Chaos at Westbrook High (The Kingston Brothers #3)

Chapter 16

I don’t lookat Kai. I can’t look at him. Not after the way I just acted in front of him and everyone in here. Weak. Pathetic. Needy for his touch…

Fuck, I’m an idiot.

Peeking over at the elevator on the other side of the suite, I wonder if anyone will try to stop me if I just get up and walk out of here. Go home, crawl into bed, and pretend this night never happened. Judging by the several pairs of suspicious eyes on me, that’s probably not going to happen any time soon. Not before they get some answers.

Elijah clears his throat, getting my attention, then says, “Come with me,” tilting his head at the wide hallway across from us.

Thank God.

The second I move, desperate to get away from his children, Kai catches me by the back of my neck, keeping me in place. He slowly shakes his head, and Elijah stares him down, all while Kai gently rubs the tension from my neck through my hoodie. It makes me shiver, although I’m still not cold. In fact, it’s really fucking hot in here all of a sudden.

“Kai…” his father warns.

Kai says nothing.

“She’s not going anywhere until you tell us what the fuck is happening,” Damon says, gesturing between me and Elijah. “Who is she to you?”

Elijah sighs heavily, loosening the tie at his neck, seemingly preparing himself for the fallout. “Everybody out,” he demands, and the employees behind him vanish within seconds. “Not you,” he says to James, who immediately drops his ass back down at the kitchen island, a small grin on his face as he holds a towel filled with ice to his bloody nose. Elijah does a quick double take at him before shaking his head in bewilderment, his gaze moving back to Damon as he side-eyes me and Kai with a quick glance I can’t read. “Her name is Hailey?—”

“We know her name, Dad,” Damon says angrily, sneering at us both. “Are you fucking her?”

“Jesus.” I look at Damon in disgust. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

He glares. “That’s not a no.”

“No, you sick fuck. He’s—” I stop, protectively folding my arms over my body.

“He’s what?” Damon asks.

“Fuck you.”

James snorts. Elijah sighs again. Damon raises a brow at me, and it’s only now I realize that’s the first time I’ve ever spoken to him.

“What happened to you before Kai found you in the lobby?”

I keep my mouth shut because I don’t like him and I don’t want to tell him shit, but something tells me I’m not leaving this penthouse until they get what they want from me. “Some guys were chasing me.”

“What guys?” Kai asks.

I don’t like his tone or his hand on my neck, but I still don’t look at him. “I don’t know.”

“Did you see their faces?” Elijah asks, and I shake my head.

“No.”

“Didn’t you catch them?” Kai asks his dad.

I shiver again when his fingers tighten around me. I’ve still got my hood over my head, but I can feel the warmth of his touch through the fabric.

“No,” Elijah answers. “They got away.”

“Why would you let them get away?” Kai bites out.

“Because I can’t shoot a man in the back in the middle of the street, Kai,” Elijah growls.

An awkward silence follows, and I risk a sideways glance at Kai, the inked hand on his thigh clenching into a tight fist. The tattoo there is a black and white skull, the creepy rows of teeth taking up most of the back of his hand, the black nose creeping up over the knuckle of his forefinger. I wonder what it looks like when he wraps that hand around my throat.

“Why did you call our dad?”

I look up to find Wren watching me and his brother, his own hood pulled over his head as he leans back on the couch next to Levi.

“What makes you think I called him?”

Damon lets out an aggravated breath and walks over to me, my spine straightening as he tosses a phone onto my lap. Elijah’s phone starts ringing in his pocket, and I look down, quickly ending the outgoing call when I realize it’s my phone he tossed at me, not his own.

“Where did you get my phone?”

“You dropped it in the lobby.”

“And you just happened to guess my passcode?” It’s Derek’s birthdate. Fuck.

He glares at me again, and I glare right back, swinging my head around to Kai when it hits me. That look he shared with Damon in the elevator… The bastard held my head against him while his brother was snooping through my phone behind my back. And I’m the dumbass who thought he was just holding me to hold me.

