Page 85 of The Broken Queen
Gio was being shortsighted about things and, as usual, leading with that jealous heart of his. This was deeper to her.
I tried to remember that as I watched her walk around what used to be a safe house used by me and Gio. It was back when we were scouting Mayhem Riot, the motorcycle club that we’d tried to infiltrate all those months ago. The memory was still tinged with shame that we’d nearly cost our aunt her boyfriend. Archer’s forgiveness was still something that humbled me, but having Presley see this place was like opening my veins in front of her and trying to hide the blood.
“So, this is the place you guys stayed while you were—” she trailed off while dragging her finger over a dusty shelf. Gio had clicked on a lamp to help brighten the room, but it hadn’t been cleaned in months since we had no use for it after our attempted takeover. It was something we planned to hand over to El Peligro at some point for them to use or sell.
Presley shrugged out of her long coat and laid it on the back of the couch.
“It’s very empty.”
Gio’s jaw tensed. “Well, we were only here to lay low, didn’t exactly set up shop.”
“Do you guys smoke anymore?” She picked up a glass pipe before setting it gently back on the shelf.
“I haven’t really since all the shit went down here,” Gio answered somberly.
Presley inspected him, then swung her head over to me.
“Well, let’s go to bed. I’m tired.” She slipped out of her high heels and then walked over to Gio, so he’d help with the buttons on her dress. Once he finished, the fabric lowered from her shoulders, revealing bare skin. Her tits were held up by a strapless bra, and the black straps of her thong rose high along her hip bones.
I watched every move she made before admitting. “We only have the two beds, and they’re small.”
With a smirk, she reached behind her to unclasp her bra. “Better move them together then because I’m not being forced to choose.”
My brother and I followed her like lovesick puppies.
Once we pushed our twin beds together, against the wall, Gio stripped and crawled on first. Presley moved next and snuggled in beside him. Her face was buried in his neck, and his hand had wrapped around her waist. For the briefest moment, I felt like an intruder or third wheel, but Gio helped Presley turn so her back was to his chest, and she faced me.
“Come on, King.”
Her eyes drew me in just like they always did. The thick black lashes, and the way her freckles splattered over her nose. My heart seemed to ache with a heaviness, a fear of losing this.
Yanking my shirt up and over my head, I tossed it to the floor and dropped my jeans.
Sliding under the covers, I felt her soft skin rub against mine. Her fingers trailed over my neck and jaw until her lips met mine. Oncewe pulled apart, she said. “Tell me why you both became so determined to hurt everyone after I left.”
Gio wrapped a piece of her hair around his finger, but didn’t reply.
I heaved a sigh and traced her nose. “It’s difficult to explain, but for me it was a form of punishment for myself.”
“We’d already lost you, felt like there wasn’t much left to lose,” Gio added.
Things were quiet while my brother played with her hair, and I drew lines up her hip bone and along her ribs.
“So it was a form of acting out?”
Gio snorted. “What we did was wrong, Elvis. It was unacceptable. We aren’t proud of it. Just like we aren’t proud of what we did to you. It’s not easy for us to talk about, but trust me when I say it was far beyond merely acting out.”
Her fingers trailed up behind her, moving to my brother’s jaw. Her other hand moved to my chest, over my heart.
“I know it’s not easy, but I also think it’s important to not lock it away. You’re both the most important people to me. I want you to be whole.”
Drawing her hand up, I pressed a kiss to the pads of her fingers. “Just don’t give up on us. We’re trying to get back to who we were and make things right, but it takes time. It’s impossible to walk away from all the choices we made…some of them are more permanent.”
Presley drew a line over my chest while Gio stroked down her arm. “So walking away from El Peligro is…”
“Not possible,” I confirmed softly.
“What happened to the charity your parents were running? All the inner-city things they were doing with the power of that gang…is it all gone?”
