The King Brothers- The Complete Series

by G. Bailey

  "After all, it's your birthday, Son. Don’t say I don’t care. I remembered." He chuckles to himself as I hear the door slam behind me, and I pray I make it out alive for no other reason than my brothers need me.

  "Man, just go and knock on her door." Luke bumps my shoulder as he carries two pizza boxes into the lounge, and I snap out of the memory.

  I have no idea why I’m thinking about it now. Isn’t it bad enough my memories haunt me when I sleep? I continue to pace, getting more pissed that Tilly hasn't come downstairs since Izzy left earlier today. She must be hungry, and I'm ignoring the part of me that is begging for a chance to stare at her more. The red-haired siren is going to be the death of me, I think as I walk out of the lounge and head upstairs.

  I stop when I’m standing outside her bedroom, which is opposite mine. I groan internally, considering how it’s a bad idea to have her so close. I could have given her the guest room next to Izzy, but I'm a selfish bastard who wants to see her first in the morning, even if I can't be the one she wakes up next to. I would be no good for a girl like her. I’m too messed up to offer her anything.

  I knock a few times before the door is opened by a freshly showered Tilly. Her red hair is down, and she is wearing a silky green pyjama shirt and trousers. The colour complements her pale skin and her hair, making her more bloody beautiful. I swear this siren was sent here to tease me.

  "Do you need something?" she asks me, raising one perfect eyebrow in suspicion as her eyes drop to my body before meeting my eyes again. She, apparently, caught me checking her out. Not that I care if she realises.

  "Dinner is here, come downstairs," I reply.

  "No." She goes to shut the door, and I stop it with my foot before pushing it open a little more so I can see her face in the dark room.

  "That's rude," I comment, almost amused by her need to get away from me so quickly.

  "Me? You didn't say please, so you’re clearly the rude one here," she says, hiding a small smile.

  "You must be hungry." I shrug off her comment, not wanting to admit she might be right.

  "Nope, I wouldn't want to bother you." She crosses her arms, making her large chest bounce up. It takes me way too long to pull my gaze up to her eyes, and she glares at me.

  "Please come and eat with us. If you don’t, I swear I’ll put you over my shoulder and carry you downstairs," I tell her, meaning every word. I don’t like the idea of her sitting up here hungry and alone.

  "You only had to say please," she huffs, slipping past me and walking toward the stairs as I stare at her fantastic ass.

  "I don't say please often, siren, you might as well just do as I ask," I say, and she looks over her shoulder at me before she laughs. I really won't ask her nicely again. Clearly, the little siren isn't going to listen to me.

  I run my hands over my face, looking away from Tilly's ass as I try to calm the fucking hard-on I have down. I fucking love it when women don't act like cowards, but I can't have this one. Man, she must be four years younger than me, and my sister’s best friend to boot.

  "Well, hello there," Luke says to Tilly as she walks into the lounge. I walk in as he openly checks her out before looking at my face and smartly looking sheepish. I try not to glare at him, but it doesn’t work. I already want to get him to leave somehow. What the hell is wrong with me?

  "You must be Luke," she says before sitting on the opposite sofa to Luke. I don’t even want to admit how relieved I am that she chose not to sit by him. I take the seat next to her, despite her glare in my direction.

  "You must be Tilly, is that short for anything?" Luke asks, flipping the channel to music he likes.

  "Maybe, but that's like asking a woman's age; I won't tell you," she jokes, eyeing the pizza.

  "Help yourself, there's a four-cheese pizza and a pepperoni one." I wave a hand.

  Luke thinks about what she says before saying, "It can't be that bad of a name."

  "It is." She laughs, taking three pieces of the four-cheese one, and I help myself to a mixture of both.

  We eat in a comfortable silence before Luke starts asking more questions.

  "So why isn't your family here?"

  "It's complicated. We are all moving here in three months anyway. I just needed to leave a little early," she says, shifting slightly in her seat and keeping her face blank. Most people wouldn’t think she was lying. That’s one thing I’ve always been good at, spotting when people lie, and I know the siren is lying right now.

  "Why?" Luke asks, not caring how Tilly tenses and looks away.

  "She doesn't have to answer that," I point out.

  "So I've eaten, and, now, I'm going to bed." Tilly stands, moving surprisingly quick out of the room. I have to jog to catch her at the bottom of the stairs.

  "Wait," I say, and she halts on the stairs, turning to face me.

  "We are going to watch a movie if you want to stay. I promise to stop Luke from being a nosy fucker." I grin.

  I step a little closer to the stairs, and she watches me as I gently push a stray curl behind her ear, pulling my hand back as I realise what I just did. Fuck, I shouldn't have done that. Her impossibly blue eyes widen, and her cheeks flush red.

  "I'm tired, so thanks but goodnight," she stutters some of her words and quickly runs away from me up the stairs.

  What the fuck was I thinking, standing so close to her or touching her soft, fucking, hair? I don't do relationships. I walk into the lounge and sit down.

  "Bro, she is hot," Luke says, leaning back on the sofa and watching me for some kind of reaction.

  I look over at him, noticing how he has grown up recently, looking older than I’ve ever seen him.

  "Watch it," I say, opening a beer that Luke has placed on the table.

  "You like her," he says, looking a little shocked.

  "No, I don't." I end the conversation because, honestly, I need to get her out of my head. She reminds me of things I can't have because of my past, like a happy, normal future.

  86

  Tilly

  "I forgot how frigging awesome you always look," I compliment my best friend as she pulls down her tight, black, sparkling dress, which shows off all her curves. Her blond hair is curled down her back like mine, and we are both wearing a little makeup as I don't like it, and she doesn’t need it.

  "Coming from the red-headed bombshell." She shakes her head at me with a grin.