Fucking figures.

“Hailey.”

“Don’t even,” I mutter to Kai, dropping back against the couch and keeping my eyes forward, refusing to let him see how mortified I am over my own actions.

While his father’s having a quiet conversation with James in the corner, Kai takes the opportunity to move even closer to me, his fingers kneading the back of my neck as he turns his body to face me. My back arches before I can stop it, and I look up to find his siblings watching us again.

“Will you stop touching me?” I whisper.

He leans over to speak in my ear. “That’s not what you said when you were crawling all over me just now.”

My nostrils flare, and I finally turn my head to look him in the eye, so close our mouths are almost touching. “You’re an asshole.”

He grins and drops his attention to my lips.

Most guys would be offended, maybe even give me a list of reasons why they’re not an asshole, but not Kai. He doesn’t defend himself because he doesn’t give a shit. He is an asshole and he knows it. He’s not ashamed of it at all, and it only makes me hate him more.

“You should watch the way you speak to me.”

“Maybe you should stop speaking altogether,” I fire back. “You talk too much.”

He laughs at that, tilting my head back to run his soft lips over my cheek. “Brat.”

I shove him away, and Elijah looks over at us, once again bouncing his eyes between me and his son. Kai smirks as he leans back on the couch, his knee touching mine as he spreads his legs out wide.

“I know you want me,” he mouths, and I resist the urge to kick him in the dick.

“Kai, quit playing with the girl and focus.” Damon shoves the side of his head before looking up at Elijah accusingly. “You wanna stop acting so shady and tell us why Derek’s girlfriend has your personal phone number?”

Elijah stares at him in disbelief. “You know about Derek?”

“Yeah. He showed up after weeks of hiding from us and picked her up from school on her first day.”

“And she told you she’s his girlfriend?” he asks slowly, sliding his gaze down to me.

“I never said that,” I mutter. “They just assumed.”

“But you never denied it,” Kai says to me.

“I told you I’m not his girlfriend.”

“No, you’re just fucking hi?—”

“I’m not fucking him, you idiot.”

“Then what?—”

“He’s my brother!” I shout.

Oh shit. Shit.

Kai’s face falls at the same time mine does, my heart pounding as the deathly silence rings through my ears. It takes him a second, but then it hits him. I can see it in his eyes, the moment the meaning of my words registers. He yanks his hand from my body and leans all the way away from me, putting as much space between us as possible. “What the fuck?”

When I say nothing, he looks over at his siblings, finding them all gawking at me with a mixture of confusion and horror. Their heads all swing up to their dad at once, and he shakes his before they have a chance to ask. “She’s not Maverick’s,” he tells them, and it seems like he’s directing it at Kai more than the others when he adds, “You’re not related. Her mother was Leila Kingston. Hailey and Derek are half-siblings.”

“What the fuck?” Kai repeats, his gaze moving back to me and staying there.

“Who’s her dad?” Damon asks.

“His name was Dante Taylor. He was one of her mother’s guards,” Elijah says, giving them more than I’d like him to. When my jaw tightens, he has the decency to look guilty.

“Was?” Damon looks at me. “Is he dead?”

My face doesn’t change, and he blinks, seemingly taking my silence as his answer.

“Why Lawson? Whose name is that?”

Again, I say nothing, swallowing the raw emotion trying to push its way up my throat. There’s another “fuck you” on the tip of my tongue, but I refrain from giving it to him this time.

Giving up on me, Damon looks back up to his father. “Why didn’t you tell us about her?”

“Because I promised I wouldn’t. The only other person who knew about her was your mother.”

My heart thaws a little at the mention of Claire. Elijah may have his flaws, but he loved his wife fiercely. She was his entire life next to his kids, his entire reason for existing. He was soft for her, only for her, and it wasn”t hard to see why. She was incredible. I only met her a couple times that I can remember, but I know she adored me when I was a baby, and she loved Derek like he was her own. It broke off another piece of him when she died.

