Page 54 of The Lost Kings

Presley

PRESENT

G uilt twisted my stomach like a leaf in the wind.

Each time I thought of something else, the hurt and worry would return, forcing me to my window seat, staring out at the sky. I’d remained there from the moment I got back from the twins’ room, until dawn.

Once the sun began soaking the earth, I showered and dressed.

I needed to talk to them and explain that the last thing I wanted was to hurt them, and then I wanted to bring them up to speed on what happened with Carter and see if they had any ideas on what I could do to keep the family safe without Adrian’s help.

I knew it wasn’t fair to go to Adrian and act as though he could ever fill the role the twins had always claimed.

I just didn’t know how to contain this pressure that filled my chest and clogged my mind with concern and fear.

I was so tired of carrying the burden all on my own and I knew if I asked them to, the twins would help me.

I just needed a peace offering.

Walking down the halls toward the west side of the manor, I passed through the open foyer area that led to the back terrace.

From there, I wandered over to Kingston’s garden, which was mostly overgrown and dead, and dropped into a squat.

Twisting the lid of the jar, I took the glass and scooped up as much dirt as I could, then resealed it.

Reentering through the terrace, I stopped when I caught who had just walked through the front door of the manor.

“Adrian?” He stood next to Scotty who was welcoming him and two of his guards into the house.

“Presley.” He smiled at me and then cleared the space between us. “I hope you don’t mind me changing our plans but your uncle offered to have me over for breakfast and I thought that was a wonderful idea.”

I smiled as he leaned in and gave me a quick kiss. Right as he did, I practically felt their presence emerge from the gym. Covered in sweat, and in their workout gear, the twins approached our group.

“Is this dirt?” Adrian lifted my hand and acted as if he were confused.

Kingston’s eyes snapped to the jar and then back to me. There was something wrong. His expression didn’t lift or lighten; it hardened as if the sight of the dirt only made him angry.

“It’s a gift,” I said, feeling embarrassed that there were so many eyes on me.

Kingston stepped closer and I took the jar, placing it in his hand with a smile.

“When we were kids, I’d?—”

The jar fell to the ground, shattering around our feet. Shocked, I stared at Kingston’s hand, realizing he’d dropped it on purpose.

“Why—”

“Some shit should stay in the past, Pres.” His cold tone sent chills down my spine as I watched him walk away.

Gio’s expression shuddered, but his glare on Adrian was severe.

This was not at all how I wanted to start the day, especially with them.

I was hoping to apologize and find some common ground and eventually explain that I was going to let Adrian go.

My uncle wasn’t making things easy for me on that front .

Giving Adrian another smile, I stepped away from the dirt mess and followed him over to my side of the manor, where my mother was apparently preparing breakfast. Mom was all smiles and glowing skin with laughter and the most welcoming demeanor.

I liked seeing how Adrian responded to it, and how his eyes kept roaming over me as if he were trying to remember every detail. It was how he used to watch me in Italy too, and I loved it then as much as I did now. That guilt from last night twisted my stomach again, making it difficult to eat.

Why was this so hard?

I loved the twins, always had, but I liked Adrian.

He made me feel different than the twins did, less fire and ice.

It made me rethink everything all over again, especially with how Kingston had just behaved.

I knew they were frustrated with me, but I was also angry with them.

They didn’t get to just act however they wanted and not expect me to respond.

Once we helped my mom clean up breakfast, I invited Adrian to my room so we could talk. I wasn’t even sure what I was going to say, but I felt like I needed to confess how I felt about the twins, so he didn’t think I was leading him on.

My room was bright from the loft windows above the room being open and pouring light along my carpet.

I sat on my bed, and Adrian copied my movements, facing me.

He tugged my old, tattered stuffed Highland cow into his large hands and smiled down at it.

I thought he’d joke about me still having a few childhood knickknacks on my bed, but his face lifted, giving me a serious expression that sobered me.

“Bellissima.” Adrian stroked his hand down the side of my face.

I smiled, placing my hand in his. “Yes?”

“I have been thinking a lot about this, and I think it might be time for you to understand the other reason I sought you out in the beginning. Do you remember me explaining there was another reason I’d share with you later? ”

I nodded, squeezing his hand as nerves sailed through my stomach like angry birds.

Adrian’s chestnut hair was cropped handsomely, revealing his light blue eyes, and I tried to cling to how familiar he looked as he took a deep breath. “I saw you once at a ball…you were there under a different name…and I’m fairly certain you were young, just freshly sixteen.”

That ball.

I tried to rack my brain for whether I remembered seeing him or not. I was focused on the guy that had brought me cake, and then Kingston stabbed him…so the rest of the night was fuzzy.

“You were distracting even then. I remember wondering if you knew that you were in danger being there, that there were a few people who knew your true identity, and if I should tell you. Then I watched as the twins moved in and removed the Milano boy and realized it wouldn’t be safe for me to reveal that I was aware of who you were.

But ever since that day, when I saw you, I wanted to know more about you. ”

He moved his free hand to tuck a few strands of hair behind my ear.

“You were like a loose thread that I wanted to pull on and see what lay underneath. At first, me seeing you was just to satisfy an itch, a question that I’d had burning in my mind since I first saw you, but then I got to know you and I grew to care for you.

I call you beautiful because that’s all I can think of when I see you.

I kept asking for you to visit because the more time away from you made me realize just how addicted to you I had become.

