Page 68 of Evil King

“Aren’t we friends too?” I asked. “Shouldn’t brothers be friends?”

Nathan absently blinked a couple of times, and then a smile slowly crept on his face. “Yeah. We should be friends too!”

I nodded. “Good. Bring that basketball, then. I’m gonna teach you how to play.”

“Okay!”

I had been so happy to have a brother. Look where having a brother got me.

Watching Cherri walk away from me, looking so disappointed, killed me. I wanted to run after her, but with Nathan still standing in front of me and with Connor to my left, I knew I wouldn’t get very far without getting into more of a scrap than I wanted to with Connor there. He didn’t scare me, but I never knew what he was going to do next. It made it difficult to act recklessly when it came to him. Iwouldfinish hurting Nathan for how badly he hurt Cherri, but if it needed to wait until a less compromising time, then I could wait for that moment.

Connor crossed his arms and looked at us like we were no more than a couple of children who had misbehaved. “What’s going on here?”

“Ask him!” Nathan growled. “I showed up, and he fucking jumped on me like a wild dog!”

“Looks like he got the better of you too,” Connor said. “You don’t know how to fight without a gun?”

Nathan looked at Connor and seemed truly shocked by that statement. “I…”

He looked at me, and for a second, his eyes briefly flashed that same offended look he gave me back when I called him weak when we first met. He’d always been committed to proving he was strong. I was beginning to figure out why.

Connor turned to look at me. “You. Why are you starting something with your brother?”

Suddenly, I didn’t know if I should make a mention of what he’d done to Cherri. Would that help or hurt his standing with Connor? Which was better? Would it come back on Cherri if I did say it?

“Thanks to this asshole, Miss Abrams jumped out that window, and everyone thinks I fucking pushed her!” I growled instead.

Nathan stomped his feet like a spoiled brat. “I didnothave anything to do with her jumping! I have no idea why she did that!”

The sincerity in Nathan’s gaze was shocking. “You—” I started, but before I could get any additional words out, Connor cleared his throat and shook his head at me. Was Nathannotinvolved? Miss Abrams quite clearly brought him up. “Guess I heard a bad rumor,” I said.

Connor’s harsh gaze relaxed a little. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. Moreover.” He walked forward, took Nathan and me each by the shoulder, and shoved us a little closer to one another. “Whether you’re on good terms or not, you’re brothers. You should have each other’s backs.”

I shoved myself out of Connor’s grip, but I could see the way Nathan was dwarfed under his touch. He was petrified.

“Deon,” Connor continued. “Do I need to reach out to your parole officer and make a mention of your fighting?”

If I could set a man on fire with a look, Connor would be up in flames. Connor was all about power and control. He didn’t scare me, but no matter how much it bothered me, he had more chips than I did at the moment, and I had to be smart about how I played mine.

“No,” I forced out through gritted teeth. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” With his hand still gripped tightly on Nathan’s shoulder, he guided him back toward the parking lot. “We’re going.”

As they were walking away, Nathan looked back over his shoulder at me. All at once, I was thrust back through time to that moment that we met, to that little boy who was just happy to have a brother.

Fuck.

I stayed where I was until Connor and Nathan were in his car and out of sight. Then I finally climbed in my car and started back to my house. I was even more confused than I was when the day began, which was something, considering the fact that I was lost as shit when I left my house that morning. I had to figure out how to navigate the next couple of days. I had to figure out how to apologize to Cherri and deal with the fact that I had a small, growing bead of sympathy for my brother. Avery, Alistair, and even Cherri seemed flabbergasted that Nathan had suddenly turned abusive, but if our father was fucking him up, was there still hope for redemption?

I turned the corner toward my house, and a brand new, sparkling car that stuck out like a sore thumb was parked in front. My mind raced wildly, considering the number of people it could have been, but when I parked and got out of the car, I was shocked and pleased to see Cherri get out of the driver’s seat.

“Cherri,” I said. “Hi. I was just about to call you.”

“I bet you were,” she said. “You know, it feels like everyone’s been just lying to me for the last four years. And if it was just Nathan, or just Kyle, or hell, the entire fucking Royal Court, that would have been fine, but I never expected you to lie to me.” My lips parted to respond, but Cherri held up a hand. “But I lied to you too. I let you think that Nathan and I had broken up and almost used you to cheat on him. Call it even?”

I let out a sigh of relief. “I would fucking love to call it even.”

She nodded. “Good.” She opened her driver’s side door and started to climb in, nodding her head toward the passenger’s side door. “Get in. Now that we’re even, I want answers.”

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