King snorts. “Whatever you tell yourself.”
“Maya…” I squeeze her arm. I’ve been going back and forth with her since Delila’s death. To say that she hasn’t been handling it well is a complete fucking understatement. She’s handling it as bad as you could. I feel for her, and I care about her, but I’ve reached that point where I can’t do anything more to help her. “You can’t perform tonight.”
She shoves me away and I clench my jaw. “I’m fine!” she snaps, swiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her pupils enlarged and dilated before she stumbles toward me, shoving me in my chest. “Why, Killian? Why her?”
My eyes narrow. “Shut up about shit you don’t know anything about while you still have a fucking friend.” I’m not patient, but I feel like I have been very with her. I can tolerate anything said about me, but you go after Saskia and I’ll lose it.
“Just why her?”
“Why?” I ask as Kyrin’s hand comes to my arm in an attempt to stop the next words that he no doubt knew were about to come spewing out of my mouth. I breathe in and out. “Reasons that you couldn’t count.”
Headlights beam up behind us, and I turn around to see my old man climbing out of a limo. He’s unbuttoning his suit when he comes closer to Maya.
Her eyes fall on him and then come back to me in shock. She shakes her head. “No.”
Everyone knows that my dad has connections in the medical field, being a surgeon himself in the real world. Obviously, Maya put two and two together. She was right.
“Yes,” I answer, swiping at the makeup on my chin. “Sick of your shit, Maya. You need to get better, and when you come back, you better have a better attitude toward Saskia or this” —I gesture between her and I, just as my father’s guards are latching cuffs behind her back—“is over.”
Her lip quivers. “I don’t want to go to rehab.”
“Tough fucking shit.” I realize I’m being meaner than usual with her, and my heart twinges. I step closer and caress her cheek. “Get better. Not just for me and for Mayhem, but for Delila, Maya. She wouldn’t want this for you.”
Her shoulders sag and her head drops between her shoulders. She knows I’m right.
I watch as they lead her toward the limo with Val helping them open the door.
Val’s somber expression meets mine as she nods her head with a sad smile. Thank you, she mouths, and I nod my head back.
“Where the hell is Saskia!” Perse comes storming out of the curtains. “I have Lilith being a crazy bitch and Saskia nowhere to be seen.”
My lips curl between my teeth. “How’s the new job?”
Perse’s eyes snap to mine. “Let me just say I now have a new understanding of Delila. But seriously, Killian, Lilith is a little scary.”
“You don’t say…” Kyrin grins from beneath his makeup.
I raise an eyebrow. “How the fuck would you know?”
Kyrin holds my stare. “Because all the crazy ones usually are.”
I go back to Perse. “She disappeared with Tillie. I’ll call her.” Just as I’m pulling out my phone, Bishop and Nate come around the corner with Bran and Eli hot on their tail.
“Let me just say, I think we’re fucked with our women…” Nate chuckles, pulling me in for a shoulder tap.
I greet them all one by one. The situation between all of us is a difficult one no matter how you look at it, but let’s just say that the time Kyrin spent in the cabin had a lot to do with Brantley’s father. Apparently, Bishop’s girl off-ed him anyway, and I can’t say I’m surprised. The man was fucking evil. The type of shit he put Brantley through, though, was another level below Hell.
I nod my head at Bishop. “You good?” Bishop is the leader of The Elite Kings, and he carries a lot of what they do on his shoulders, but I’ve never seen him the way he looks right now.
He shrugs. “Am I ever?”
I watch as he slowly releases my stare and pulls out his phone. Poor fuck. I don’t know what’s happening with him and Madison Montgomery, but it must be something serious. Their world is about as messed up as ours, which is exactly why we’re allies.
“Where’d they go?” I ask, looking around at all of them.
Eli shrugs. “Who knows, but can I just say that if it doesn’t work out with you and her, I’ll gladly have her.”
“Fuck off, Eli.” I chuckle, shaking my head.
“Fine, I’ll settle as her stepson. Wanna adopt me?”
“Are you still fucking talking?” Tillie interrupts us, walking around the corner with a pale faced Saskia. Something was wrong, and it had every single killer instinct inside of me on high alert.