“That’s precisely the problem. Something is off.”
Killian answers the phone and I put it on speaker so Keaton can talk, too.
“Could you not fucking wait ten fucking minutes? Shit. We’re on our way.”
“No!” I grind out, annoyed that they would even expect me to do that. “Would you if it was Sass?”
There’s a long pause, and I almost miss what I had just said. It’s not until Keaton clears his throat and squeezes the steering wheel when it dawns on me what I just admitted to.
When my eyes drift back onto the screen of my phone, I find Killian’s smug as fuck smirk looking back at me.
“What?” I snap.
“Oh, nothing, just that you know exactly what you just admitted to.”
“So what?” I say, brows raised. “How is it not obvious? Like I’d give a fuck about a lay.”
“True.” Kill chuckles. “I’ll fill Kingston in.”
He bursts out laughing and I flip him off. Keaton still hasn’t said anything, but I start texting over the address details for Kennedy. “I’m sending you over where we’re going. Is King there?”
“Nah.” Kill changes hands, walking around the tent. “He’s with Perse, but we’re leaving now. What’s up?”
“Eli made a detour into Riverside, picked up The Kings. Any idea why that might be?” Killian has more history with them than any of us. Not so much history, but he just got along with them really well and had a weird friendship with Nate Malum-Riverside. Yeah, as in the town.
Kill’s smirk washes off. “That’s weird.”
“I know.”
“You trust him?”
“Eli?” I ask, looking to Keaton who is waiting for my answer. I run my finger over my upper lip. “Yeah. I do.”
“Then I’m sure it’s just backup…” Keaton assures, but Killian’s face tells me he’s not sold.
Kill shuts a door in the background. “Nah, man. The Kings don’t fuck with shit unless someone has fucked with one of their own. No one else would ever be worth their time.”
“Yeah,” Keaton adds over his arm. “And they have… Lilith. Lilith is basically one of theirs now if Eli has claimed her.”
“First of all,” Killian says, taking a seat on a leather sofa. “They call it ‘calling red’, some weird blood pouring shit on owning their women, and second of all, nah. This is something else.” He seems to ponder. “Eli is there for something else other than Lilith. Guaranteed.”
I ignore his theory. “Motherfucker, get your ass out of that seat and meet us there.”
“Tsk, tsk, you know our parents are going to lose their shit when they find out we’re doing this.”
I glare at him through the phone lens. “Don’t fucking care.”
I do trust Eli. I did when I first met him, I think. It’s his eyes. I don’t think he would have crossed us. I fucking hope he hasn’t. Handling Lilith is hard enough, let alone two.
Trust.
The five-letter lie.
The ultimate tool to manipulate.
They do trust me. Both of them. As I do them… but this is much deeper than even they can dig. I could bury my everything in the Vitiosis graveyard and it still wouldn’t be deep enough to explain what I’ve hidden from them. Because there is something. Something big. I thought about it for a long time, figuring out how to tell them, or even if I should.
Which I shouldn’t, I had decided. I thought about sending them both riddles to leave breadcrumbs behind me, but thanks to Bishop and the entirety of The Elite Kings in general, everyone would know it was me playing a game.
So instead I kept it quiet. I drowned out the noise of secrets inside my head with their shows. Lilith. Kyrin. I drowned myself in both of them and pretended like what I knew wouldn’t destroy everything and everyone who they thought they knew, including each other.
So here I am. Leading my brothers into a war they know everything about. Kyrin is smart—too fucking smart. He will figure out there is more to this by the fact The Kings are coming along.
He will already know that I’ve kept something from him.
But more importantly, from her. She’ll thank me for it one day. Though I’m guessing today will not be that day.
I slam the car door and turn to face the headlights that are behind me. The sound of polished European imports idles in the spot, as the car door of Bishop’s Maserati opens. The Kings all roll in black vehicles with tags, which have a hidden crowned skull behind the numbers that you can only see under a UV light.
Lilith’s long legs stretch out of the passenger side, leather thigh-high boots, white leather shorts, and black crop top that ties where her tits collide. She looks sinful as fuck, with her long hair trailing down her back as she slides on her leather jacket and fluffs it out from behind herself. Lilith isn’t every man’s wet dream; she’s every man’s worst nightmare with big tits and killer swag.