Page 12 of Triumphant Kings

“I’m done running,” he murmurs against my skin, making me shiver. “Once I can get out of this fucked up arranged marriage to Tina, I’m going to come for you.”

“I know you will.” I give him a small smile. “And for now, we can still be together. Sure, we can’t be out in the open like we want to be, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“You deserve better,” he growls, looking away.

“I deserve you.” I duck my head, following his gaze. “Our lives are fucked up and out of our control. But we will always find a way, okay? I’ll wait as long as I need to. But I’m not going anywhere. And neither is Declan.”

“You say that now, but–”

“No.” I grip his cheeks with one hand and squeeze. “Enough. You're mine, Preston Jones. And I’ll cut a bitch who tries to take you from me.”

That has him chuckling, and god, the sound makes my heart soar. “You know,” he says, gripping my hips to grind me down on his cock. “Seeing you all possessive over me is pretty sexy.”

“Yeah?” I smile.

“Yeah.” He nods, leaning in to kiss me.

My body comes to life as I moan against his lips.

“Not that I don’t think this moment is adorable and shit, but please do not fuck on my office floor. My mother is inside this house, probably wanting to come in here and check on us all to make sure we’re okay and do that motherly thing she does, and we don’t want to make the woman die of a heart attack.”

“Stop that.” Carol steps into the room. “You act as if I’m some old, fragile lady.”

Biting my lip, I smile up at my mother’s best friend. “Hi,” I say awkwardly, because I’m supposed to be married to her son, but here I am making out with his brother while she also knows I’m dating another man besides these two.

“Hi, Sadie, love.” She crosses her arms, not seeming to be surprised at all with what’s going on. Sometimes I forget she’s a part of this fucked up world too. “Anything else you’ve been keeping from me? Let me guess, you with Grayson too?”

“Ahh, maybe?” I laugh awkwardly.

“Called it.” She nods, smiling widely.

“Was it that obvious?”

“Oh, love.” She gives me a pitying look, making me even more embarrassed. “I saw the way you’ve been looking at these boys for years. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together when you started hanging around with them. I'm the head of the school, I have eyes everywhere.”

My eyes widen in horror. “When you say everywhere...” I squeak.

“Everywhere.” She gives me a knowing look, and I die inside. “No more of that, okay? Now, I’m going to put on a pot of coffee and make you three something to eat.” Spinning around on her heel, she leaves.

“You hungry?” I turn to ask Preston, climbing off his lap and holding out my hand. He looks at me wearily, casting a glance at the door. “Come on.” I laugh. “She doesn’t bite.”

This is new for him. Preston has never had a loving parental figure in his life. And whether he likes it or not, Carol will fill that role for him. It’s just who she is. He’s her son’s brother. Therefore, he’s family.

It’s one of the many reasons why I love that woman.

Without a word, he takes my hand and gets to his feet. We don’t talk about what just happened, giving him time to process everything.

When we sit down at the table, plates of yummy food in front of us, I give him a smile before mouthing ‘I love you’ and digging in.

This is one bizarre start to my day, but what else is new?

Chapter 3

Declan

I’ve never felt so lost and out of place in my life. I’m trying not to overthink everything, but it’s hard when I have no idea what’s going on.

Sadie is married to Collin. The whole world knows.

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