Page 10 of King

“You sound confident.”

“I’m always confident. But Rico is a very small fish in a huge pond. If you want to go somewhere, Rico ain’t the answer.” He lifted a brow and stepped backwards. “Think on it and give me a call.” I looked down at the card still in my hand. Lewis Campbell. By the time I looked back up he’d gone. I studied the card again swiftly before I slipped it into my pocket.

What the fuck just happened?

As soon as I pulled up outside of Phoenix’s house I jumped out of my car, swung the door shut and jogged up the drive, banging on the front door like there was an emergency. I was half expecting it to be Phoenix that answered, so as a gap in the door appeared, I stepped up onto the doorstep and put my hand on the door, ready to push my way in. The door opened swiftly. I almost fell inside, and faceplanted the floor.

“Come in why don’t you, Jacob.” Phoenix’s dad stood just inside the door. He stopped me from taking him with me as he held my arm until I’d steadied myself. “What can I do for you, young man?”

“Well, I just wanted to see Phoenix.” I said with a tight grin.

He studied my face. Considering I’d just come from the club, I didn’t look too bad, and I’d only had one pint. I thought that was good. “Been in a fight on your way here?” he exclaimed, expressionless. Phoenix’s dad knew I fought, but he didn’t know about the illegal fight club. Phoenix and I decided we wouldn’t let the parents in on what I was doing. I didn’t need their negativity, and that was pretty much all I’d have gotten.

“Oh, I’ve been to the gym, sparring…you know.” I added hesitantly. I didn’t want to say too much. Philip Clarke had a way of getting me to talk without even realising it. He only had to stare at me a little too hard and I folded under the pressure.

His chin lifted slightly; I was sure he didn’t believe me but I wasn’t about to call him out on the look he was giving me. “So, is Phoenix around?” he nodded, but still stared at me, roaming my face with his hawk-like glare. He stood to the side for me to pass by. “Thanks, Mr Clarke.”

“You know I like you, don’t you Jacob?” I stopped and turned and gave him a cautious nod. “But Phoenix is my little girl, even though she’s the oldest, I'll always worry about her.”

“I know.” I thought that was every father’s prerogative to worry about their daughters, I would never have expected anything less.

“So, when I see you with black eyes and cut lips and you can barely stand, I have to wonder if it’s just sparring you’re doing.” He pushed his hands into the pockets in his joggers, with his shoulders pushed back, he puffed out his chest. I’ll admit, Mr Clarke was a fair size and kept himself fit. As he held that stance, he was quite imposing; even to me, a guy that’s come up against some big men. “You see, when I see you being helped up the drive by your two friends, I worry she’s getting in way over her head.”

My feet fidgeted once I realised he was talking about the last fight I’d had. I’d completely forgot about the video doorbell they had on the front door. To be honest, this wasn’t a bad area, but there had been a lot of break-ins and car theft. I swallowed hard but tried to conceal my nervousness. I pushed my shoulders back to match and pulled in a steadying breath.

“I love Phoenix, Mr Clarke, and I promise I would never let her come to any harm. From me or anyone else.”

Mr Clarke stepped up to me and wound his hand around the back of my neck to hold me steady. “That is all I want for her. Of course, as well as her nursing career she’s already working so hard to achieve.” His hand moved to my shoulder. “I just wanted your word,” his fingers tightened slightly to give me a friendly shake. With a smile, he released me and finally, I relaxed.

“Phoenix,” Mr Clarke shouted up the stairs. “Jacob’s here.” In just a moment, she appeared at the top of the stairs and greeted me with a smile. Her smile was so bright it could stop traffic.

“Off you go then.” Mr Clarke prompted, and I disappeared with a tight grin. It soon turned to a warm smile as I looked up at Phoenix and I took the stairs two at a time. “Oh, and Jacob,” I glance back and paused with my foot on the step, “don’t forget what I said.”

“I won’t.” I took the rest of the steps two at a time until I reached the top and slid my arm around her waist, bringing her against me. I’d been waiting for this all day.

CHAPTER SEVEN

PHOENIX

“What did he say to you?” I whispered to Jacob as I led him to my room. But as soon as the door was shut, he took me in his arms and tried to kiss me. “Jay, stop for a second.” He groaned his displeasure, but I leant back and pinned him with a glare. His eyes rolled as his arms relaxed. He sighed anyway, I’m sure it was to just make a point, but I wasn’t having any of it. “What did my dad say?”

He moved towards the bed and sat down, patting the mattress for me to sit beside him. “He saw me the other week, when Danny and Ethan brought me back here,” my eyes widened and he must’ve noticed my reaction. “Yeah, he saw me on the camera on the front door, I reckon.”

“Oh shit.” I drop my face into my hands.

“He must’ve thought I was just being a prick and was getting into fights. I told him I was sparring at the gym.” I let my body fall back to the bed and huffed out loudly, we didn’t need this. Dad didn’t like the thought of him fighting at a boxing gym, let alone illegal fighting. How the hell was I going to get out of this? Jacob fell back to the bed and rolled towards me, resting his head on his hand and looked down at me. “He was just concerned, that’s all. He’s your dad, he’s allowed to be.”

He swept the hair from my eyes and hovered over me for a brief moment, he leant down and settled his lips softly against mine. I pulled back, “Enjoy the drink?”

“Yeah, it was good.” He leaned back in with his hand in my hair and placed his lips on mine again. I breathed through his kiss and let him control the pace. I reached over and gripped his hip, pulling him over me until I felt his weight on me, my fingers fluttered up and down his back, then I slid my hand down to his bum. I loved to feel the muscles tighten beneath his joggers. I squeezed his cheek as he positioned himself. I parted my legs for him to slip between them and he kissed me harder. I needed to slow him down. I couldn’t do this with my dad in the house. I might be nineteen and can do what I please, but still, a little respect for your parents goes a long way.

I brought my hands back up and nudged his shoulders back, hoping to tell him with my actions that we needed to stop. His erection pushed against my stomach and I wanted nothing more than for him to sink inside of me, but it wasn’t going to happen. I released his lips with a strangled groan and pulled away. “Jacob, we can’t.” He growled in the back of his throat but released me and pushed upwards.

“You know,” he started as he licked his lips, “when you pull me on top of you, that’s pretty much a green light to me.” he smirked.

“I know, I’m sorry. I was just really happy to see you.” I took my lip between my teeth and smiled around it as we pushed to sit back against the wall, side by side. He took my fingers in his hand and brought them to his lips.

A one-sided smirk appeared on his mouth. “I’ve got something to show you.” He let go of my hand and reached around to his back. He turned his body towards me and dipped his hand into his pocket. He produced his wallet and opened it up. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I looked from the wallet that was held firmly in his fingers and back to Jacob again. “How much is that?”

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