Page 35 of The Lost Kings

Presley

PRESENT

I gripped the leather armrest as if it could somehow take the brunt of all my frustration and all my anger that had built up over the past year. The twins sat toward the front of the private jet while I took residence up near the back.

They talked and laughed together as if I didn’t exist. Their men filled in the empty spaces in between, and while each person either slept or played on their phone, I understood exactly what was happening.

They were isolating me. As if I hadn’t been isolated enough in the past year and a half.

As if they hadn’t punished me enough and for what? They were the ones who left, and who hurt me. The anger in my stomach tightened into a painful knot, making me feel queasy and a lot like I was about to burst into tears.

Instead, I bit my bottom lip and stared out the window. I would not give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. I had endured enough in my life to withstand this too.

I thought of Adrian and his easy smiles, the way the skin next to his eyes crinkled when he laughed and the way his touch set me on fire.

I thought of how we’d yet to cross any boundary that would have left a lasting impression on me.

He hadn’t taken anything from me that I didn’t offer, and I’d never once offered him my body or my heart. Not fully.

The plane suddenly rocked to the side as it hit a patch of rough air, but it was enough of a jostle that it made my cup of coffee spill from my tray and ruin my jeans.

“Shit.” I quickly stood and began dabbing at my soiled clothes.

It drew the attention of the twins, who had stopped talking at the sight of me standing.

Their burning gazes were on me in seconds, and while Gio’s jaw ticked and Kingston’s eyes seemed to beg something from me, I pushed out the image and walked to the bathroom with my backpack.

I always hated fighting with the twins growing up.

It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it was always excruciating because the two always had one another, and I was always the one left out all alone.

Even now, as adults, it burned through my chest like a dry, painful heat, scorching up pieces of hope that I’d always carried regarding my relationship with them.

Foolish stupid hope.

The only extra pair of clothes I’d packed in my bag were pajamas. The rest were all in my large suitcases, which were tucked away in the cargo. With a sigh, I peeled my jeans off and pulled on my sleep shorts. They were on the shorter side, but at this point I just simply didn’t care.

I decided to complete my pajama set and pull on the button-down matching shirt and then tugged up a pair of tall socks.

Once I was dressed, I took two seconds to inspect myself in the mirror.

My face had somehow kept a warm glow from the irregularly warm winter, leaving my freckles splattered across my nose and cheeks.

Thanks to Carter, I had started using a plethora of beauty products that actually worked for me.

My lashes were thicker, thanks to some serum that I applied every night, and my lips were stained after applying a lip mask.

Even my face was smoother after applying creams and using some jaw smoothing device that I didn’t take enough time to actually read about.

I typically just listened to my cousin and used whatever she put in my hands.

I liked myself.

I had to remember that as the twins’ glares would hit like a boulder and their silence would cut like a knife. I liked me, even if they didn’t.

Pulling the bathroom door open, I stepped out and ran right into a solid chest.

“Sorry.” I automatically apologized before realizing the chest belonged to a twin.

Once I stepped back, I found starry gray eyes and a dimple that had popped out because of Gio’s reluctant smile. He didn’t seem to be able to help himself.

“Saw you go back here, you okay?” His tone was soft and kind, and confusing.

I nodded, tucking a piece of hair back. “Fine, just got coffee all over myself.”

Gio inspected me from head to toe, taking a step back. I felt mildly self-conscious but brushed it off. His jaw ticked once, twice, and then he laughed.

“That’s what you changed into?”

Glancing down at myself, confusion set in. “What?”

This was a modest sleep set. Cotton, light, with buttons that trailed from just above my breasts all the way down past my navel, and a pair of shorts that stopped mid-thigh.

Gio used his thumb and forefinger to pinch a tiny piece of the fabric between his hands.

“There’s Highland cows printed everywhere.”

He knew they were my favorite animal, why did that shock him?

“So?”

His smile faded as something more serious took its place. “Just wasn’t prepared to see you back in something like this. ”

“Well, I had nothing else to change into.” I tried to step past him, but he moved with me, tilting his head.

“Just, try not to walk past Kingston if you can help it,” Gio warned, lightheartedly.

