Page 90 of The Lost Kings
“What does that mean?” She glanced between us, noticing how close we were getting.
“You’re just going to have to find out, but if it comes down to Adrian coming for us, and you do let him kill us, then just know this one thing.” I lifted my finger in front of her face, and by her comical expression, she thought I was about to make a joke. So, I softened my tone and used that finger to push some of her hair behind her ear.
“I fucking love you. I’ve loved you my entire life and not as a brother would. I’ve been in love with you since I was old enough to understand the flutter in my chest when you came near me and the way my stomach flipped around whenever you asked where I was, or what I was doing. That first day in the car was the best one of my life. I miss you, and I have every intention of getting you back.”
Without waiting for her response, I pulled her hip until she crashed into my chest, and I seized her mouth. Her hands came up tomy shoulders, but she didn’t push me away; in fact, she paused, and when I assumed she’d pull back, she slid her lips against mine. My fingers shook as I pulled her closer. Gio moved behind her, his mouth caressing her neck in small kisses, and slow licks. We’d never both touched her at the same time. I wondered if she even processed that. It had always been one of our rules, and yet I knew why Gio had done this.
He was desperate enough to remove Adrian from the picture, and in doing so would allow her to feel us both. To remember us both and not the complicated, painful parts. Only the good ones.
Gio’s fingers trailed down Presley’s side while his mouth moved over her shoulder but then a knock sounded on the door. Presley pushed me away and swiped at her mouth before moving to the door. “I have to go.”
Without glancing back at us, she opened and shut the door without revealing who was inside, and I heard her telling Adrian that she wasn’t feeling well. Once their voices moved away, I cracked the door and crept over to the kitchen. Gio was on my heels, and the second we fell into place near the back of the kitchen and relaxed against the counter as if we’d been there the entire time, Adrian appeared.
“I was looking for you both.”
Gio stuck an Oreo in his mouth, so I replied, “We’ve been here, gambling.”
Adrian eyed the full table, where no space had been made for us and I knew it looked like we were lying, so I gestured at my brother. “We cleaned them out of snacks, so we’re giving some others a chance to win something.”
He paused, but I noticed the muscle in his jaw flutter. “We’re about to dock.”
Once he walked away, my brother stared at me then smiled.
“He hates us.”
I nodded, glaring at where he’d been standing. “Might as well give him a good reason to.”
Chapter 33
Presley
PRESENT
The tree line behind our manor was riddled with thick branches and dense shrubs. When I ran the perimeter, I typically avoided going deeper into the woods simply because it was more difficult to navigate. However, my mind was an addled mess, full of its own thorns, branches and overcrowding trees.
My feet carried me over a fallen log, and I breathed steadily through my nose as I pictured Kingston’s face when he made his declaration. A crack echoed through the vast space as I crushed a rotting branch under my shoes, as the image of both brothers crowding me in that room came back to mind. I pushed myself harder, desperate to escape the version of myself that had shown up last night. The one who pushed the two boys she was still madly in love with inside of a room and allowed them to touch her.
I kissed him back.
After everything they’d done, I just…they kissed me, and I didn’t even hesitate to kiss them back.
What was worse was the way Adrian wrapped me in his arms and held me against his chest the rest of the trip back. He’d textedme this morning and told me I was beautiful, and he couldn’t wait to see me.
I didn’t deserve his texts or his alliance.
Another branch cracked under my weight, and a patch of moss had me nearly slipping, but I just kept going. My chest burned, and my eyes watered as I played the scene back through my mind. Treacherous lips. Deceitful hands, and a toxic heart…those were what the twins had left me with, and instead of making them pay for any of it, I indulged them.
My toe caught on a rock, which sent me spiraling to the ground. My chest heaved as I worked to catch my breath, and I slowly turned to my back. The sky above was smeared with low hanging clouds, and a bleakness that didn’t fit how warm the air was against my skin. I decided to lay there and imagine which stars might appear once the sun went to bed.
My mind wandered to Gio and whether he’d go to the barn next door and look at the stars or if this dreary cloud coverage would ruin that for him. Thinking of him only made the ache between my thighs worse and reminded me of how I’d slipped my hand there last night when I had gotten home, and how even this morning I had rode it in hopes that this feeling would be eradicated from my system.
But it was no use.
With a groan of frustration, I threw my arm over my eyes and allowed myself to remember it again. The twins, touching me. Kissing me. Wanting me.
They’d both touched me at the same time. That was not something they’d ever done before, and it made me wildly curious how much further they’d go and why they’d erased a significant line that had once been drawn by them…especially by Gio. He’d never considered sharing me with his brother before and after not seeing them for almost two years, he was suddenly okay with it?
I needed to know what they’d been up to and why he had changed his mind.
