Page 99 of Kings Don't Break
The second the door flaps shut behind me, I rush to the sink to splash water on my face. The panic buzzing through me only intensifies. Earlier I’d been concerned, but I’d assumed whatever he was arrested for was minor.
The reality couldn’t be further from what I’d hoped. Blake will be lucky if he’s let off with a year of time in jail, no way he’s walking away serving no time at all.
“Fuck,” I whisper. My breath gasps out of me, a hand coming up to clutch my chest. “Breathe. It’ll be okay. It has to be… doesn’t it?”
I don’t know the answer anymore.
But I do know this is all my fault. I should’ve never pushed Blake into attending his family dinner. It couldn’t have been a worse idea. He must’ve spiraled after he dropped me off. He hadn’t been in a good place at all.
The door swings open and I look up in the mirror expecting the only other woman in the building, Sydney.
My scream catches in my throat. My insides clench into painful knots where fear takes root. A kind of fear so deep, so traumatic, I can do nothing but clam up like I’m hoping to become invisible.
“Ken,” I choke out. “Please…”
He’s leaning into the door, blocking any exit. Dark circles ring his eyes. His skin’s ghostly pale and slicked with sweat. Hair disheveled and uniform wrinkled. He’s never looked… more unsettling. There’s a madness gleaming off him. More than his usual rage and violence. It’s an instability that’s unpredictable and volatile.
“Save it, Kor,” he says. “What’s done is done. You had to go and disobey me. You had to go run off with your biker. Do you realize you’ve ruined his life? Do you realize what’s about to happen to him? He’s going away. I’ll make sure of it.”
I shake my head, so horrified my throat aches. “Please… Ken… he has nothing to do with this.”
“I’d say fucking my wife has everything to do with this,” he snarls. His face darkens with rage. “God, look at you. You disgust me, Kor. Nothing but a biker’s filthy whore. You should kiss the ground I walk on—you would be lucky if I ever took you back. You’d pay for it. You’d suffer for what you’ve done. You know that, right?”
My hands reach behind me to grip the porcelain sink basin. It’s the only way to keep from quaking on the spot, forcing my body still. A poisonous dark energy has invaded the small space, consuming me whole, pulling at me like an unstoppable force—the control Ken has had over me, and in some sick way, continues to have over me.
“If you come home, it all stops,” Ken says. “The charges will be dropped. He’ll be a free man.”
“Ken—”
“But if you don’t, let’s just say things are about to get a whole lot worse for you. Your biker boy toy will be behind bars. You will be penniless and on the street. Who knows? Sunny might have an unfortunate accident.”
My brows knit. I snap back at once. “Don’t you go near my mother!”
Ken grins. “Last chance, Kor. Come home, face your punishment like a big girl, or learn just how much I can take from you. Your choice.”
The door flies open as he steps out without waiting for my answer. It doesn’t matter if he’s gone—the gravity of his ultimatum remains.
23
KORINE
Ken’s warning stays on my mind for days. It remains an unspoken threat that I keep to myself. One I analyze from every conceivable angle. He could’ve been bluffing, trying his hardest to make me fearful and paranoid. His delusion could’ve had him believing he’s more powerful than he actually is in thinking he could ensure Blake’s imprisonment.
Or… or he could’ve been serious. He could’ve been as confident as he was because he really is capable of wreaking such havoc on our lives.
The many different possibilities wear on me. Try as I might to keep it from bleeding through, others pick up on my different behavior.
“How are you dealing with everything?” Sydney asks one afternoon. It’s only a few days since we bailed Blake out of jail and Ken issued his threat; the first time I’ve been around Sydney since we left the station discussing how we’ll move forward in light of Blake’s new legal troubles. She finds me in the garage of the Chop Shop making some custom modifications on an Electra Glide for Tito.
I look up, wiping my hands on a rag, and give a shrug. “If you mean all these last minute jobs that have come in… I’m managing. Chaz and Moss have been a big help. We haven’t even hit our busy season yet. So, should be interesting.”
“I meant personally,” Sydney says. She wanders over to the Electra Glide and runs a hand along its sparkling midnight blue cowl up front. “You seem like you’ve become more withdrawn.”
“You know this how?”
“We don’t know each other well,” she admits with a side tilt of her head. “But… I don’t know. Call it women’s intuition. I can pick up on things sometimes. Even from other women. It just seems… you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
“If you knew the half of it,” I mutter.
