The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (71 page)

“Well, then you just had to race back here as quickly as you could to see her again. That’s very noble of you
,
but tell me, it must have been crushing for you to find her with another and no
longer available for your taking
.
” He raised his eyebrows making his eyes somehow appear deeper but before Justin could come back at him with another f
oolish comment Draven continued,

“
Let me offer you some advice for the
next conquest you have in mind.
Never
let oceans get in
the way…A real man never would.
” Draven had finished his little speech with another shot finding home in the pit of an angry stomach.

“
Excuse me but I
think I must have a say in these
‘
so call
ed’
events
,
” I said finding my angry voice and putting my timid one back behind lock and key.

“
So called?
Oh Kazzy tell me you haven’t forgotten your sister’s wedding, I think she
’d be disappointed to hear that?
”
He said in an over exaggerated tone that made me want to smack that smirk of his handsome baby face!

“Yes
,
well
,
one night consisting of one kiss is hardly something I would call history! Besides after that day we became family so it’s not even worth bring up…”

“Family?
I don’t think…”

“No you don’t, that’s you
r
prob
lem! Now I think it’s time we went
home before you make even more of a mountain out of a snowman!” I was rea
l
l
y
angry now and it didn’t help when I saw Draven beaming at me like I was t
he teacher that had told off a
naughty
bully
. I was so tempted to just go and let
these two to battle it out and leave them but I would never forgive myself knowing what the outcome would be
…
. Draven 1- Justin 0
,
but with a shiny new coffin
to sleep in. Plus there was Frank to think about, I had made a promise and I was going to keep it, even if it killed me.

I turned to RJ and Draven
,
with close to steam coming out
of
my ears and they both knew it. But it was only RJ that had any sense to take my mood seriously, Draven on the other hand held a cocky smile curling up on one side and an arrogant glint to his black eyes.

“RJ
,
I will see you Monday, I’ll pick you up
at the
usual time. Tell the rest I say bye
.
” She nodded but I could tell th
e alcohol was starting to take e
ffect because her eyes were glazed over like she couldn’t focus.
She took this as her cue to leave first and with one last eye flutter at Draven and a scowl at bad boy Justin
,
she left to regroup.

“I will see you tomorrow D
!
” I said harshly but he looked unruffled by my lack of affection. I don’t think he’d even registered that I called
him ‘
D
’
. Something I had never done before, but I didn’t want to call him Dominic and I wouldn’t call him by his
second name in front of Justin. N
o
,
that would be
like
filling up the tank a
nd letting him go on all night and let’s face it
,
the last thing Justin needed was
anymore
fuel!

Draven didn’t reply, he just kept staring at Justin with this half smile, like he knew something the rest of the world didn’t. Justin shifted his weight and found the ground with his eyes. I just rolled mine and said “Oh for
Pete’s
sake
!
” walking past him but I didn’t get far. His arm came out quicker than the breath from my lungs and in a moment the lights went out plunging the club into darkness. I looked around after sounding my surprise and just as the rest of the club began to ask the obvious questions, Draven had circled his arms around my waist before his hands pulled up my top to get to the skin on my back. I gasped again
,
only this time it finished inside his mouth that felt on fire. His kiss was passionate and full to the brim of want. I could hardly breathe in his crushing hold but it didn’t stop me from entwining my hands behind his neck.

After moments of bliss his lips left mine, giving me one last lick to my top lip before I opened my eyes.
I expected to find the same darkness I had closed them to but instead the room was lit even brighter and every eye
seemed to be fixated on the two lovers at the bar. Justin could barely keep his mouth closed, let alone keep the utter disappointment from his face.

One look from Draven told me this had all been planned and he knew if no one could see us I would give it my all back. He had been right and that is what he wanted Justin to see. Mission accomplished!
I was fuming inside but knew I couldn’t show it in front of Justin. I was now sick to death of this game the two of them had me playing and for the first time since I’d met Draven I didn’t want to look at him!

Instead of saying goodbye again I just grabbed Justin’s hand and dragged him to the front entrance leaving Draven at the bar. I didn’t miss the evil wink and mouthed words “Good luck” that were directed
at Justin as I pulled him past
. 

Once I was nearer the door, h
owever angry I was
,
I still couldn’t help the little look over my shoulder to see if he was still staring at us.
The answer was no. He was nowhere to be seen, he had just disappeared because there is no way he could have made it back through the crowd in that time. How did he get away like that with every eye in the room locked on his every move, I wondered?

Outside the cold air helped to clear my clouded mind but my anger s
t
uck to me despite the weather. It had started to snow while we had been in the club and was quickly covering the ground with an icy blanket which would turn deadly soon enough. I had made the right choice leaving now as I didn’t yet have snow chains on big blue.

I didn’t look at Justin once as
we snaked
our way through the parked cars to get to my
truck. Then Justin startled me m
aking me turn round to his raucou
s laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked not bothering to
hide
my hacked off tone.

