s brothers were a far greater threat than he was. They also weren’t the type to cater to a love match, or any alliance Adrian created. Which is why we considered him a threat. He didn’t have any choice but to bow to the majority rule of his brothers, and if they wanted a bullet in Presley’s head, then he’d pull the trigger.
The yacht appeared at the end of the dock, and two men flanked Adrian as he walked toward Presley. The two were still quite a bit ahead of us, but as I looked up my feet faltered.
Gio’s didn’t, but I saw his head dip. “Don’t fucking show it, King.”
I forced my feet forward as Presley and Adrian kissed, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her under his arm like she’d been there since the day she’d walked out of ours.
My brother was right; we couldn’t show how that affected us. Wehad a lot to make up for, but more than that, we needed to find a way to explain to her what our world existed of now. It was a much different place than when she was last inside of it.
It wasn’t until Adrian, Presley, and her parents were on board that Presley finally turned around and realized we were boarding as well.
“Gio. Kingston.” Her surprised reaction had Adrian placing his hand on her hip while twisting to see us.
