Chapter 10 Kingston
Kingston
Fuck, no one ever told me picking paint colors would be so difficult.
Gray seemed like the safest choice, but would Presley want a cloudy color?
She should be here to tell me exactly which colors she wanted.
Honestly, she should have been here to see the house completely gutted and finally cleared of all the rotted, moldy wood.
She should have seen what it looked like when the framing went up and the new rooms were created.
Eleven months had passed since Presley left, and two since Alex went to help her.
I’d been going insane nearly every single day, hoping for word that everything was okay or that they were coming back.
Yet, when I reached out to my sister, the only thing she’d tell me was that Presley was working on it and that they were safe.
From what I could gather, my sister enjoyed being there with Pres.
She seemed to genuinely want to help her, but the stress and anxiety it was creating was enough that I wasn’t sleeping and instead, I’d been pouring every free moment I had into the farmhouse.
Gio had taken over the role with El Peligro, but thanks to Alex, we didn’t need to look for Markos any longer.
She’d told us he was there, but that it would be too dangerous to go after him until she and Presley were safely removed from the area.
She convinced us to stay put. While Gio and I both wanted to jump in and make him pay, even our dad told us it was smarter to wait. So that’s what we’d done.
It was getting closer to spring, and I was staring at a nearly completed house with walls in need of paint, rooms that needed doors, and floors that required finishing. If I could just decide on a color.
“Not gray, King.” Gio suddenly appeared and tore down the sample I’d taped to the wall.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, I set the whole swatch down. “Why not?”
My brother drew closer, inspecting the various color choices.
“There’s no way she’ll ever go for it…she’ll want teal or something vibrant.”
I had thought that too, but the idea was based on when she was younger. I had no idea what she’d want now as an adult.
“Teal seems too bright…” I muttered, flipping through another few color samples.
“Dad was wondering if you’d join us for dinner tonight.” Gio transitioned without looking up at me.
Our parents were holding off on leaving because of Alex.
There was too much in the air until she was back.
Dad had flown to Italy twice without actually getting close to where Alex and Presley were, simply because he knew it was dangerous.
He was pacing the floors of our home, likely just as stressed if not more than we were.
At least the farmhouse was keeping me busy; I had no idea what anyone else was doing to keep their minds off things.
I didn’t particularly mind going to my parents; it’s just that things were still a little awkward. But loneliness had been like a plague too, so perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go and get away from the farmhouse.
“Yeah, I’ll go.”
Gio’s head lifted, and I caught the smallest flicker of surprise. “You think they’ll be home in time for Presley’s birthday?”
I didn’t want to think about it.
“No clue.”
Gio watched me carefully before moving through the house.
He flipped on light switches and fans. He messed with the sink in the kitchen, turning on the water and opening all the cupboards.
There were only a few since I selected floating shelves for most of the storage.
With each room, his thick soled boots would echo over the floor.
“You’re practically finished,” he finally said, while running his hand along the completed banister.
“Yeah, I guess.” I wasn’t sure what to say. I knew this house would become Presley’s one day, and that she’d finally accept my brother. The two of them would have a future…that was if we could get her away from Adrian and out of Italy. I just needed to get her here, and I knew she’d stay.
“Have you told Kyle or Rylie what you’ve done over here?” Gio asked.
His eyes were focused on the windows in the bedroom, and the built-in seat I had made directly underneath.
I shrugged. “No.”
With a slight turn, he inspected me. “I think you should. I think this might mean a lot to them that you helped their daughter achieve something that was always so important to her.”
I doubted it. Kyle and Rylie were not my biggest fan.
“How are things with El Peligro?” I asked while walking out of the house.
We took the back door, which led us to a small patch of dead weeds that I’d need to tend to when I had the chance.
I envisioned grass out here with a spacious patio, something that would allow Presley to relax while she watched the stars.
Gio fell into step next to me, but I didn’t miss how he checked his phone before tucking it into his pocket.
“Henry wants to mobilize the men, but there’s no word from Alex yet, and I don’t want to risk getting her or Presley hurt.
He thinks we should move on from Markos and where his location is over there.
Alex mentioned that they’re in separate homes, but she doesn’t have an exact address. ”
“So what does Henry think you should be focusing on then?”
My brother watched his feet. “There’s a new seller for some new street drug down in Florida.”
I shook my head, confused. “He’s willing to start a turf war; there’s about fifteen various gangs between here and Florida that would go to war over that.”
“None with ties to the cartel, though. Henry wants to go and establish a presence.”
I agreed that they shouldn’t move on Markos just yet, but leaving didn’t seem like the right move either. It was dangerous, and we didn’t have enough intel yet to make a specific play. “Is Henry willing to listen and hold down the fort here, or is he pushing back?”
Gio ran his hand through his hair while we moved through the wet weeds scattered along the hillside. The weather was wet but not as cold as I had anticipated for the end of February. The year prior, it rained like crazy this time of year, but things were warmer than was typical for winter.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. They’ve been asking about you a lot. I think Henry is sensing a fracture in our leadership, and it’s making him nervous. I have a feeling he’ll try to test it by forcing us to go with him to Florida.”
That wouldn’t work. I shook my head while grabbing for my phone.
