Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
K ellen
I watch her walk around the corner of the house and wish I didn’t remember the time we spent together back at that resort. There she was fun. Well, after she got over being uptight and hating me for being rude.
Now she’s just a co-warden with goddamned Matthias.
Leaning back, I let the sun warm my skin and work on my tan. Why not? There’s nothing else for me to do here at King Penitentiary. My brothers seem to think this is going to be some vacation for me, but this is nothing of the sort. Vacations happen in beautiful locations with sun and sand. Or in the mountains full of snow. Or in faraway places people only dream of going to.
All I have here is sun. And beer. Thank God for that. I don’t think I’d last here a day if I didn’t have something to help me forget the fucking mess my life has become.
I need to get the hell away from this place. Whatever my brothers and little miss Salem think is going to happen here, it’s not going to be me sitting here for months like some schoolboy sent to the corner for punishment.
Except there’s one problem. I have no car. I guess I could call a taxi or Uber, but there’s something about that idea that makes me feel pathetic.
But maybe I can find someone to help me out in that department.
Matthias insisted on taking my phone since he seems to think I’m going to blow up my life with a stupid social media post, but I made sure to keep my secret second phone for just this purpose. He thinks I’m going to use a phone to bother with social media? It’s like the man doesn’t know me at all.
Looking around, I don’t see Salem, so I slip my phone out of my shorts and call my friend Max. I’ve bailed his ass out too many times to count, so he owes me. I better not hear the word no when I ask him to spring me from this place.
“Kellen King! How the fuck are you?” he answers excitedly. “I guess I don’t need to ask that question, though. Dude, what the fuck was with that interview? That woman came hunting for you from the first damn question.”
I throw my hands up, thrilled someone finally understands what I was dealing with. “Thank you! That’s what I’ve been saying, but nobody around me wants to hear that. So much for journalistic integrity, right? What are you doing say around seven o’clock tonight?”
“What I usually do during the week. Nothing. Why?”
“I need your help. I’m stuck out at my grandmother’s house, and I need a ride to get away.”
He laughs at my sad predicament like I expected he would. “Sure. Why not? Where are we going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“They took your car away? Dude, that’s harsh.”
I take a gulp of beer and set the bottle down on the patio next to me. “Tell me about it. My brother must have been a prison warden in a past life. The son of a bitch left me here carless and without anything to do.”
“Matthias? I thought you guys were close. What happened?” Max asks.
“He’s been a complete tool ever since he took over at King Industries. It’s like I don’t even know him anymore.”
“Well, I can pick you up at seven. Is it the house right down the road from your house? The house I used to pick you up at in high school?”
“Same one. I’ll be out near the road. Bring something to drink because I’m going to need it.”
“Got it. See you at seven!”
I stuff my phone back in my shorts and lie back to get some more sun. Matthias and Salem think they’re going to keep me here against my will?
Fuck them.
A little while later, I hear a noise in the front of the house. Let me guess. Matthias is having a moat dug to keep me prisoner.
As much as I know I shouldn’t bother to find out what’s going on, I’m so damn bored that I need something to entertain me. I have time, so watching a crew digging that moat might be interesting for a few minutes.
I make my way around the house and see a man who I swear might be Bigfoot. Just less hairy. He’s got to be nearly seven feet tall, and his arms look like he could crush a car. Who the hell is this guy?
He looks like he’s planning to stay for a while since he has a suitcase with him. Has my brother decided to rent out rooms here like it’s a hotel? The least he could do is send me someone hot. What the hell am I supposed to do with Sasquatch?
“Hey, man, what’s up? What are you doing here?” I ask the behemoth.
Setting his suitcase down, he extends his hand to shake mine. I watch as my fingers disappear in this guy’s palm and thank God he doesn’t seem to be a violent soul.
“Hi! I’m Nathan,” he says in a voice much softer than I expected out of someone his size.
“Hey, Nathan. I think you might be at the wrong place. This is a house, not a hotel or bed and breakfast.”
The guy smiles, and I see even his teeth are huge for a human’s. “No, I’m supposed to be here. I’m looking for someone named Salem. Is she here?”
