Page 88 of The Lost Kings
But it wasn’t the laugh that I knew. It was lighter, like she’d taken the tinkling sound she used to make, ground it into dust and that was what escaped her when she opened those lips. It made me ache in an odd way. I felt something strange, as if I could capture the dust and hold it tightly enough to get her old laugh back.
I was sitting next to my brother facing the rear of the boat so we had a perfect view of everyone in the water. My reason for sitting was the semi I was sporting due to Presley slipping out of her swim cover and revealing her body in a white bikini. Her body had changed over the years. Every time she’d pull herself up on the ladder to the boat, her nipples would be hard and pushing against the fabric of her bikini top; the water glistening on her skin also made her chilled, and all I wanted to do was wrap her in a blanket each and every time she came up. I also wanted to touch her and skim each place that looked different than before.
Presley had just jumped back into the water when Adrian suddenly appeared next to where we were sitting. Dripping wet, he wore a pair of black board shorts, and his chest looked like he spent just about as much time in the gym as we did.
“She’s beautiful, no?” Adrian asked, keeping his eyes on Presley.
She dipped her head back into the water then laughed at something her dad said.
Gio cleared his throat. “She’s family.”
“But not blood, correct?”
I smirked up at him, making sure he knew the things we weren’t saying. “No. Not blood.”
The unspoken challenge and confirmation that he was likely struggling with had his nose flaring the smallest bit.
“You may have known her all her life, but you haven’t been around the past year. She’s no longer your tagalong friend.”
Gio sipped his water, keeping his gaze straight. “What exactly is it you think she is to you, Adrian?”
The man who led an entire outfit in Italy smiled deviously. “She’s mine.”
I tipped my head back and laughed. This poor fucker had it bad for her, but he had no idea who she even was.
“She ever tell you where those scars on her knuckles and her side came from?”
Adrian shifted the smallest bit, hand on his hip while his eyes remained on the water. He didn’t reply though, which felt like a victory.
“Darn, guess she really has told you everything then,” I replied, dryly.
Gio shook his head, a smile plastered on his face.
“You assume she hasn’t been honest with me, but I know everything important about her.”
“Yeah, what’s her favorite flower?” Gio asked.
Why we were entertaining this, I had no idea, especially when we already knew she hadn’t told him the truth. She didn’t trust him enough.
I felt pride fill my chest the slightest bit that we knew her, and he didn’t.
Until his reply hit me.
“Marigolds. She likes how they remind her of sunshine and fire all at once. She wants a whole farm of them.”
With that, he walked away and jumped into the water. Then the fucker pulled Presley against his chest and kissed her.
“I can’t do much more of this,” I muttered quietly to my brother.
He nodded silently.
We both got up and wandered below deck where a few bedrooms were located, a secondary living room and a kitchen. Once we discovered a card game being played with a few of the staff, we joined in to pass the time.
Gio had just won an entire bag of Oreos with a victorious shout when Presley appeared in the doorway of the kitchen.
“Kingston, Gio, can I talk to you guys, please?”
The chef grabbed the deck of cards and started dispersing them to the other three staff members while my brother grabbed his prize and I trailed after him.