“Who did you promise?” Damon pushes, pulling me back to the moment as he tries to put the pieces together. “Who raised her?”

When Elijah opens his mouth, I panic, not wanting him to say her name. “My mother’s younger sister,” I say. “Mine and Derek’s aunt. She raised me.”

Elijah’s eyes soften when he sees the look in mine, and I bite the inside of my cheek.

“What?” Kai asks, looking between me and his dad. “What is it?”

“She’s dead,” Elijah says quietly. “She was killed a few weeks ag?—”

“The day Damon almost beat Derek to death,” I supply, doing my best to cling to the hatred and the anger, using it to override the heartache.

Kai looks at me then, his intense gaze studying my face. After a while he says, “That’s why you weren’t working the day we got back from Cancun.” He blinks. “You’re the one who snuck Derek out of the hospital.”

“Because you beat the shit out of him. Again.”

“No, we didn’t,” he denies. “That wasn’t us.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, Hailey. He is. He’s lying to you.”

I take a breath, a traitorous tear slipping out when I look up and find Elijah staring at me. I can’t figure out what he’s thinking, and honestly, I’m not sure I want to know. I just want to go home.

Nobody says anything else, so I move to leave. “I’m done here.”

“Sit down.”

My ass hits the couch again, and I fight to control my temper, widening my eyes at Elijah when he continues to gaze down at me.

“What?”

“I need to talk to him,” he says.

“No. He doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

“Well then you can explain to me why he didn’t pick you up from work tonight like he’s supposed to.”

“He never picks her up from work,” Kai says before I can answer myself. “We only saw him that one time. She walks everywhere or takes the bus.”

Elijah’s anger seems to rise to a whole new level as he flicks his eyes from me to James, who lifts his hands up in mock surrender. “You told me not to invade her privacy. I tell you what you need to know and nothing more. Those are my orders.”

Elijah’s nostrils flare as he once again pins me with his eyes. “What were you thinking? You are not allowed to walk around alone?—”

“I’m not alone though, am I?” I interrupt, tilting my head at James. “Who is he?”

He cocks his head at me, silent.

“Instead of wasting your breath trying to tell me what I can and can’t do, how about you tell me who the hell he is,” I grit out.

“Who do you think he is?”

“You son of a bitch.” I shake my head as I stand.

“Sit down.”

I stay standing this time, not missing the looks on the others’ faces while I snatch my bag off the floor. They’re staring at me with their mouths parted and their brows raised in shock, but I don’t give a fuck what they think of me right now.

I’m furious.

This entire time, I thought Valerie was paranoid. I convinced myself I was paranoid, but it turns out she was right all along.

“He’s protecting you, Hailey,” Elijah tries.

“He’s been stalking me!” I correct, whirling around to face him. “Every day of my life?—”

“Not every day,” James supplies, shrugging when I turn and pin my glare on him. “There are three of us. We take it in turns to stalk you.”

I take a step toward him, stopping when a hand grabs mine from behind. Before I can throw something at James, I’m spun into a warm, solid chest, my arms falling limp at my sides as I surrender all the fight I have in me. Kai’s hand holds the back of my head as he rests his chin on top, keeping me close against him. At first I’m tense and confused as to what he’s doing, but then I feel the tears pouring from my eyes. They’re angry tears, but still.

He’s hiding me again, and I’m not sure whether I want to punch the assumptious bastard or hug him for it.

I do neither.

“James,” Elijah says after a moment. “Take Hailey home and walk her inside. Clear the apartment before you leave.”

“Yes, sir.”

He’s got to be kidding me.

I turn my head on Kai’s chest to peek at Elijah. I open my mouth, then close it again when I see the look on his face. I don’t have to be a mind reader to read this one.

It’s either this or you stay here.

“Go with him, Hailey,” Kai whispers. “I’ll find you tomorrow.”

I grumble into his shirt.

