Page 53 of The Kings
“Ah, yeah. Almost forgot about that. Here…” He leans down to the bottom drawer near where he’s standing and then frisbees a folder across the kitchen island that separates us.
“What’s this?” I put the apple down and flip the folder open, raising an eyebrow at the contents. “Great. I was hoping he wouldn’t know about this.”
“Of course he knows,” Raph says.
“So, what are we going to do about it?”
“It’s handled.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I went and handled it. When the time comes, Drago will be on our side. In the meantime, he keeps up his cover for Grenville. But he did say that Grenville has people on the inside looking to take a hit on you.”
Silence descends.
“And you didn’t bother to tell me this before now because?” I am fuming. How dare he keep this shit from me?
“Well, as soon as we got back from seeing your dad, there was the contest. Then you passed out, and you and James got into it and passed out again. Then you were on campus, and you came back with the stalking news, and now you are here, and I’m telling you.”
Blinking, I take that in with a rising temper. “So, when did you see Drago in all of this?”
“After your fight with James.”
Tarquin glares at him, as do James and Oliver. “I’m guessing you are the only one who went?”
“Yep. Didn’t need backup. Men like Drago respond to one thing and one thing only. I have more of it than Grenville, so it’s handled.”
“Ego?” I growl.
He gives me a slow, lazy smile that tells me I’m not wrong, but that’s not where he was going with this. “Cold hard cash.”
“Hmm.” I turn to James. “You going to shit all over him for going alone?”
“Nope. He knows what he’s doing.”
“And I don’t?” The sweetness in my voice is deadly, and he knows it.
He narrows his eyes, and the corner of his mouth twitches into a smile. “He came back without a scratch on him. You look like you got run over by a ten-tonne truck, which then backed up and had another go.”
“Fuck you.”
“You’re a brave man,” Oliver points out, grabbing my apple from the tip of Flick and biting into it. “Those ghost pepper pants are about to burst into flame.”
“Not helping,” Tarquin murmurs. “Look, Raph, I get that it’s been a shitshow around here, but Eliza is right. You should’ve told at least one of us. Even more so, as this confirms what Eliza was saying yesterday, and you just sat there without saying anything.”
“Yeah,” he says, running his hand through his hair. “I was trying to dig up more information before I mentioned it. It lays down a whole other level to this…” He looks up as the doorbell rings. “Wait here,” he murmurs, and we all do as he says becausethe gates at the end of the driveway were shut last night after my stalking revelation, which means someone scaled them to ring the bell.
Exchanging a glance with Tarquin, I smile, grateful for this support. He gives me a super cute smile back, and it fires up my lust engines. I might be battered still, but this girl has high sexual needs, and right now, I’m horny as fuck.
Raphael returns with a box about half the size of a shoebox. “It’s addressed to you,” he says to me, placing it carefully on the island.
“I’m guessing the delivery person wasn’t there to hand it to you?”
“Nope, left on the doormat.”
“And dodged every camera we have up outside,” James says, glaring at his phone. “How? How the fuck did they manage that?”
“A pro,” I murmur, licking my lips and reaching for the box.
