“Do you think Lilith and Eli know each other?” His finger works his upper lip.
Killian chuckles. “I’m just saying, you getting in there with Lilith was dangerous enough, but oh no, you had to go throw a fucking Elite King on your dick, too, huh? Couldn’t just be satisfied.”
I flip him off while keeping my eyes on King. “No. I would have picked it up if they did.”
“Hmmm,” King murmurs, but his features stay solid. He stands from the sofa and makes his way to the bay window that widens out from the kitchen. Turning, he faces me again. “You’re sure?”
“The Kings are fucking it, bro.” Kill shakes his head, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs. “They’re old school. That ancient gangster-style clique. We don’t want no beef with them, and it’s partially why I’ve always made an effort to get along with Nate.”
“That’s all?” I ask, brows raised. “That’s the only reason? Nothing to do with the fact you and him could practically be brothers?”
He flips me off now, resting back in his chair while grabbing a smoke from behind his ear. “All I’m saying is whatever they’re doing, if it’s not hurting us, then we stick to it. You know your parents have worked hard over the years to keep the peace between the two of us to share the same stomping grounds anyway.”
“True,” King says, stepping into the sitting room. “But Ky, you’re fucking fooling yourself if you think those two don’t know each other or that Eli is here for business. Kings do business first, games second, but almost always at the same damn time.”
Fuck. He’s right. But that’s also the thing about Kiznitch. We are always right—and we are always ahead.
“She doesn’t know you know.” King sits back in his chair, his eyes on me. A pin could drop, that’s how silent it is between all of us. “And more importantly, neither does he.”
I sat in the darkest corner of the room. I wanted to fidget, smoke, play with something in my fingers, but instead, I sat still. Motionless. Waiting. I needed to see her again. Once. I was defying orders just being here, alone, without backup or without even telling Bishop what was going on, but right now he was distracted with his girl doing a runner. So, I waited. In the corner. Past the time I was supposed to be here. I hadn’t seen her since last year. Since that had happened. Bishop, Brantley, Nate, Hunter, and I were all there for business. To see if Patience had any involvement in my brother Brantley’s father’s sick little obsessions. We knew what the cost of a favor from Patience would be.
I just didn’t know it would have involved someone who looked like her.
So tonight I waited. Until the lights went out. Until the music started playing and the little red lines lit up the projector screen behind the performance. I pushed my number into the device.
Three-hundred-thousand dollars. I knew she wasn’t for sale. I knew what she did. I didn’t want her to see me in the audience and decide to kill me after all.
She walked out, a smile on her face and her body wrapped in her usual sexy attire. “Good afternoon, motherfuckers. Who wants to play a game?”
I open my text messages and send one over to Bishop. Everything ok?
He texts back instantly. Yeah… you good?
I push my phone back into my jeans pocket and make my way to the tent. I find the same seat I’ve found myself sitting in during their shows and pull out my phone again. I type Patience into the Instagram search bar and their official page pops up. They don’t have a bigger following than Mayhem, but it’s decent. I freeze when I see they’ve posted a photo just thirteen hours ago with the caption Returning soon. New acts, new performers, and a performance you have never seen before… I take a screenshot and open a text to King, sending it through to him.
King: I know.
Me: Anything going to get done about that?
A few minutes pass before he texts again. King: It will be handled.
Hands cover my eyes and I already know who it is. Her perfume is my chosen poison. If it means I get to suck on her skin until I die, I’d take it as if it was my fucking antidote.
I smirk, covering her hands with mine. “You know I prefer this game when there’s a bed in the room.”
She chuckles near my ear and I feel her tongue touch my lobe and flick around the end. “I wanna play tonight.”
She finally releases my eyes and bounces in front of me, wrapping her legs around my waist. I curl her long hair around my fingers before placing my hands on her ass to keep her on me.