Page 74 of Evil King

Ciara shook her head. “No, nothing yet, but they claim to have lots of witnesses, and a warrant has been issued for your arrest.”

“They can’t do that, can they? You didn’t do anything wrong,” I whined.

Deon walked over, wrapped his arms around me, and pulled me into a hug. “Unfortunately, they can do whatever they want.”

“Do you think it’s your father, Deon?” Ciara asked, and we both looked over at her.

Deon kept a close hold on me but turned to face his mother. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, it’s the same teacher, isn’t it?” she said with an odd shake to her voice. “The same one Nathan was caught with.”

“It is,” he replied, “and Sicily did find out that Nathan and Connor had made the entire school agree to these mini NDAs. Everyone got paid five hundred bucks to keep quiet.”

I remembered getting the snap myself when it went out. I didn’t think anything of it at the time because I was just so happy that it was being covered up for Deon’s sake. “People who were there got paid more,” I added.

“Yeah, a thousand bucks more,” Deon said. “So, yeah. I think it was either Connor or Nathan. Maybe both. I don’t know. They had all the cards. They were treating it like it was a non-issue at school today, and Principal Hix told me I was off the hook. For it all of a sudden to be cropping up now, it must have been one of them.”

“Did something happen to upset them?” Ciara asked.

Deon and I side-glanced each other, but I chose to speak up in defense of Deon. “I broke up with Nathan. He was…abusive, and he and Deon got into a fight about it.”

Ciara raised an eyebrow at me. “You were dating Nathan?”

“It’s complicated, Mom,” Deon defended. “I think Cherri got caught between Nathan and me.”

Ciara shook her head. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. All of this drama is happening because of the man I chose. There’s nothing I can do to stop it.”

“If you hadn’t,” I piped up, “we wouldn’t have Deon.” Deon squeezed me closer to him and kissed me on the forehead. “This is tough, but we just have to figure it out.”

“I need to go see Sicily. He’d told me before that he was prepared for if things went south. I had no idea what that meant, but I think he may be able to help.”

Ciara nodded. “Well, as long as the police haven’t come, you’re free to—”

As if summoned by the mention, there was a pounding at the door. My heart dropped into my stomach as a voice bellowed, “Deon Keane, police! Come out with your hands up.”

“No,” I whimpered, hanging onto Deon. “Don’t leave me.”

“Hey.” He grabbed my arms and looked down at me. “It’s gonna be okay. Call Sicily, okay?” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. “My passcode’s your birthday.”

I nodded as tears started to stream down my face. Deon turned, kissed his mom, and came back to me for one last kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I responded, and then Deon walked over to the door and opened it. He lifted his hands into the air just as two armed police officers pointed large guns at him.

“Down on the ground!” one screamed, and Deon complied, dropping first to his knees, then down onto his chest, folding his hands behind his back.

Ciara wrapped an arm around me, and we both cried as we watched an officer walk over to Deon, slap cuffs on his wrist, and pull him up off the pavement. With aggression that wasn’t necessary, they dragged him over to one of the squad cars and shoved him into the back. With Deon in the car, they turned on their lights and sirens, almost as if they intended to make a spectacle, and started off down the street with him in tow.

I looked at Ciara once they were gone. “I’m gonna make this right, okay?”

Ciara nodded. “I trust you. Bring my boy—our boy—back.”

We hugged for an incredibly long time, and then I went back to my car and got in. Deon’s scent still lingered all around and made my throat burn. I swallowed hard to keep my emotions at bay as I called Avery and Alistair to tell them to meet me at Nathan’s house. Just before I pulled away, I got into Deon’s phone using my birthday, found Sicily’s number, and called.

“Deon. Fuck me, man. I know—”

“It’s Cherri.”

Sicily was quiet for a long time, and then he let out a long, exhausted-sounding sigh. “They picked him up?”

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