Chaos at Westbrook High (The Kingston Brothers #3)

Chapter 43

“Hailey, calm down and listen—”

“Dad.” Kai shakes his head, casually leaning back against the huge window with his arms crossed over his chest. “Don’t tell her to calm down.”

Elijah sighs. I pace back forth in front of his desk, resisting the urge to throw something at him.

“I need you to trust me, Hailey,” Elijah says. “I won’t let anything happen to him.”

I scoff out a laugh. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

Damon glances from his dad to me, his jaw set tight as his eyes drop to his feet. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen him look guilty about almost killing Derek.

“I have a plan,” Elijah announces.

Sick of his shit, I stop pacing to face him head on. “What’s your plan, Elijah? Use Derek as a pawn to get our mother’s killer to go ahead with his plan?”

“Maverick won’t come at me without Derek by his side. He won’t do it alone. He needs him.”

“I need him!” I yell.

The office falls silent. Furious, I pace again.

Derek’s far from perfect, and I hate him more than I love him sometimes, but he’s mine. He’s the only?—

Peeking at Kai, Callie, and the others behind me, I realize something. It hits me so hard that I stop suddenly. Derek’s not the only family I have left. They’re my family now too. Whether I want them or not, I’ve got them. And they’ve got me.

Kai tilts his head at me, and I hold his eyes for a few beats before facing Elijah once more.

“If something happens to my brother,” I warn, leaning my palms on the desk until I’m level with him. “If I lose him, I will put that on you, and I’ll become your worst fucking nightmare.”

Elijah remains impassive for a moment before his lips twitch ever so slightly. I don’t think he’s laughing at me though. I think the son of a bitch is proud of me.

Kai hides his mouth behind his fist, and I straighten up, nostrils flaring. “What?”

Kai shrugs. “That’s the Kingston in you.”

“There is no Kingston in me.”

“Not right now.” Kai smirks.

Annoyed, I pretend he didn’t just say that in front of his dad—a man I used to call my uncle.

“We’re not going to lose him, Hailey,” Elijah says seriously. “I promise. If Maverick lays a finger on Derek, James has the order to kill him. He’ll keep him safe.”

“Alive,” I mutter.

“What?”

“There’s no safety around Maverick. You know that. The best James can do is keep him alive.”

Elijah closes his eyes briefly, probably thinking the same thing I am. I feel sick thinking about all the ways in which Maverick is torturing Derek right now. Feeding him vicious lies mixed in with vicious truths. Fucking with his head and his already fragile heart.

“I’m not waiting for Maverick to come to us,” I say to Elijah. “I’m going to get my brother now and I’m going with or without you.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Dad,” Kai says, still leaning back against the window. “I’d stop if I were you.”

“Why’s that?”

“Cause if you don’t, she’s gonna throw that letter opener at you.”

I frown at Kai. How does he know me that well?

“It’s the look in your eyes and the way your fingers keep twitching,” he says, once again reading my mind. When my eyes narrow, he hides a laugh. “Don’t throw it at me, baby. I like my face.”

“It’s a nice face,” Wren agrees.

Elijah snatches the letter opener and tosses it into a drawer, slamming it shut with more force than necessary to get our attention. “I said no.”

My lips curl up into a slow, arrogant smirk as I glance at Kai and the others.

He’s with me.

They’re all with me.