For a second, I entertain the thought that Salem is dating this guy, but that doesn’t seem right. I can’t picture her with someone like him.
“She’s inside. Do you mind me asking what you need her for?”
The gigantic man picks up his suitcase and begins walking away without answering me. I have no choice but to follow him since this is the most excitement I’ve had all day here at prison. He has to nearly bend over to get through the front door, and as he makes his way through the house, I can’t help but be thankful my grandparents decided on ten foot ceilings.
I point toward the office and say, “Maybe down that hallway. Do you know Salem?”
He shakes his head. “No, but I’m told I’m supposed to report to her.”
Rage begins to build inside me. So he’s not her boyfriend. He’s here to work for her, and I have a sneaking suspicion it’s doing something that’s going to piss me off.
He practically blocks the entire doorway to the room where she’s working, so from behind him I loudly say, “Salem, this guy seems to think he should be here. What the hell is this about?”
I can’t see her but she answers, “I’m not sure. Who are you?” she asks the giant currently doing his best impression of a wall.
Finally, he offers more information than his name. “I’m Nathan, and I’ve been hired to work here for the next three months. Matthias told me to report to you when I arrived. It’s nice to meet you.”
Fucking Matthias! Of course, he’s behind this. Is Nathan supposed to keep me in line during my incarceration? What the fuck is he? A bouncer? Great. Nothing like having your own personal security guard with you twenty-four seven.
I slip under the giant’s arm into Salem’s office and barely contain my anger at this news as I say, “Did you ask for this? Do you really think you need a guard to protect you from me? Trust me, lady. I have no interest in anything that has to do with you.”
Her eyes wide, she shakes her head. “No! I have no idea what’s going on. Give me a minute to find out. I’m sure it’s nothing bad. Just give me a second to get Matthias to explain this.”
I don’t believe a word she says, but I’ll wait to hear what that rotten brother of mine has to say. She gets him on a video call, and I swear I want to throw her laptop across the room when I see his smug face staring back at me through the screen.
“Hey, Salem. What’s up?”
“Hi, Matthias. A man named Nathan just arrived. He says he’s here and you know why. I’m confused. What is his job supposed to be?” she asks sweetly.
It takes every ounce of willpower to stop myself from exploding as I wait for him to explain just what the fuck is going on. The behemoth stands just inside the door staring at me like I’m something he plans to either crush or eat. I can’t decide which, but I’m leaning toward him eying me up at his afternoon snack.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot to call you about this. Nathan is there to ensure Kellen stays put. My brothers and I thought you could use some backup since we don’t want you to have to physically force him to stay there. He’ll be staying in one of the bedrooms upstairs, and if there are any problems, I’ve told him he has permission to handle them appropriately.”
Each word my brother utters makes me hate him more than I ever dreamed possible. He hired a bodyguard to make sure I stay put? Is he fucking kidding?
I step in front of Salem and glare at Matthias with his goddamned smile that makes me want to kill someone. “You hired this guy to force me to stay here? I swear to God when I get the chance I’m going to show you how pissed off this is making me.”
“We want to make sure Salem can do her job.”
That answer only enrages me more. As if I’m going to be a hindrance to her doing her job.
“You better sleep with one eye open, brother. That’s all I’m saying.”
He starts to explain himself, but I’m not interested in hearing any more of his bullshit. It’s only going to make me angrier. I storm past the mountain called Nathan and upstairs to my room, slamming the door behind me.
Not that a closed door could keep that guy out.
Pacing back and forth across my temporary bedroom, I feel like the top of my head is going to blow off I’m so enraged. Who the hell do my brothers think they are sending a guard to make sure I stay here?
It’s not my brothers. It’s only Matthias. He may claim it’s all three of them, but it’s him. I know it. Ever since he took over as head of King Industries, he’s been a megalomaniacal tyrant. Why my father gave him so much power baffles me. He created a monster, and I’m the one he’s tormenting the most.
Whatever he and Salem think they’re doing, all I know is I’m never going to forgive either of them. And when I get away from here, I don’t want to see them or my other brothers ever again.