Page 33 of Triumphant Kings (Boys Of Kingston Academy #3)

Preston

“ F uck.” I groan, rolling off Declan. “I think that tight ass wrung my cock dry.” Panting heavily, I flop onto my back in a sweaty mess and stare up at the ceiling, my body a boneless jelly mess.

Declan laughs breathlessly. “You're welcome.”

Smiling, I feel this dopey giddiness inside me, a feeling I get anytime I’m with Declan or Sadie. Being able to be open about it is new. But I don’t hate it.

“I could sleep for a good few days,” I murmur, eyes feeling heavy as sleep threatens to take over.

“Same.” Declan yawns.

“Come here and cuddle me.” I roll my head to the side.

“Look at you. All needy and shit. I love it.” Declan grins, and my heart skips a damn beat. “But don’t you have to meet a certain someone?” Declan says, grabbing his phone to show me the group chat.

Brows furrowed, I read the message and my eyes widen. “Fuck!”

Jumping out of bed, I quickly get dressed. Sadie sent me a message a half hour ago telling me she was going to go to the tower and wanted me to meet her there. I was going to text her back when my phone died.

I was waiting for it to charge when Declan was making bratty comments, which led to me threatening to spank his ass. Then, well, you can guess where it ended up.

“Love you. Be back soon.” I quickly kiss Declan and grab my phone off the charger before rushing out of his room, his laughter following after me.

Out of breath and a little dizzy from just fucking Declan into the mattress, I turn my phone on. The moment the screen lights up, I’m hit with a bunch of messages.

There’s a missed call from the group chat two minutes ago. Ding. Ding. Ding. Message after message. Then my phone rings.

Collin.

“What do you want?” I growl in frustration as I head towards the tower.

“Get to the fucking tower now, Preston!” Collin roars through the phone, and all the blood leaves my body.

I break out into a run without knowing what’s going on. “What happened?”

“It’s fucking Mayhem night,” Collin snarls.

“Yeah, and?” I pant heavily as I keep running.

“And Sadie went for a fucking walk, to meet you! You’re not there. But someone else is.”

“Fuck!” A sick feeling hits my gut, making me work my body faster than it wants to.

“She said there was a masked figure. Thought it was one of us. I told her to run back to the house, but then she screamed, and she must have dropped her phone because nothing!” Collin screams, sounding like he’s punching something.

“I’m on my way. But I swear to god, Preston, I’ll kill you if you don’t get to her in time and something bad happens. You were supposed to be watching her.”

Guilt threatens to consume me. I’m such a fucking idiot. Me and my damn dick getting me into trouble again. I should have texted her from Declan’s phone that I was on my way and left.

But no, I let myself get caught up in these addictive feelings. This is why I don’t ever let emotions control me. Fuck!

“I see the tower now,” I grunt out, pushing myself past the stabbing pain in my side.

“We’re five minutes out. Grayson is on his way now.”

“Call Declan.”

“On it.”

We hang up, and I shove my phone back in my pocket before using every last bit of energy I have to get to the tower.

Once I throw open the door, I hear screaming.

“Fuck no! I’m not letting some worthless whore like you destroy my life. Preston is mine! You made a fucking fool of me! And now, you're going to pay!” A voice screams upstairs.

Me? What the fuck?

And then the sound of that voice clicks in my stupid brain. Tina. Fucking Tina!

I’m taking the stairs two at a time. “Can’t take anything else from me if you're not alive to do it.”

Over my fucking dead body will this bitch take my girl away from me.

Getting to the top, I stand there like a madman breathing in heavy lungfuls of air, eyes wild, when I spot Tina over Sadie, a fucking butcher knife to her neck.

I don’t think, just act.

As quietly as I can be, I’m over to Tina in three steps, grabbing the hand that’s holding the knife and yanking it backwards, twisting it at the wrong angle, forcing her to let go with a pained scream.

What I really wanted to do was tackle the bitch and beat the shit out of her, but I didn’t want to risk hurting Sadie with the knife so close to her neck.

With my grip still on Tina, I yank her to her feet, feeling her arm pop out of place from the force.

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” I roar into Tina’s face. She’s ugly crying now, full-blown sobs as snot runs down her nose and tears down her cheeks. I’ve never seen anyone more grotesque in my life.

Throwing her to the ground, I look over to see if Sadie’s okay. She’s huddled in the corner, eyes wild and filled with terror. I’ve never wanted to see that look from her in my life, yet all I seem to be able to do is be the cause of it.

“Are you okay?” I ask, breathing heavily.