“
Just wondering if you make everyone who meets you this crazy?” That question hit me harder than I cared to admit, considering my past. After staring at him for longer than intended
,
I turned before he could see my eyes well up.

“Oh no Keira…I didn’t mean it like that!”
He ran over to me just as I took my next step. He gently put his hands on my shoulders to turn me round to face him.

“Look at me
!
” He whispered and when I didn’t, he placed the back of his hand under my chin.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be an insensitive jerk
.
”

“And back in t
here
?
” I nodded to the doors which we
had just exited but he didn’t look back.

“What I meant…what I mean is…”

“Justin
,
don’t
!
” I stopped him knowing what was coming next. I didn’t want to do this now, hel
l I didn’t want to do this ever!
The last conversation we had like thi
s was a life
time ago. I wasn’t even the same person anymore. Back then
,
of course
,
I had been in his shoes. He had been the one with the girlfriend and he had been the one telling me it could never h
appen. Well those words still ra
ng true.

It could never happen.

“Why not, because you have some weird, possessive boyfriend who can buy you
back
?
”

“Now that hurt!” I said and pulled out of his hold.

“I didn’t mean it the way you took it
.
” He snapped back, making his hair coil round one shoulder. I stood hands on hips waiting.

“I meant it with concern. I’m worried about you
. That guy in there isn’t right, I don’t know what it is but I can
’t shake the feeling that he’s…h
e’s
…
”

“He’s what?
”

“Dangerous
!” He spoke the word
like he could somehow be over heard. I knew the truth and sure
,
sometimes it frightened me
,
but was it worse not knowing? What if that night had never happened and I just kept going through life working at the club, being obsessed with Draven, never to find out the truth…Would I be scared?

I didn’t know what to say to him. Anything I said would end up being a lie, so I said the only thing that I knew would end this conversation... I spoke the truth. 

“Justin, I love him
.
” I looked like I had broken him. He started to shake his head but once he saw the truth in my eyes he stopped this motion. He let his shoulders drop and simply said,

“Ok
.
”

“Come on
,
let
’
s go home and raid the cupboards
.” I said light hearted
ly pulling him back into the now. I automatically opened his side first
before climbing
in
to
the driver’s seat. Big blue was cold and I had to give her a minute to start.

“All that money and he can’t buy you a nice, reliable ca
?
r” I hit him playful on the arm
,
just glad that he was getting back to his usual cocky self.

“I love this car and shut up before it hears you, or we will never get home
.
”

“That’s fine with me but I warn you, I get cold quickly, so you’ll have to use your body heat to keep that from happening
.
” He received another playful punch, which he caught. He h
eld his hand over my wrist and
I
flinched at him being so close to my scars.
He looked down and then smiled at my gloves before letting go.

“I never told anyone
,
you know
.
” His confession shocked me but I couldn’t respond.

“When it happened I wanted to come and see you so badly but I knew I couldn’t. You didn’t need that. You didn’t need me to get involved. But I want you to know that I would have
been there for you.” He looked down at his tanned hands that were fiddling nervously with his belt end, it made me want to comfort him but I couldn’t move.

“I broke it off with Jessica that year because she didn’t understand why I wouldn’t tell her. She overheard my parents on the phone to Frank asking how you were and after that she wanted to know all the details. The stupid cow acted like it was gossip! After that I couldn’t look at her. I don’t know why I’m telling you this now but I guess
it’s easier to express past
regrets to the person you regret them with
.
”

“Regrets?” I whispered out in a frosty breath.

“I always regretted saying no to you that night. I replayed it
over and over
on the plane
ride
home, knowing I had made the wrong choice. Draven had been right when he had said
n
ot to let oceans get in the way…A real man never would
.
I
arrogantly
thought that by coming back here you would be
waiting
with
open arms
to have me as your boyfriend. God how conceited am I!” At this I moved to cover my hand with his. He was warmer than I was and the cold touch
of my fingers
made him look up at me.

“I knew I never trust
ed
that Jessica!” I said making him laugh. I felt instantly better at the sound. Guilt was tearing into me but I couldn’t do anything about it. Anything I said would have been a lie to make him feel better
, which I couldn’t bring myself to do
,
knowing
full well
it would do more harm than good.

The rest of the way home he remained quiet and I didn’t want to be the one to break into his thoughts first just so I could make myself feel better. I now wanted to take full responsibility for the way tonight had gone but I knew deep down the reason I felt this guilt was down to him bringing up my past. I couldn’t help the choices he had made and where he now stood because of them but that didn’t mean I wasn’t sympat
het
ic to them either. If anything
,
my mind was in more turmoil now than it had been in the club. Back then I only h
ad Draven
’
s actions to worry about
, now it was my own actions that were the problem. What could I do to make everyone happy? I didn’t want to be the cause o
f anyone’s pain, let alone continue
causing it.