Page 17 of The Broken Queen
The twins were right.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Who gets the final say?” I heard a twig snap behind me, so I quickly side stepped and adjusted my aim so I could see who was approaching.
A middle-aged man with silver hair and a narrow jaw walked up. He wore a fine linen suit and had sharp blue eyes and tan skin. My stomach sank, all while my arm rose, and I aimed my gun directly at this man’s head.
“Who are you?”
He smiled at me. “I’m Markos Mariano. It’s nice to finally meet you, Presley.”
I pulled the hammer back on the gun with my thumb.
The man’s smile only grew. “You might not want to shoot me just yet.”
“And why not?”
He turned the smallest bit, looking over his shoulder, and that’s when I realized there was someone standing near the front door. The shimmery blonde color had me audibly gasping as the woman made her way over to Markos. Within a single breath, the ground seemed to slip from beneath my feet.
“Alex?”
Chapter 7
Kingston
My fingers ached as I slid my thick work gloves off.
I’d been repairing the top floor of the farmhouse for the past week, pushing out images of Presley wearing that dress, wearing her hair down like that. She looked like something from a dream, a dream I couldn’t wake up from. One where, in the end, I knew the girl I loved wouldn’t be mine.
“Kingston!” Gio roared from the lower level of the house.
He’d been elusive and absent this past week as well. I hadn’t told him that I saw Presley on FaceTime through Scotty’s screen. I hadn’t told him that she wore a massive ring on her left hand that didn’t look like anything she’d ever pick out for herself. I hadn’t mentioned that she was forcing her smiles upon the room of strangers she was floating around in, and I certainly hadn’t shared that I told her in no uncertain terms that she still looked like she belonged with my brother. And not me.
“Yeah!”
I heard his feet slam against the stairs that I had recently rebuilt, and then his head popped up. He’d gotten a haircut, and it looked asthough he’d just showered because it was still wet as he ran his hand through the ends.
“You aren’t answering your cell.” My brother glanced down at my jeans that were covered in dust and paint.
“Been busy. What’s up?”
Gio shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered around the open floor. He saw the three bedrooms framed with drywall already nailed in place and the extra set of stairs leading to a third level.
“What’s this for?” He ran his palm over the railing, tilting his head back to take in the steps.
It wasn’t easy to build a house while not knowing jack shit about it. I had hired three contractors to come and help me, but there were a few things they’d told me I could do that would move things along a bit faster.
Lifting my head to gesture, I explained, “Figured you’d want to star gaze… I built this so you’d have that option from the top level.”
Gio’s face fell. His hands slid from the wood, and he shook his head.
“Why? She’s not coming back. You need to stop doing all this shit, acting like you’re building this life for me and Presley. It isn’t happening.”
I ignored him and set my tools back in the bucket that I’d carried up here. I had been hanging drywall all morning, so I didn’t have a ton of things to pack up.
“Kingston, I’m serious. You need to stop.” Gio crowded me with a shove.
I shoved him back, making everything tip out of the bucket I had packed things in.
