Page 90 of Mafie Kings

I turn around to see Lev wrapping Evie in a sheet to cover her up. She’s limp in his arms, passed out completely.

What would have happened if I didn’t walk in when I did?

It took us too long to get to her. Natalya stopped us on our way back to ‘tell her side of the story’. It was all clearly a lie and I wonder if she was sent to stall us. I pace the floor in front of the bed again and again as I try to calm down. Lev picks Evie up in his arms, holding her close.

Bryce laughs, causing me to look back at him. “I didn’t think you were the type to lose your mind over a used-up whore,” he says, getting to his feet. He spits his blood on my shoes in disgust.

My body vibrates with a wave of anger I’ve never felt before. This kid doesn’t know when to quit.

Grabbing him by the hair, I force him to look up at me. I revel in his fear as he sees his death in my eyes. “No one,” I say, my voice shaking with unfiltered hatred, “no one calls her a whore and lives to see another day.”

I force him to walk, shoving him out of the room and up the stairs. Once we are out on the open deck, I march over to the edge of the boat and throw him over the side.

The music that was playing suddenly stops, and everyone's voices go silent as they look at me with a mixture of fear and shock. Lev comes up from the stairs with Evie in his arms.

Alexi comes running down from the top deck. “What the fuck, D?” He sees me staring at Evie and seems to realize something isn’t okay. He approaches Lev slowly, his fingers reaching out to feel her pulse. His shoulders seem to relax slightly after a moment, realizing she’s not dead. Lev has yet to speak. His eyes look glazed over, his jaw clenched tightly.

“Who?” Alexi asks quietly, running a finger down Evie’s cheek. “Who the fuck thought they could take what is OURS?” Alexi roars, causing some of the crowd to jump back.

Bryce screams in the water below us about sharks; Angelo descends the stairs slowly, looking at the three of us before his eyes linger on Evie.

“Damien?” he asks as his face contorts in confusion.

I point down into the water at the flailing soon-to-be dead man. “Bryce here thought he could drug her,” I say loudly, then lower my voice so that only the other kings and Angelo can hear. “Amongst other things.”

The air around us becomes charged with the energy of a tsunami as they process this information. Alexi is breathing hard, Lev has turned almost as white as his hair, and Angelo’s face is bright red.

“We can’t kill him,” Alexi says finally. Before I can register the movement, my fist connects with the side of Alexi’s face.

“We can do whatever the fuck we want! We’re the Kings. He messed with what’s ours.” My fist pulls back again just as Alexi’s connects with my rib cage knocking the air from my lungs.

“Even we have rules,” Alexi says with deathly calm.

My mind swims with the injustice of this all while Alexi stands there playing god, lording himself over the rest of us like always.

“Fuck the rules. I…”

“Stop!” Lev interrupts, adjusting Evie in his arms as she stirs. “We need to report this. The Society will take care of it. Right now, D, I need you to come with me.”

“I want to be the one to take care of it!” I say, yelling.

Angelo comes back with a large bag in his hand. He throws it overboard, pulling a string as it inflates into a small boat. He looks back at me. “He is not welcome on my boat,” he says. “He can get himself back to the island on that vessel or he can die trying.”

He looks to Alexi as he says, “You may not be allowed to kill him, but I am under no such obligation.” He turns to look at the crowd of students still around us. “This will be the only warning I give you. If you mess with them,” he says pointing a finger at the four of us, “I will not guarantee your safety back to shore.”

Turning on his heel, he leaves and heads back up to the deck. The engines roar to life a moment later. I’ve never seen him so angry, but I'm not surprised that Evie made an impression on him.

“You can’t just leave him out there,” someone yells.

Alexi walks over to deal with the idiot as Lev approaches me. The sound of bones crunching followed by more screams fills the air around us, but all I hear is Lev’s voice.

“I need you to call Doc,” he says to me as he turns to walk down the stairs. He carries Evie to his room at the back of the yacht. I follow behind him as I dial the number I saved after our last visit to the hospital.

“Hello?” a voice answers groggily.

“It’s Damien, Evie was drugged by some asshole. We need to know what to do.”

His voice changes in an instant. “Do you know what she was given?” I put him on speaker once we reach Lev’s room.

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