Page 12 of The Lost Kings

Presley

“ Y ou’re welcome for not coming with the jet to get you.” Adrian’s words dripped with sarcasm as he took my suitcase from me and walked us to his car. Two men waited outside of it, just like they always did.

“Hello, Benni. Renzo.” I smiled and ducked my head to slide into the back of the armored vehicle. Benni entered after me, sandwiching me with Adrian. Renzo slipped into the front seat.

“Hello, Ms. Presley. How was your holiday?”

“Thanksgiving was wonderful. Thank you.” The lie slipped from my tongue as easily as any others had.

While I did just celebrate Thanksgiving, it was far from wonderful.

The twins hadn’t come home, and I still hadn’t mustered the courage to ask Scotty about their texts.

The entire manor was sad and empty, so I left early and decided Italy wouldn’t be so bad to spend some time in.

Anything to get me out of that house.

This marked the fifth trip I had made to see Adrian.

Each month he’d send his jet and request that I visit for a week.

Most of the visits I’d argue that I didn’t want to, and then Scotty would have to force me for the sake of creating an alliance.

This time, however, I had asked Scotty to set it up.

“I never understood the appeal of that holiday,” Adrian mused, sliding his knuckle under his jaw while looking out the window.

He was baiting me into conversation and while I typically fell for it, I wasn’t really in the mood.

I hadn’t ventured onto this trip because I enjoyed Adrian’s company.

I hadn’t fallen victim to his outrageously good looks.

I just needed out of the manor, and working on creating an alliance for my dad seemed to be a better use of my time than digging into the rotting wood of the farmhouse.

Especially now that November had arrived and it with it, a deluge of rain that made tearing out old wood almost unbearable.

“You cut your hair.” I lifted my chin toward the man next to me and hated the flip in my stomach when he smiled back at me.

“You noticed.”

My eye roll wasn’t severe enough. I needed to punch him or kick him, but I wouldn’t. “Your hair was nearly longer than mine last time I saw you, so yes, I noticed.”

His chuckle was smooth and dark, and I had to remind myself not to trust it. He was playing me as much as I was playing him.

His villa was set against a sheer cliff with white-capped waves that roared beneath it.

Two stories tall, with only a three-car garage, which meant this home wasn’t his primary one.

It simply couldn’t be. He was worth well over twenty-five million, if not more, and between the staff he kept and the various businesses he ran, I knew he had various homes, including a few in the U.S.

Yet he always made me come here to see him in Italy.

The car slowly veered in through the tall gates guarding his estate and pulled in front of the outlier garage.

Once we parked, I slid out after Adrian and followed him up the cobblestone steps into his home.

The foyer boasted with warm lighting, gleaming marble floors and extravagant artwork.

I loved how peaceful his house felt, and while I knew I should go grab my things, I immediately started for my favorite view .

“I set your things in your room.” I heard Adrian’s soft voice from behind me while I stood on his balcony watching the ocean.

Had enough time truly passed that I now had my own room in his house?

A shiver worked up my arms as I tried to think back to our other visits.

Late night evenings were spent by the fire playing chess.

He took me to several vineyards and orchards…

he’d taken me to a nearby stable and let me ride his favorite horse.

I had accidentally left behind a set of my favorite leggings one time, and a pair of slippers another.

Shit. I had created a tiny space here in his home, and he’d let me.

Turning on my heel I gave him a friendly smile. “Thank you.”

His dark brows rose in surprise. “No eye roll or punch to the arm…shit, should I be worried about a knife in my chest tonight?”

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 that sometimes 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 really good 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.

“Two male best 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.”

“Share,” he laughed, and I tried to wrestle the bag away from him, but we just ended up laughing while he slid closer. Before I knew it, his arm was around me, pulling me closer into his side.

Sighing, I answered him, “I think they’d hate you but only because the only people they like are each other and me. ”

“I wouldn’t blame them for hating me. I sort of hate them too but mostly because they have a piece of you that I could never have.”

He didn’t elaborate and neither of us clarified what he meant. I hadn’t ever told him the specifics of what broke up the twins and me, but maybe he didn’t need to know.

“They haven’t ever given me Italy. That’s all you, Adesso, and I fear it always will be.”

He was quiet again until I felt something like a kiss against my head.

“I fear Italy would never be enough. They have a past with you, and something tells me somewhere along the line that they might have developed more than friendly feelings for you.”

I toyed with the fringe on the blanket. “What makes you say that?”

The stars winked above, and the wind rustled through my hair as Adrian stroked my arm. “Because I did.”