I ignored him, pushing past him again. I didn’t care what concerns he had, the two of them were completely avoiding me, and I wasn’t about to play this game.

With my head down, I returned to my seat and set my bag in the one across from me. Two seconds later, the bag was being tossed to the ground and a tall lean form had taken its place. I glanced up and locked eyes with Kingston, whose amber gaze was heated while slowly traveling down my pajama set.

“It’s the middle of the day.”

I quipped back, “Not by the time we land.”

His jaw moved as if he wanted to say something else but thought better of it.

“You seem comfortable with the time change and flying to and from Italy. How frequently has that been happening over the past year and a half?”

His tone was sharp, and it had me gripping the armrest again; otherwise, it’d be his neck.

“I’ve gone several times over the past year, Kingston.”

I didn’t owe him why I was going or the fact that Scotty had to persuade me to in the beginning. He could think what he wanted.

Focusing on my phone, I typed in my password about to navigate over to my emails when Kingston leaned over and pulled it out of my hand.

“What the?—”

“Just making sure our texts and calls came through okay because while you seemingly replaced us with that fucker, Adrian, we’ve been reaching out to you, only to be completely ignored.” Kingston’s thumbs moved over my screen as he navigated to my text thread.

Heat barreled into me, not because Scotty had blocked them or because I had chosen not to know what they had to say, but because this was all sitting too close in my chest. Like a stick of dynamite just waiting for a spark to dance along the floor of my heart, only to land on that damn ignition wire.

“How come the only texts on here are from the most recent ones we sent you?” Kingston flicked his eyes up, watching me.

I stared out the window, inspecting the clouds.

His boot slid forward until he touched my foot, but I pulled it back.

“Presley.”

I ignored him.

Then Gio came and sat down next to me and I muttered a curse.

“What are we talking about?”

Kingston glared at him, but explained, “She only has texts on here from what we sent her this week. None of our voicemails…nothing else.”

Gio’s face swung over and that heat digging into my sternum became unbearable.

They stared as the silence grew.

“She didn’t get them,” Gio finally said, as if he’d finally pieced it together.

My eyes closed as I tried to push out their stares.

“Think about it. She didn’t text us back a single time, but Alex had mentioned once that the day we left, Pres was waiting outside for us. It wasn’t until Scotty texted us that picture that she replied.”

“She didn’t reply,” Kingston droned, obviously irritated.

Gio shifted next to me, but I moved closer to the window, wishing it would somehow open and pull me out.

“She left the group chat.”

I felt Kingston’s eyes prance over my face and drop lower to my legs, and that’s when his boot gently touched my foot again.

“Elvis, that true?”

Pulling my legs up under my chin, I held them while ignoring how it hurt to hear Kingston call me Elvis.

An old wound seemed to tear open, not just with them in front of me, but with that little dig.

They’d made their decision, and while they had tried to reach out, now they were being just as cruel.

Kingston suddenly reached forward and tugged my knees down, placing his large palms on either thigh while his nose was practically pressed against mine.

“Presley, did Scotty do something?”

Fuck. “Yes, okay?” I shoved his hands away and he let me.

His jaw went slack and Gio’s head whipped over.

“What the fuck did he do?” There was so much gravel and anger in his tone that it made my eyes water.

“He did something so when you texted or called my number, it forwarded to one of his burner phones.”

“I fucking knew it!” Gio whisper-yelled, leaning closer to his brother. His gaze intent.

“I knew Scotty did something because in what universe would she just cut us completely out of her life?”

Kingston didn’t reply; he just continued to stare at me as if he could pry back every layer of hurt that the two had delivered to me over the past year.

He finally returned to his seat and just continued to stare at me while angry tears gathered in my eyes, and while the truth of how soon I’d discovered they’d been texting him sat like lead inside my chest.

A truth that could divide us once again, and one that they’d eventually discover.

The silence in the car ride back to the manor just seemed to blend in with all the other things we weren’t saying. I kept catching Gio’s sad gaze, and Kingston kept flicking his eyes over me then opening his mouth as if he wanted to say something but would stop.