I had a habit that I couldn’t seem to break, which was always checking to see if Presley had finally unblocked me and needed help.
“If he tries, then we just tell him no. We aren’t leaving the area right now unless it’s to track down Markos. ”
We were approaching the manor near the patio terrace for our family’s wing.
I could see the lights on in the kitchen, and a few lights above my garden flickered to life as the sun began to set.
A tiny pinch echoed through my chest as I glanced at my forgotten patch of earth that once was so meaningful to me.
The place that used to bring me peace and calm me.
I suppose I now channeled that need to help something live into Presley’s farmhouse.
Right as we neared the patio doors, someone appeared in our peripheral. Two smaller images at first and then the looming presence of my least favorite human being. Scotty approached with two of his dogs.
“Need to talk to you two.”
Gio scoffed while pushing forward. “Pass.”
I heard Scotty let out a frustrated sigh, but I followed my brother. Scotty drew closer as the shadows of twilight claimed the terrace. “It’s about your sister and Presley.”
Gio stopped, and I paused merely because I didn’t want to leave him alone with Scotty. If he stabbed him again, his dogs would rip into my brother this time, and then I’d have to kill one, and that would eventually, undoubtedly piss Presley off.
“What about them?” Gio asked.
Scotty was just a few feet away from us when he brought his phone out and showed us the screen. It thankfully wasn’t a FaceTime call, but it did show that Presley was on the phone.
“Pres, tell me that again,” Scotty spoke close to the speaker.
Suddenly, Presley’s voice echoed from his device, making my stomach drop out.
“Adrian has been trying to get Alex out for weeks. At first, it seemed like it would be easy…he called up his pilot and told him to get the plane ready, but within an hour, his pilot had called back, saying Markos had given him a direct order to stay grounded. After that, Adrian let things cool down for about a week, then tried again; this time, he used the excuse that we were going on a vacation, but the result was the same. Markos then took control of the town, all the shops, the cafés, and then his staff started rotating without his approval. We have no idea where these people were taken, or where they went. Adrian and I woke up, and there was suddenly a different person barging into our room first thing in the morning, serving us breakfast.”
I felt my brother’s gaze slide over to me, but I refused to look.
He’d see it in my eyes, the devastation and the guilt. The horror that I’d allowed her to slip through our fingers and land directly into Adrian’s palm, and now Markos. They shared a room…they slept together at night.
Fuck. Why did this hurt so badly when I’d ultimately agreed to let her go?
“Has Markos been in Adrian’s home?” Scotty asked.
“After the first few attempts to leave, he started showing up randomly. He’s been careful about what he says or does around me, but his presence alone sets all of us on edge. After the dinner, where he made me—” She suddenly stopped talking, but my eyes were back on my brother.
“Made you what?” Gio practically growled.
Scotty glared at him as if he were about to hit him in the back of the head.
“Gio?” Presley’s voice was soft but guarded.
He ignored her and stepped closer to the phone. “Markos made you do what?”
“Giovanni, Presley has limited time. This isn’t catch up hour. I invited you two to be a part of this conversation because you need to know how to control your monster, El Peligro.” Scotty chastised, then pushed on, “Presley, please continue.”
She cleared her throat. “So, both of them are—they’re both there?”
Scotty brought his finger to his forehead and began to rub as he replied, “Yes. They’re standing right here listening. Now continue.”
“I was forced to execute someone. Adrian was so angry and acted so erratic, I think it tipped Markos off. For the sake of Alex, I told him that I didn’t want Markos or his brothers in the house. At first, he honored it, but yesterday he arrived and demanded to spend time with Alex.”
She was forced to kill someone. Our Presley, the ball of sunshine that made our universe worth existing in.
The girl who loved petting baby highland cows and restoring an old farm house, all so one day she’d find peace.
The girl who loved stars and digging in the soil with me, the girl who had freckles, blue eyes, and felt like home.
I didn’t trust Adrian to keep them safe. Not if Markos was now demanding shit of my sister and forcing executions. Gio’s worried expression reminded me of my promise to let her go, so I made sure my response was focused in the right place.
I stepped closer to the phone. “Presley, I need to get my sister out of there. It’s been two months. I’m done playing Adrian’s games. I’m coming to get her, and if you’re smart, you’ll come with me as well.”
“Kingston,” Scotty warned, but I didn’t give a fuck.
Presley’s voice harshened as she replied, “You have no idea what Adrian has gone through to keep us safe, and to go against his brothers. He’s doing the best he can.”
I laughed. “Isn’t he the entire reason you’re there? I mean, sure, maybe he got a taste of your cunt, and he decided not to kill you, but make no mistake, he is the reason all this is happening.”
“Fuck you!” she roared.
Scotty pressed a button, taking her off speaker phone.
Gio began pushing me away until I was heading toward the house. “What the hell, King, you heard what she’s just been through.”
I walked inside and slammed the door behind me because if I didn’t, then I’d take a knife and jam it in the side of Scotty’s head.
This was his fucking fault, and I would never forgive him for doing this to her.
If I were allowed to share how it impacted me to know that the girl I loved was broken in such a way, I would, but I promised Gio that she was his.
So, because of that, I’d continue being a miserable son of a bitch, no matter how much it hurt.