Until finally, I had completely fallen for you. ”

My poor tattered heart seemed too tired to absorb his words. As if we just needed some time to heal from the pain of surviving the twins. But it wanted to…so badly.

“What exactly are you saying, Adrian?” I whispered, too afraid to hear his answer.

He smiled at me again and then leaned in to kiss me. “I want to make you my wife, Presley. I know we’re young, but we’re both living in a world that has aged us well past what’s typical. Your family needs protection and I would like to provide that.”

It was everything I had hoped for since discovering what Carter had done. Since the threats had been made, and our enemies knew where we were. But my chest squeezed painfully tight at the realization that this was all wrong.

“Adrian, if I didn’t care for you, I’d say yes right now and take advantage of your protection.” My fingers intertwined with his and he pulled me closer until our chests nearly touched.

“Don’t say no, Bellissima .” His forehead touched mine and a tear slipped down my cheek.

“It wouldn’t be fair to you, not with the way I still feel for the twins. I lied to you. They aren’t merely my best friends. I fell in love with them, and while we are on the outs, I can’t just walk away from that and marry you. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“To be frank, Presley, I don’t care about fair.

I just want you to be mine.” He pressed his mouth to mine in a short but firm kiss then kissed my forehead.

“Take time to think about it, and work through whatever you need to with them. You were falling for me the longer they were gone, Bella , so come back to Italy with me and keep falling.”

With one last kiss on my forehead, he left my room. I remained on my window seat, knees pulled up, crying and wishing everything about my life was completely different.

I was lying on a blanket in the pasture next to the barn.

The stars were above me, and tears streaked down the sides of my face. How had I gone from feeling so totally unwanted at sixteen to being loved by three men? Well, Adrian didn’t say he loved me, he said he fell for me, which I wasn’t sure if that was the same thing, but it felt the same.

I cared deeply for him as well, but it wasn’t the same bone-deep need that I felt for the twins. The thing that made me do things that didn’t make sense, or the need to make sure they saw me, or knew what I was doing. Like leaving a note for them to meet me out here taped to their loft window.

I knew they’d come, and until they did, I went back in time, remembering the way we used to gaze at the stars as kids and how we’d always talk about the sky connecting us if we were apart.

The wooden gate swung and closed near the barn, and I heard someone moving through the grass. Then a body landed gently next to mine.

Gio.

“Where’s Kingston?”

I turned my head to see his eyes on the sky, but a sad smile lifted his lips. “You know, you’ve asked me that nearly every single time I’ve ever approached you alone?”

“No—”

“You have. Throughout our entire lives, if I sat down and King wasn’t with me, your first question was about where he was.

If I wanted to spend time with just you, you’d bring him up, and even now, after all the things we’ve been through.

” His head turned so his eyes were on me. “You’re still wanting him.”

My face burned all the way down to my chest. “I don’t just want him, Gio. I was just curious because of him breaking the jar earlier.”

Gio resumed staring at the stars but let out a sigh, “He’s pissed at you.”

“Why?” I was the one who had a right to be angry, not him.

“Because you chose a man who isn’t good over us. A man who has lied about his identity. A man who was responsible for shooting and almost killing your father when you were eight.”

What the hell was he talking about? I sat up, propping my hand behind me and glaring at my best friend. “What on earth are you talking about?”

Gio mirrored my position. “In Mexico we learned how to gather intel, Pres. We got really good at it. We knew you were seeing Adrian an entire year before Scotty texted us. We know everything about him, including the fact that he was the person who ordered the hit on your father.”

“He would have only been ten years old. That’s ridiculous, Gio.”

Gio’s eyes narrowed angrily. “The Adesso’s used to be strongly linked to a family that your father targeted when he was running things as The Joker.

It was your father’s fault Adrian’s dad died as young as he did…

he made Adrian an orphan. Adrian has two brothers who travel with him, acting like security, but they’re some of the most dangerous men in the world.

Benni and Renzo Adesso are aware of every move Adrian makes and they don’t make any decisions that aren’t unilateral.

So the choice to place a hit on your father was made by Benni, but all three brothers agreed to it. ”

That couldn’t be true. I had met Benni and Renzo. There was no way they were his brothers…they looked—I recalled the blue eyes, chestnut hair. Same wide jaw.

My heart nearly landed in the soil under me. It couldn’t be true.

“How could they lead in different locations if they’re always with Adrian in Italy?”

“You were only visiting every few months…you’re a very long game to them, Presley, make no mistake. The goal will always be the eradication of your family.”

No. That just…that couldn’t be true. I knew it down to my bones, it wasn’t. Adrian had fallen for me after seeing me at that ball and being curious about me.

He’d never explained how he knew it was me.

“You’re still finding ways to defend him, aren’t you?”

I blinked, tugging at the grass beside the blanket before looking back over at Gio. “I asked if he had any siblings and he said no…I just think there might be a mistake.”

The scoff from Gio had my eyes narrowing. “You know that’s exactly what Kingston said you’d say.”

“Since when are you guys talking shit about me behind my back? ”

Gio frowned before getting to his feet. “We’ve never once talked shit about you, Pres. But we do dream, and when we know something that’s in the way of ours, we’ll discuss it. Adrian is a problem and you’re not willing to see it.”

Without another word he turned around, head shaking, and left me in the field that we used to lay in to stare up at a sky that we once said we’d always share.

In the wake of his absence, I realized he still hadn’t fully explained what he and Kingston had been up to while they were gone, and now with the information Gio shared, it had me more curious than ever.