“Watch out!” Sadie screams. My head jerks to the side just in time to see Tina standing there, hand holding the knife as the other arm hangs limply at her side.

“Don’t make me do it!” Tina screams. “I’ll kill you too! I don’t want to, but I will!”

My lip curls into a cruel smile. “You're not going to kill me.” I laugh.

“Because you're nothing but a pathetic, heartless bitch.” I take a step towards her, my heart pounding in my chest as adrenaline courses through my veins. She takes a step back, looking like a scared cornered animal. Good, she should be fucking scared because when I get my hands on her, I’m going to make it fucking hurt.

“Stop!” she sobs. “Why are you being like this? Why are you throwing everything away for that whore!?”

A booming laugh tumbles free. “When are you going to see it, Tina? The only whore here is you? We were never going to be anything. I could never love you. Never want you. Because you're an ugly person on the inside, Tina. A poisonous cancer that needs to be taken out.”

Her upper lip peels back. “If I can’t have you, then no one will!

” she screams before launching forward. Sadie screams my name, but I try to ignore her as I jump to the side, making Tina stumble and fall to the ground.

She scrambles to her feet, knife still in hand, but it gives me enough time to grab a piece of wood from the ground.

When she goes to attack me again with a battle cry, I hit her hard with the board. She lets out a cry of pain before stumbling backwards.

Breathing heavily, I stand there and watch it all play out.

The look of pure fear on her face as she drops the knife, her arms flailing as she tries to catch herself on something. But there’s nothing. Nothing to catch her from falling backwards through the open window.

Her screams ring loud in the night air, followed by a sickening thud. And then everything is silent.

I take a few steps over to the window and peer down. Tina lies there, her body in all the wrong angles, lips parted, vacant eyes staring up at the sky.

“Good fucking riddance.” I spit down towards her body.

“Is...is she dead?” Sadie’s soft voice asks as she joins me at my side.

Pulling her away from the window, I wrap her up in a tight embrace, only then does the fear leave my body. “Yeah, baby,” I murmur, burying my face into the top of her head. “She’s gone.”

Sadie buries her face into my chest and bursts into tears.

I’ve never felt more like a failure than I do right now. “I’m so fucking sorry, baby.” I hold her tight, my own emotions threatening to get the better of me. “I should have been here. Fuck.” My fingers tangle in her hair as I breathe her in.

“I thought I was going to die,” she croaks out, and my whole fucking world crumbles.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” I say it over and over again. But no matter what I say, it will never take this feeling away.

The fact is, if I hadn’t gotten to her in time, she would have been dead. And it would have been all my fault.

Sadie

IN AND OUT, I brEATHE his scent in, reminding myself that I’m okay. I’m safe. She didn’t hurt me. I’m not dead.

Still, it doesn’t stop my body from trembling as I shake in Preston’s arms.

He saved me.

“Sadie!” Collin’s voice booms from somewhere below.

“Up here!” Preston shouts.

A few seconds later, footsteps pound their way up the stairs and into the room.

“Fuck, Pretty Girl. Thank god you're okay.” Grayson rushes over and pulls me from Preston’s arms. I wrap my arms around him and hold him tightly, not caring which one of my men is holding me, as long as I’m safe in one of their arms.

“Sunshine,” Collin breathes, stepping behind Grayson, lowering his face to bury it in my neck. “Thank fuck you’re okay.”

“What happened?” Declan asks, voice panicked and confused. “Collin called me, demanded I get to the tower, then hung up.”

“It was Tina.” Preston growls, the vibration rumbling through his chest.

“You have to be fucking kidding me!?” Collin shouts. “I thought that bitch was overseas?”

“Guess she made a surprise visit,” Preston says.

“And where the fuck is she?” Collin demands. “I swear to god, Preston, if you let that bitch go–”

“She’s dead,” I say, pulling away from Grayson’s chest to look at the guys. “She’s dead, right?” I look at Preston, eyes filled with hope.

I’ve never been one to wish harm on others. I believe in karma, and I don’t want something to come back to me.

But I’ve never wanted someone to be dead more in my life than I do right now. I’m over it. I’m over her and all the bullshit she’s put me through. Clearly, it was never going to be enough; she was never going to stop until she brought me down.

All of this for what? A boy? Power? Money? I really fucking hate this world the guys are a part of, and if I didn’t love them so much, I’d be buying a plane ticket out of here and never looking back.

Preston takes a few steps over to the window and looks down. “Yup. Dead.”

Collin rushes over, then the other guys. “Fuck.” Grayson whistles. “She looks like Wile E. Coyote when he gets crushed.”