Cruel Kings by Skye Knight

29

Caleb

The men at the gates stared at us, unwilling to open them.

“Tell your master we’re here to see him,” Corey ordered. Our bikes’ engines grumbled loudly in the still and quiet darkness surrounding the posh manor.

“Show your faces,” said one of the guards.

A quiet sigh escaped me. The men guarding the Beckett household were a bunch of pussies.

Corey took off his helmet and raked his fingers through his long, dark strands. “Satisfied?”

I opened the visor of mine, letting the guards have glimpse my face as well.

The men recognized us immediately. Even though the owners of the estate didn’t like us, they were still forced to welcome us in.

The heavy gates smoothly slid open.

Closing up my visor, I shot forward. The sound of Corey’s bike sounded right behind me as I headed toward the manor, glittering like a jewel against the inky black night sky.

We stopped our bikes before the front entrance. To our surprise, the doors were already open, light spilling out and brightening the neat courtyard.

Getting off our bikes, we marched forward, intent on getting Milla away from the creep.

Over the last week, we’d made sure it was Luke who paid the guy at the garage to mess with Corey’s bike. He never openly showed any signs of enmity with us, allowing him to stay off our radars until now.

Entering the vast entrance hall, I let my gaze sweep over every corner.

An elderly man was seated on a couch nearby. He stared at us dumbly, taking in our leather attires.

“Who are you two?” he asked, straightening up in his seat.

“Where’s Luke?” I asked.

“Right over here,” a mocking voice sounded from the corner. Luke walked into the room, looking quite at home. “What are you guys doing here? I thought you’d be enjoying the party at your own place.”

“Where’s Milla?” Corey asked at once.

“She’s safe.”

“Bring her here,” I said through clenched teeth. “We’re taking her home.”

Luke’s face morphed into a mask of cold defiance. “I don’t think so. She’s my guest and I can’t let you hurt her.”

I scoffed. “Pretty words from a murderer.”

Luke’s eyes widened slightly, the only indication our words surprised him.

“Master Beckett, where is the patient?” the old geezer spoke up. “Will she see me or not?”

“She’s agreed to see you but let me deal with these uninvited guests first,” said Luke. He turned his attention back on us. “You guys can leave. She won’t come with you.”

Anger flared inside me. “Who are you to dictate what she wants? Bring her out or we’ll find her ourselves.”

“Aren’t you satisfied yet?” he asked. “What you guys did to her was cruel enough. She’s just starting to come around. I even called our family physician to take a look at her. I’m saying this again. Milla is safe with me. She’ll go back when she feels like it.”

Anxiety gripped me by the throat. How bad was it that this creep called her a doctor?

“We’re taking her home,” said Corey, his expression mirroring mine. “She’ll have someone look after her there.”

“I’ve got this,” said Luke. “Why don’t you go back and join your brother in celebrating the success of your stupid prank?”

“Bring her out while we’re still asking nicely,” I said in a warning tone. “You’ve already crossed the line with trying to mess with us. Don’t push it.”

“When did I mess with you guys?” He faked a surprised look of dismay. “I’m always minding my own business.”

“So... fucking up my bike to kill me is considered minding your own business?” Corey asked in a soft voice.

Luke’s face turned stiff at once. “You found out, huh?”

“Don’t you know who we are?” I asked. “We found out a long time ago. You’re a coward. A backstabber. How dare you try that stunt with us? Do you know what we could do to you?”

A soft chuckle escaped him. “What can you do to me?” He walked forward, coming to stand before us. “I don’t prance around flexing my muscles like you guys, but I’m capable of defending myself from idiots like you.”

“You’re a fucking sneak,” Corey spat.

Luke sighed loudly. “Will it help you if I said I wouldn’t do it again?” He laughed again, showing his true colors for the first time. “Honestly, I won’t. Noah’s stupid prank tonight has sealed the deal nicely. He thinks doing that to Milla would prove she isn’t considered family. Such a show of being disrespectful to the daughter of the woman your dad loves.”

The urge to punch his fucking face was overwhelming. If we were on campus ground, Corey and I would have already beaten him to a pulp by now.

However, we were in his house now. This was his territory with plenty of men to guard his skinny ass. Doing something stupid would only keep us from getting Milla away from him.

“I should’ve been patient and waited for Mr. Amhurst to marry that woman,” Luke said with a chuckle. “You guys hate it that he loves her more than your dead momma. Isn’t that right?”

His words felt like a slap to the face. This creep already knew what was going through our minds.

Noah, you fucking idiot, I cursed silently.

His stupid stunt revealed our intentions to the whole world. Now, it wouldn’t just be the Becketts who’d try to take advantage of the rift between us and our dad. Every competitor in the business world would try to break the fragile bond between us.

“You’re all such dumbasses,” Luke said in a singsong voice. “You think hurting Milla would bring peace to your momma’s soul? She’s just a naïve little girl. Sweet. Innocent. Does bullying her make you feel like big men?”

Corey and I swallowed our rage. The fucker was right about every damn thing. How long had he been watching us to get inside our minds?

“Please, get out of my house,” said Luke. “I have to go back to attending to my guest now.”

“We have proof of what you did,” said Corey. “Get Milla here or we’ll take the damn evidence to the cops. Would your daddy be happy about that?”

The shit-eating grin was wiped off from Luke’s face. “What evidence are you talking about?”

