Chapter 2
Gio
Being angry with my brother wasn’t a new sensation for me.
I’d spent plenty of time being frustrated with him over stupid shit that didn’t really matter.
Even the times I was angry at him over Presley, things were never that serious.
We’d always be in the same room at night, and I’d see his stupid face the following morning, and my anger would just leave when he smirked and tossed a pillow at my face.
I would tell myself not to blame him, and then I’d remember how he fucked all this up for us and I’d draw up the courage to distance myself from him.
Kingston always had some demon rifling around in his head, providing him enough pride to cut the distance between him and whoever it was he actually cared about.
I’d give him the benefit of the doubt, knowing he didn’t mean it.
But this time things were different.
“You going to just ignore me again?” Kingston’s voice echoed behind me as I walked away from him.
I was too angry to talk. My jaw was tight, my fists curled, and my chest felt like it might explode any second.
“Great. Yeah, that’s just fucking great, Gio. I lose Pres, you, and now we’re losing Alex and our parents.”
My mouth parted the slightest bit, wanting to argue with him. He knew exactly what to say to bait me, but I’d gotten better at ignoring him.
“Gio, please. Fuck.” My brother’s voice cracked.
I spun around, coming to a stop just close enough to throw my fist out. It landed with a crunch as it connected with his nose. He wasn’t expecting it, so he went down immediately.
Standing over him, I glared down. “Why are you acting surprised that you’re alone?”
He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and groaned. “You blame me for all of this?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
Getting to his knees, he had mud smeared all over his arms and shirt. I kicked his ribs so he rolled onto his back. He caught my foot and yanked hard until I was on the ground next to him.
“I never forced you to do shit, Gio. Don’t put all this on me.”
“You wanted to fuck her that night and then leave her. You wanted to take sides against her.” My voice echoed right back as I rolled to punch him again. He dodged and caught my hand, then twisted.
“Gio. Stop,” he rasped.
I hit him in the gut with my free fist. Then I got enough leverage to get my feet up, and I kicked him in the leg.
He groaned in pain, twisting to the side, while I clamored to my feet. “She always wanted you more than me. Did you fucking know that?” Tears burned the backs of my eyes, but I held them in just like I had done since she walked out of our lives.
“You took her fucking first kiss. Her first orgasm. You touched her first. She wanted you. There was no having her without you, and you fucked it all up. I would have never lost her if she were mine. If you weren’t involved, she would be here with me right now.
She would be safe and loved and spoiled by me! ”
Kingston coughed, rolling to his side once more.
I kept going. “Having her was never good enough for you. You always wanted to hurt her, downplaying what we felt and what he shared. You were scared that if you were open with her and she shot you down, then you’d be embarrassed.
We should have told her when she was sixteen that we loved her.
We should have never left her for that year and a half, but that was your choice too, wasn’t it? ”
I kicked him again. “I hate you.”
Tears streamed down his face, mixing with blood and dirt, and something inside me cracked, making my own fall.
My chest heaved as sobs worked through me, shattering my vision and bruising my heart. I dropped to the ground, landing on my ass hard enough that my teeth slammed together, then I swiped at my face and reached for my brother.
“I didn’t mean that.”
He croaked in reply, “You should.”
But I didn’t. “You’re a good brother, Kingston. You’ve always watched out for me. Always made sure I was okay.”
His eyes remained on the sky as more tears tracked down his cheeks. It was silent between us until he let out a shuddering breath.
“I know I messed it all up, but it did hurt. It hurt that she was taken from us when we left, and that it felt so impossible to save her from this fate Scotty and Kyle forced her into. It hurt that she didn’t trust us enough to give it up.
Even without our love, she always had our friendship, and she should have trusted us.
She pushed us out, Gio, and when I found out how long she’d waited to contact us… something in me just snapped.”
He was still mad about all of it; meanwhile, I just didn’t care anymore. Presley was my soulmate, and none of this shit was worth losing her.
“Well then, let her go, King. Release her and go live your life, start over, and let El Peligro go. Go find that happiness that she seemed to find. Start over.”
His head tilted, those amber eyes muted and dark as if the light had gone out in them.
“What would you do?”
I met his stare and gritted my teeth. “I’d stay.
I’d rather be a wraith here, haunting all she’s ever known so the second she walks back into this world, every inch of it is covered in my prints.
She won’t be able to escape me, and if she wishes to stay away, then she’ll have to face me to cut this rope she’s tied around our souls. ”
Kingston let out a shuddery breath. “What if she marries him?”
I shook my head. “Don’t give a fuck. The things he will give her won’t ever hold up to what we have. You can’t trade diamonds for stardust, can’t erase a childhood like ours, where our hearts grew together in the same garden. We have time, and Adrian won’t ever win against that.”
Kingston finally sat up and wiped some of the blood from his nose with the bottom of his shirt before letting out a sigh. “So, what do we do?”
“We?” I quirked a brow at him. “Thought you were leaving.”
His face lowered, and I already knew what was going through his head. He was in love with Presley, and everything I had just said was mirrored in his own heart; he was just too fucking stubborn.
“I’ll help you get her back. It’s the least I can do…”
“And then?” I repeated, trying to force him to say exactly what it was he planned to do, so I could call him out on his shit.
His black hair shifted as the wind blew. “I’ll walk away. She’s yours, Gio. I promise you that.”
It was wrong, and if I knew Presley at all, I knew she’d never go for that.
Regardless, I accepted my brother’s hand when he lifted it for me to take.