His chest shakes with a light laugh. “If you need me…” He carefully tilts my chin up to look into my eyes, his own filled with something dark and threatening, something I’m too afraid to name. “You have my number. Use it.”

Clamping my lips shut, I back away from him and fall in line beside James. Kai continues to block my view of the others until the elevator doors close us inside.

“You’re really not goingto say a word?”

I blink my eyes away from the window and look straight ahead through the front seats, finding James flicking his eyes between the road in front of him and the rearview. I’m sitting in the back of his SUV, tense and quiet, my dread increasing the closer we get to my apartment.

“No,” I answer before moving my gaze back to the window.

I hear a sigh, and then, “This isn’t a control thing, you know? Not really. I mean, Elijah does like to control everything, especially when it comes to his family, but he’s only trying to keep you safe. For good reason, considering what happened tonight.”

“I’m not his family,” I say numbly, ignoring everything else he said.

“If you say so.”

My nostrils flare, but I don’t bother arguing with him. Not about the family comment or anything else. It won’t matter what I say or how hard I fight him on it. Elijah’s word is law, and we both know he’d be stupid to break it.

“Listen, I’m well aware you can take care of yourself when push comes to shove,” James grumbles, carefully rubbing the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got a hell of a right hook on you, girl. I’m almost sorry I didn’t let you loose on him.”

“But?”

“But I’m here for your own good.”

“If you say so,” I mutter petulantly.

I swear I hear him laugh under his breath before he asks, “You’d rather risk him getting you than hang out with me for a couple hours a day?”

My back straightens. I’m just about to ask what he knows about him, but then I stop, meeting his eyes in the rear view. “A couple hours?” I repeat. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’m driving you to work in the morning, then to school, then back to work, and then home every night. Plus anywhere else you need to go.”

“Like where?”

“Like the cemetery,” he says. “Dates. Parties…”

“I don’t really go on dates. Or to parties.”

“Yeah, I know.” He nods thoughtfully. “Why?”

“Not my thing,” I mutter, awkwardly playing with the hem of my shorts while I think back to the last party I went to with Derek. I wonder if he was watching me that night too. I hope not, considering that’s the night I lost my virginity.

James is decent enough not to push for more.

“How much do you know?” I finally ask.

“I’ve been working for Elijah and his family since I was eighteen,” he tells me, pulling into a space outside my building. “He’s like an older brother to me.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Doesn’t it?”

Okay, then. Maybe it does.

“What took you so long to get to me earlier?” I ask. “If you were right there watching me, guarding me, how did they even get the chance to chase me?”

He exhales a heavy breath and turns around in his seat to face me fully. “After Kai left the shop, when you locked the door and turned off the lights, you were in there for a long time, alone in the dark. I couldn’t see you, and I started to worry, so I walked around to the back to try to find you. By the time I got back, you were already running.”

“Which means they were watching you too, right? Waiting for their opportunity to get me alone.”

“They got lucky because I made a mistake,” he says, his eyes hardening. “I won’t make it again.”

“Was it him?” I ask, hating the way my voice cracks. “Did he send them after me?”

He doesn’t answer that, quiet a moment before he says, “Let’s get you inside, yeah?”

I nod once. He climbs out of the car and I do the same, confused by the amused look he hits me with as he walks around to the passenger side.

“What?”

“You’re supposed to wait for me to open it for you.” He gestures to the back door I’m closing.

When I glare at him in outrage, he laughs under his breath, lifting his palms up while I lead the way to the front entrance. I unlock the door, and he scans every inch of the building as we walk up to the fourth floor, his hand ready at the small of his back, making me more nervous than I already am. I know I’m being paranoid, but I’m suddenly worried this is all a trap to grab Derek and drag him back to Elijah.

“If you touch my brother?—”

“Relax, girl,” he says quietly. “Your brother and I aren’t gonna have a problem unless he touches you.” He pauses, looking down at me. “Are we gonna have a problem?”

