KING : Children of Wolves Book 1 - MC Romance Series | Dark Romance

Chapter Thirty Five - Serafina

Kingston hangs onto the hood of the car, standing at the open driver's side door. I buckle my seat belt, feeling unfamiliar behind the wheel. It's been nearly three months since I've driven anything. This one is a beast of a vehicle at that. A white Hummer with leather interior.

"The mall and straight back," he says, leaning inside.

"Got it, dad." I roll my eyes, adjusting the mirrors.

"Kisa." He reaches out and turns my chin toward him. "I'm trusting you." Those dark eyes stare into mine, unblinking. He rubs his thumb along my jaw tenderly and studies my face. "Tell me I can trust you with this."

I swallow, wetting my throat that suddenly feels dry. "You can trust me," I lie.

He leans in further and kisses my forehead. I close my eyes and just allow myself to enjoy the feeling. Don't fall too hard, King. I'll be gone soon.

He pushes off the door frame, stepping back. I watch him through the window as I pull the door shut. Then I watch him in the rearview as I drive us away. One step closer to my freedom, but one step farther from certainty.

***

"Gremlin, let's go," I whine, slumping down in a chair in the dressing room. This girl can fucking shop. I don't know what I expected when I agreed to take a pre-teen to the mall, but I'm in over my head.

She giggles from inside the stall and pops open the lock. Peeking out, she grins wide with a big gap between her front two teeth. "Why do you call me gremlin?"

She isn't offended, I think she kind of likes it. I quirk up a smile of my own. "Because you are a little gremlin." I breathe a laugh. "Now hurry the fuck up and let's go get some pizza or something."

She giggles more and finishes changing.

***

"You know, for a gremlin you're pretty cool," I tell her as we leave the food court.

She looks up at me sideways. "You know, for being my brother's girlfriend, you're pretty cool."

I laugh, probably harder than I should. "I'm definitely not his girlfriend."

She shrugs. "Well, you live with him, don't you?"

"Mmm... yeah," I say uneasily. Not exactly by choice.

"He likes you," she says, still giving me that gap-toothed grin. "Like-likes you."

"Hm," I nod, because I'm trying not to ruin this girl's world by telling her who her big brother really is. "What makes you so sure?" I ask, hoping that she's just a naïve kid who doesn't understand the first thing about what boys like.

She screws up her face. "Well, he's nice to you."

I actually snort. "Nice?" I ask, incredulously.

"Yeah, he cares what you think. He wants you to like him, I can tell."

For some reason, my heart pangs in my chest. That's exactly what I wanted to happen. So why does it feel like shit having it confirmed?

"Do you like him?" Elie asks.

"That's a tough question, gremlin."

In another world, he'd be exactly what I want. But can I overlook the things he's done to me?

"Boba!" Elie exclaims, already on to the next topic, and thank fuck for that, because I'm not sure if I can handle thinking about my non-relationship with Kingston anymore.

She steers us toward the line and shuffles some of her shopping bags around in her hands. Seeing my opportunity, I say, "here, let me take those. You order us two brown sugar milk teas and I'll wait over there. Oh, can I use your phone to check in with King?"

Without thought, she hands her stuff over and my heart races. When she gets in line, I stand against the wall getting out of ear-shot.

My fingers tremble as I dial the numbers. Can it really be this easy? Pressing the phone so hard to my ear it hurts, I call The Black Garter.

On the fourth ring, someone picks up. My heart flips and for a moment I can't say anything. Finally, my brain kicks in and I speak quickly and quietly.

"Tati, listen. It's me, Serafina. I don't have a lot of time. Tell papa I'm okay. I know he's working on a deal with the Wolves. I'm at their compound most days. He can find me there."

She's silent on the other end, taking it all in.

"I've got to go, Tati. Don't call this number back. It isn't my phone."

Elie turns around and glances at me. I smile as if everything is normal and okay when nothing about my life is normal or okay. I hang up and erase the number from her phone log. Dialing King to cover my tracks, my heart aches when he answers the phone.

"Are you okay?" It's the first thing he says.

No. I'm not okay.

"Fine," I lie. "Just checking in."

A soft sigh comes through the phone. "Good."

"Did your mom get her car situation figured out?" I ask awkwardly, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah. They're good."

"Okay," I say softly. "Well, I'm gonna go. Elie's coming back with our drinks."

"Serafina?" he says before I hang up.

"Yeah?"

"Come home soon."

His words wrap around me in a strange way. Come home. I swallow and close my eyes, questioning why my phone call for help felt like betrayal.