Page 40 of The Broken Queen
“Neither. Did. I,” I replied just as shrewdly in return.
We stared at one another, neither of us moving until he finally broke first, flicking that ire in his eyes to the open screen that was now on the coffee table.
“What is that?” He covered the space between us in less than two strides. I went to reach for the laptop right as he pulled it up.
“Kingston.” My fingers wrapped around the bottom, but his instantly covered them, and then he let them linger while he stared at the screen.
“What am I looking at, Presley?”
Fuck. I yanked the device as hard as I could, but all it did was make him lose his footing and fall forward. The laptop dropped to the couch, and his palm landed next to my head, pressing into the sofa. Our faces were inches apart as he glared down at me, ruthlessly and angrily.
My eyes searched his, as if they were convinced, apart from what my mind and heart had warned them of, they could somehow dig through those amber irises and find the boy who once protected us. The one who grew up doing anything and everything to ensure we were safe and cared for.
“You’re being needlessly cruel to Gio,” Kingston rasped.
I wet my lips, not on purpose, but my mouth was so fucking dry since he’d walked in. He seemed to burn everything when he entered a room. “Why do you care if I’m mean to Gio? I’d be just as mean to you if you gave a shit.”
He smirked. “I don’t, though. So, perhaps you should give the twin who still does a shot.”
“I’ll pass. Thanks, though.” I smiled up at him sweetly.
He clenched his jaw, obviously fighting throughsomething, but I didn’t care anymore. I slid under his arm and shot off the couch, leaving my laptop behind. Damn him–if he looked at the picture, he could put two and two together. I’d already deleted the email from Adrian and only kept the image downloaded to my computer.
My back was to him as I began to scale the steps, one at a time, when I heard him ask, “This is Scotty…he’s killing someone who looks?—”
“Kingston, drop it.”
He paused, glancing up at me. “Tell me what happened.”
“No.” I turned to leave again, but Kingston stopped me again with his words from where he stood below, “You need protection…if Adrian was desperate to get you out and this picture shows Scotty killing someone... He put you in harm’s way, didn’t he?”
“You just got done saying that you didn’t give a shit about me.” I challenged with a bit of a scoff.
His cold gaze flicked over to something in the corner of the room. I followed his gaze to the plant, completely dead inside its planter. Something passed through his eyes when he finally snapped the laptop shut and tossed it to the couch. He tucked his hands into his pockets and shook his head.
“Stop being cruel to Gio. For the record, he never wanted to fuck and leave you. That was all me. He never wanted to punish you. He never wanted to lose you, Presley. Forgive him.”
My heart hammered out a warning in my chest.
I should have listened instead of making my way down the steps. “And you did want to do all those things?”
I stood in front of Kingston as he glared at the freckles spread across my nose.
“Obviously.”
“Why? I didn’t deserve your cruelty.” That warning in my chest beat out a steady drum, but I just ignored it and kept pushing.
Kingston’s face twisted in pain as he got even closer, until our faces were close. “Why? You broke my heart, Presley. Fucking shattered it, and you don’t think you’re owed a little cruelty for it?”
“You broke me first, asshole,” I seethed.
His head tilted to the side as he smirked. “Well then, let us stay broken, Presley. I know I am.”
“I don’t believe you.” An angry tear made its way down my face.
He watched as it slowly rolled down my cheek, then a shuddered expression took over his face before he wiped up the wetness from my face with his thumb.
“I only came here to tell you to start talking to Gio. You and I, we’re over, but you and my brother still have a chance. Don’t ruin that.”