“The whole thing was recorded,” said Corey. “That guy at the garage might not know your identity but he recorded the whole exchange on his phone. The video clearly shows you handing him money and asking him to mess with my bike. That’s good enough to get you arrested for murder.”

Corey was lying through his teeth. We had no such evidence in our hands. If we did, we’d have been sure about Luke’s identity a long time ago.

“Rat bastard,” Luke cursed under his breath.

“You shouldn’t trust dirtbags like him,” said Corey, smiling coolly at Luke. “We’ll get rid of the video if you cooperate. Just take us to Milla.”

The vein on Luke’s smooth forehead bulged. His rage descended into his pale eyes, giving us a glimpse of the monster he hid underneath his nerdy exterior.

Corey and I waited quietly, hoping our threat would push him into doing what we wanted.

“Take the stairs down that corridor,” Luke gestured toward a hallway leading out of the entrance hall. “Second door on the second floor.”

Corey glanced at me.

I gave a nod and strode forward to get our girl.

Luke didn’t follow us. Usually, I’d be wary of him doing something behind our backs but at the moment, I just wanted to get to Milla.

“You’re a genius,” I whispered as we took the stairs two at a time.

Corey shrugged. “Every villain thinks he’s the smartest. Just look at our fucking brother.”

“What the hell was Noah thinking?” I muttered bitterly. “Dad probably already knows about what happened. Do you think he’s going to like having his eldest son ruin his honeymoon?”

“I wouldn’t be so mad if that had been his motive,” said Corey in a grave tone. “But, nope. He just wanted to make a clown out of her. Hurting Milla was his only priority. It had nothing to do with Eva or Dad.”

He stopped on the first-floor landing and fixed me with a grim look. “We could’ve ended up with a worse shrew than Eva fucking Brown,” he said. “Noah made her sound like some conniving bitch but let’s be honest. Eva’s as harmless as Milla.”

“Noah will never believe you,” I said.

“His distrust in people is starting to bug me. If he doesn’t change, he’ll destroy himself.”

“And destroy us too,” I added. “I’m done taking orders from the asshat.”

Corey chuckled and hopped up the stairs. I followed him, eager to get to Milla.

Reaching the second-floor landing, we spotted the door to the room Luke mentioned. We both hurried, kicking the door open.

My gaze fell on Milla immediately.

She was no longer covered in crimson goo. Her face was clean. The long auburn strands of her hair looked wet as if she’d just walked out of a shower.

Corey moved inside the room but I stood rooted on the threshold.

Milla wore a large faded t-shirt. That’s not hers, I realized at once.

She was probably wearing one of Luke’s t-shirts.

Rage flashed inside me, hot and swift. Milla was wearing Luke’s t-shirt and tucked into his bed.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a cracked voice as Corey approached her.

The fear in her sapphire eyes cooled my anger immediately.

“We’re here to take you home,” said Corey.

“Where’s Luke?” she asked, looking over at me. “Did you hurt him?” Her eyes brimmed with tears. “Did you?”

“The asshole’s fine,” Corey assured her. He reached out toward her but she shrank away from him.

I walked forward, wondering if the two of us could cajole her into coming with us. On any other occasion, we’d have forced and bullied her into doing what we wanted, but there was no way we could do that tonight.

Milla didn’t have any fight left in her today. She was just a scared, lonely girl tonight.

“We’ll take you home,” I said in a gentle voice but it came out as a deep growl. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “You’ll relax better there.”

She stared at me, mistrust clear in her tear-filled eyes. “I’ll never go back to that house,” she said in a broken voice. “Not until Mom and Brian come back.”

“How about we take you to your apartment?” said Corey. “Wouldn’t you like that?”

Thank fuck Corey could talk that gently with her. Until now, we never had to care for a girl like this. Then again, we never cared enough for a girl to even try.

“You’ll take me there?” she asked, her brows stringing together. “Really?”

“Yep,” said Corey, flashing her his whore-boy grin. “Look. I got the key.” Fishing inside the pocket of his jacket, he took out a key with a snowy-white owl figurine hanging from the keychain.

Milla relaxed visibly.

I took off my jacket and proceeded to take off my shirt.

“What are you doing?” Milla screamed, staring at me with wide, fearful eyes. “What do you want to do to me?”

“Chill,” I said, throwing my shirt at her. “Take off the shirt you’re wearing.”

“Why?”

“Return the bastard’s clothes and put this on.”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice, looking down at the t-shirt she was wearing. “Won’t you be cold?”

“My jacket’s enough,” I said, pulling my leather jacket over my vest.

She gazed between me and Corey. “Are you guys telling the truth? You’ll take me back to my apartment?”

“Promise,” said Corey.

She gave a nod and slowly climbed off the bed.

“Where are you going?” I asked as she walked away from us.

“To change,” she said, opening the door to what looked like the bathroom.

“Chill, man,” Corey said as she closed the door. “Stop spooking her.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I grit out.

“I hate watching her like this,” said Corey in a grim tone. “I like it better when she’s swearing at us and punching those tiny fists into my chest.”

“I know,” I said, glad that my twin always shared my feelings. Noah, Corey, and I were triplets but somehow, Noah never understood us.

Milla stepped out of the bathroom, wearing the shirt I offered her. It was long enough to cover her upper thighs. Luke’s clothes were folded neatly in her hands.

Relief flowed through me at once.

Our girl was finally out of Luke’s bed and his clothes.