Page 34 of The Broken Queen
Kingston: You didn’t decide it mattered to you until it suited you.
Presley: I’m not doing this again with you.
My heart had started to race the more of their exchange I watched. Why did this feel so intimate?
Kingston: Then why did you text me out of the blue, why not text Gio? Why is it me that’s on your mind when you’re in bed with Adrian?
Fuck, now I felt like my chest was open and they were just being dicks about pouring in the gasoline, and irresponsible with the matches.
Presley: I’m not as angry with Gio as I am you because he didn’t say shit that was insensitive and rude.
Somehow, that didn’t make me feel any better.
Kingston: Fine that’s fair. He is the better brother but answer me. Why are you texting me while you’re in bed with him.
Presley: … why do you care either way?
She asked a good question. If Kingston had truly let her go, and no longer cared either way about her, then why was he baiting her? If anything, he should be kind, hoping to get her to stay when she came back. He was fucking it all up again, and he was doing it because he still cared. In fact, if I went back and looked at everything he’d done, it was clear that he cared too much. While I was hurt, I wasn’t so hurt that I agreed to fucking her and then leaving her. I didn’t agree to pulling our protection of her, or our friendship. It was something I knew with time we could likely work through, but not my brother.
He wanted to burn every memory, destroy every moment, and erase her.
I was still staring at my phone when a new alert came in.
Dad: Need you and your brother to come to the house asap.
Feeling petty and hurt, I decided to jump into the conversation.
Me: Sorry to break this little heart to heart up, but Kingston, dad needs us up at the house.
With one last glance up at the sky, a tender part of my chest throbbed, wishing for stars. For something that would help lead me back to the way things were before all of this.
It was latewhen I finally arrived in the family wing. Kingston was already there, sitting on the couch, legs propped up on the ottoman with his phone in his hand. His eyes traveled up to mine when I moved to the spot across from him.
“Hey, I’m sorry about the text thread.” He cleared his throat while placing his feet on the floor.
I shrugged. I knew he wasn’t over her. He was a liar, and it was better that I realized that now instead of when she got back.
“Gio, I am sorry. I didn’t know?—”
“Drop it. I don’t fucking care,” I snapped in return.
Dad walked out of the kitchen with a white ceramic mug filled with tea. He was shirtless and wearing his sweats when he settled in the chair across from us.
“Thank you both for coming so soon.” His eyes bounced between us, like he knew we were in an argument.
King nodded while I just watched them both. I just wanted to know what the hell he needed, so I could go sort out all of the emotions I was feeling.
Dad sipped from his mug and then jumped into what happened. “I got a call this evening from Adrian Adesso. Seems he’s desperate for help and is asking for us to step in and be the aid he needs to get the girls out.”
I didn’t look at my brother when I asked, “He can’t just place them both on a jet and tell the pilot to come here?”
“Obviously not,” Kingston snapped.
I glared over at him, but before I could reply, Dad cut in.
“Doesn’t matter, and we’re not arguing about it. Adrian needs to get them out, and he said his property is being watched like a hawk, all of his aircrafts and employees are under Markos’s direction. There are too many soldiers to just simply have the two of you go in, even if Scotty and Kyle were to go with you.”
“So what are you asking of us?” I asked.
