Page 38 of The Lost Kings

Gio

PRESENT

B eing back in our room felt weird.

It was true that after enough time there were some spaces that you just simply outgrew, and my bedroom felt like one of those places.

Especially my bed, which oddly smelled like Presley’s orange and coconut.

The room had been cleaned of any dust and vacuumed, which I knew was thanks to my mother, but everything else was exactly the same, including the teal hair tie that had been left behind by Presley.

I glanced over at my brother’s side of the room and saw the same vacant look in his eyes.

The truth of what we’d done, who we’d become over the past year was something neither of us had time to confront.

We were different people now, and our ties…

the choices we’d made without our father’s approval would blow up in a very dramatic way if we didn’t leave again soon.

We had no intention of coming home, not because we didn’t miss Elvis, but we understood better than anyone else what this family was capable of and what our hearts could endure .

“Smells like her,” my brother murmured, bringing his pillow up to his face.

I ignored him because I didn’t know what to say. And the gash in my heart still hadn’t healed.

“What’s our plan for when Adrian arrives?”

My brother sat down on his bed and let out a sigh that could topple a government.

“He has leverage on us…he could use it, especially if he thinks we’re a threat to his relationship with Presley.”

“Are we?” I asked, gripping the hair tie and squeezing it in my fist.

Kingston stared at the wall behind me, working his jaw back and forth. “I let her go.”

“Did you?” I didn’t believe him for a single second.

He tugged his shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground then ripped the pillowcase off his cushion and let it fall to the floor as well. It made me wonder if his bedding also had Presley’s scent all over it.

“I did. Let Adrian come.”

I scoffed and shook my head. “Bullshit.”

He closed his eyes before blinking up at the ceiling.

But I wasn’t done. “Everything we’ve done this past year and a half was because of her. Was for our future. You didn’t let her go; you nearly lost your shit when you saw them kiss in Italy.”

“She’s not going to give a single fuck about what we did for her future. She’s got the head of an Italian mafia family at her feet. She could be rich and have a farm in Italy. She doesn’t need the farmhouse…probably doesn’t even care about it anymore.”

“You’re being stupid.” I pulled my shirt up over my head and tossed it to the ground like he had and then walked into our bathroom.

The space was white subway tile and black iron fixtures.

I started the hot water and stood under the spray longer than I needed to because there was a moment that kept replaying in my head that I wasn’t sure I could continue seeing without throwing up .

The guns were aimed at Rylie, but for a single second I worried that one of them would shoot Presley…at that last second when we’d run back outside, she started running and I thought…

I thought that would be the end.

She’d never hear how I spent every night under a different sky thinking of her, or how my soul felt like it had cracked when she hadn’t replied to a single one of our texts or calls.

Or how there were a few nights that I stood on the edge of a steep cliff and stared down at the bottom, wondering what it would take to get her to talk to us.

For a few dark days, I wondered if at least I could get her to talk to Kingston, then maybe that would be enough.

Perhaps my death would bring them together.

Blinking away the memories, I scrubbed my hair and then rinsed off before finishing up.

I needed to see her, but I had no idea what I’d say…I didn’t know where to begin.

I just knew that I needed to see her. I was this close, and yet she seemed so far away.

Fuck it.

I pulled on my sweats and skipped the shirt and shoes, then took the loft stairs two at a time, which got my brother’s attention.

“Where are you going?”

“You’re done. I’m not. I need to see her.”

Kingston cursed and jumped to his feet. “You obviously knew I wasn’t telling the truth about that, but we can’t go see her. We have to let her go, Gio.”

“No, the fuck we don’t. I haven’t seen her in over a year…I want to talk to her.”

I didn’t wait to hear what my brother would say to that, so I pulled up the window and slipped out.

It felt strange, fitting on that terrace being older and bigger.

An entire year and a half had passed, and I felt like a different person now as I felt the cold air brush against my face and the rain pelt the surface, making it slick.

Her window arrived with a warm orange glow against the dark sky, and something fluttered in my stomach at the prospect of seeing her again.

I had no idea if Kingston was behind me or not, but I didn’t care.

I just needed to try and get us back to where we were before this fucking mess nearly ripped us apart.

I pressed on her window to see if it was unlocked and found that it was. The glass panes parted, and I moved the gauzy curtains out of the way as I placed my foot on her window seat.

Her room was warm and inviting, the loft looked somewhat the same, except she’d cleaned up most of her crafting supplies and had her yoga mat and a few weights scattered around the space now.

I walked forward and peered over the railing of the loft, seeing her down on her bed. She was lying on her stomach, kicking her feet while talking on the phone.

“I think I should stay here, but I will come visit you,” she said flirtatiously.

Then she laughed and my chest felt like it cracked open.

“Adrian, you aren’t sleeping here. It’s a big deal that my family is willing to let you come back and meet everyone. I messed up by letting you come here, and Scotty is freaking out.”

She toyed with her stuffed cow while she kicked her feet some more and then she laughed again. “Yes, you were the threat. Everyone sort of collectively freaked out.”

A pause and then a breathy sigh. “I have been thinking of that kiss too.”

Someone’s hand came over my chest, pulling me back toward the window. Kingston dragged me back through the window and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath or my footing.

The rain fell in angry, cold sheets as I pushed my twin’s hands away and stared at his glowering expression. The storm picked up, making it dangerous for us to be out on the roof, but something kept me rooted to the spot outside of her window.

“She’s moved on from us, brother. We have to accept it.”

I shook my head, feeling something shudder in my lungs. I wanted to cry, or scream…fuck, I wanted to punch something .

“We didn’t leave her because we wanted to. We had no choice, does she know that?” My voice cracked as I raised it to be heard over the rain.

Kingston shook his head, which had droplets of water clinging to his nose. “I don’t think it matters. She never saw the messages or got our voicemails. She doesn’t care.”

“I’m not giving up on her. I can’t.”

Kingston shrugged and he looked so small and frail doing it. As if he’d finally run out of ideas, and he always seemed to know what to do.

No. I wouldn’t accept that. “We fight for her. One last push…we make sure she understands everything, and then if she chooses him and we know he’s safe for her—that he’s good and will protect her the way we would—that’s when we agree to walk away. But I won’t walk without a fight.”

Kingston’s eyes were clear as he watched me and then he lowered his chin and agreed.

“Fine…but you can’t get your hopes up again, Gio.

You scared the shit out of me when we were in Mexico…

you got dark a few times…I can’t lose you.

I love Presley, always will, but I’d cease to exist without you. I need you in my life, Bro.”

I clapped his shoulder, and we began walking back to our room.

“Love you too, Bro.”

He laughed then shook my hold as he mumbled something that sounded like “idiot.”

I smiled and followed my twin back to our side of the house where I hoped we’d make a plan on how to get back the girl of our dreams before we lost her for good.