Pressing my lips shut, I take out my keys and unlock my front door. I don’t know this guy. I shouldn’t trust him so blindly, but something tells me he’s telling the truth. I open the door. When he hits me with a pointed look, I refrain from rolling my eyes and step aside, allowing him to walk in ahead of me. Following him in, I close the door behind us and flick the lights on while he searches my small entryway.

Derek slowly cracks his eyes open, then frowns, shooting up to a sitting position on the couch when he takes in my appearance. There must be smudged mascara all over my face.

“What—”

James quietly heads toward the bedrooms down the hall, and Derek’s head jerks back, his eyes widening as he looks from him to me. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

I ignore that, setting my things down on the kitchen counter while I wait for James to finish doing his thing. When he comes back, he checks the window behind Derek, sparing him a couple glances while he moves the curtain to look down at the fire escape. “You look like shit, kid.”

“Man, fuck you.” Derek sneers, once again looking to me for answers. “What happened?”

Again, I don’t answer him.

James walks over to me and holds his hand out between us. “Give me your phone.”

I do as he says, and he types his number in, saves it, then hands it back to me. When he sees whatever look is on my face, he says quietly, “I’ll be right outside all night, okay?”

I nod, following him to the front door. As soon as he’s gone, I close the door, lock it, and stare at the wood for a few beats, taking a shallow breath before I head back to the living room where Derek’s waiting. Holding his head in his hands, he’s wearing a black pair of sweats and no shirt. When he looks down at himself and realizes, he grabs a hoodie off the floor and pulls it on over his head.

“What the fuck is going o?—”

“What did you do to Callie?”

He freezes at that, his face falling as he slowly pulls the hem down over his abdomen. “What?” he laughs, but it doesn’t sound right. “I?—”

“Don’t you dare lie to me,” I say through my teeth. “Did you hurt her?”

He swallows as all the color drains from his face. “What did they tell you?”

“Why aren’t you denying it?” My voice cracks, and I clench my jaw. “Look me in the eye right now and tell me you didn’t try to rape a seventeen year old girl.”

He swallows again, and I see his panic, his fear, his natural urge to make something up and dig himself out of trouble, but he doesn’t insult me by opening his mouth.

“You can’t, can you?”

With his glassy eyes on mine, he shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispers, which isn’t a confession, but it might as well be. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m gonna be sick,” I croak as I turn around.

“Hailey—”

When he touches my forearm, I whirl on him, grab him by his collar, and shove him back down to the couch. “Don’t fucking touch me!” I cry, taking one of the decorative pillows to launch it at his face. “God, what the fuck is wrong with you?” I hit him again. And again. “You fucking liar. All those times you told me you’re not like him, how you’re terrified of turning into him, how you hate him, and now?—”

“I didn’t do it, Hailey!”

“Because they stoppedyou, you sick?—”

“I wasn’t going to. I swear I wasn’t gonna go through with it. I was out of my mind and I just…”

“You just what?” I growl, my arms falling to my sides when it hits me. “You wanted them to find you.” I guess. “You wanted them to beat the shit out of you like that?”

He doesn’t answer, his features twisting in pain as he drops his head back into his hands. My heart bottoms out, and I back away from him. Snatching my bag from the kitchen counter, I head down the hall to my bedroom.

“Hailey, wait.” He falls into the wall as he stumbles after me, stopping abruptly when I shut my door in his face. “Fuck. Please, Hails,” he says through the wood as the lock clicks. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry for all of it. I know I fucked up, but please don’t shut me out. Please. I can’t lose you.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I bite back a sob, almost choking on my own tears.

He sounds genuine, but I know my brother. I know him better than anyone, and I hear the words he’s not saying. He can’t lose me to them.

Wiping my eyes with my sleeve, I walk over to the window and peek out at the SUV parked in the corner of the parking lot. Seeing it’s still there, I crawl into bed fully clothed and hug my pillow to my chest. With my eyes on the shadow beneath my door, I lay awake for half the night before I eventually fall asleep.