  I walk over and stand next to the mirror with her. I’ll admit, I do look good today. I'm wearing a tight-feeling, green dress that dips to show off my breasts. The dip stops just before my belly button, and you can see the curves of my breasts, which I’m sure have gotten bigger during the last two weeks. I know I won’t be able to wear a dress like this for much longer, but my stomach looks as flat as usual now.

  "Come on, picture time," Izzy says, pulling me to her and taking several photos of us on both our phones. My phone rings in the middle of a picture, and I'm quick to ignore it, but I know Izzy saw my mum’s name.

  "Why are you ignoring your mum? And deleting your Facebook and Twitter?" she asks, placing her hands on her hips. Izzy loves my mum, like most people, including me, do, and she must think I’m awful to ignore her calls. If I tell my mum where I am, she will come here and he will follow.

  "Not tonight, no questions please," I whisper, guilt, and a slight bit of fear, stuck in my throat. It’s not that my family has done anything wrong, but I have more than them and myself to think of now. Everything has changed, and the one person I wish was here, is my mum.

  "Tomorrow, I want answers, Tilly. I'm worried about you," she tells me firmly, placing her hand on my arm.

  I cover her hand with mine, looking at our painted nails, which match. I remember when we both tried to paint our nails like our mums when we were seven. Let’s just say that more nail polish got on our fingers than our nails.

  "No promises . . . but I will try to tell you some stuff. There’s a lot to tell," I say, knowing I didn’t tell her anything t
hat happened in France this past year. I should have, but I was stupid enough not to because Izzy had been so busy and stressed with all the changes in her life. And then, there was the car accident.

  "Tomorrow," Izzy says with a stern look, making me smile. It doesn’t suit her, acting all serious, and she ends up laughing at me.

  We finish getting ready before going down to the kitchen. I slip on my silver heels, giving me a little height boost, but I don't need it. Izzy’s black heels are far higher than mine because she is so much shorter than I am. I kind of wish I was her height sometimes, it’s difficult to find a man as tall as me, or taller. And I like taller men, like Harley.

  Nope, stop that thought.

  We walk down the stairs, with Izzy grinning at me the whole time. She looks so happy to have me here, but then, I never expected less from Izzy. You know, sometimes in life, you have that bond with someone who isn’t blood? Well, that is my bond with Izzy, a sisterly bond.

  "I'm a lucky man." Izzy stops by the door to the kitchen as Blake walks out, his words slow and seductive. He walks straight to her and slides an arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest. The look he is giving her should be illegal, and Izzy is a very lucky woman.

  "I’ll meet you in there," Izzy says as she giggles at something Blake whispers to her, and I look away as they kiss.

  I walk around them toward the kitchen, wishing, in a way, I had met as good guy as Blake seems to be. My ex is anything but good, and I thought I was crazy in love with him. Look where that got me, I think.

  My gaze finds Harley's first, like he is the only person in the room, and I struggle to pull my gaze away. I check out his tight, black shirt and black jeans, which make him look bloody amazing. His dark-brown hair is tied back, like usual, showing off his bright-green eyes, which seem brighter as he takes me in from head to toe. I do eventually look away, the pressure of his gaze making me nervous, and see Luke leaning against the sink, smirking at me and then looking at Harley.

  "What do you think?" I twirl a little for everyone who’s staring at me. Well, just for Harley. In fact, I don’t even know why I’m asking if he likes what I’m wearing. I guess some part of me just wants to hear his answer.

  "I love the dress." Luke playfully winks at me, but Harley never answers.

  I try not to let it annoy me, but it does a little. As handsome as Luke is with his tattooed arms, well-trimmed beard, and tight clothes, which show off his massive build, he isn’t Harley. There’s just something about Harley that makes me unable to stop thinking about him.

  Izzy and Blake come into the room looking rosy-cheeked, and Izzy’s lipstick is a little askew, but it doesn’t matter as she seems so happy. It’s hard to actually look away from them both, with how comfortable they look with each other. I have to admit to myself that I’m a little jealous because I wish I had met a good guy like Blake instead of where my life ended up taking me.

  Izzy lets go of Blake’s arm and walks over to stand next to me.

  "Let’s go," Izzy says, hooking her arm with mine as she leads me out of the kitchen, and I feel Harley's eyes on my back. I can’t explain how I know he is looking at me, but I can.

  "Come on, man, we’re leaving," I hear Luke say, and I turn to see him pat Harley’s back as he is still watching me silently, like I knew he was.

  The taxi bus is already outside when we leave the house, and the taxi driver is holding the door open as he speaks on his phone. The middle-aged man nods at us, his eyes spending way too long watching Izzy and me.

  “Eyes up here, mate, if you know what’s good for you,” Blake warns him as I get into the taxi with Izzy.

  The driver says something I can’t hear, but the tone is easy to understand, he sounds scared, and I don’t blame him one bit. The King brothers and Blake look a scary lot altogether.

  After everyone is in, I sit in the taxi bus quietly as I watch the town. It's a quiet village with beautiful, grey stone houses built around a large river. We pass the massive, grey stone bridge I saw on the way in. It is arched and looks very old. I gaze behind me, and my eyes lock with Harley, who is staring at me.

  I can't pull my eyes away until we stop outside a building in the middle of the town. I can't see much other than the name outlined in lights and the front door. There is also a massive queue in front of the club, and they aren't letting many people in so it must be busy. I can’t say I’ve been to many clubs because we lived in a small town in France, and I would have to travel to the central city to go out. By the time I turned eighteen, I was too busy with setting up my business with my brother and editing books for low rates to build a client base.

  And then I met him, and there was no way he would let me go out to clubs like this. He never let me go out at all, not unless he was at my side and watched my every move. I’m going on twenty . . . yet as I look at the club, I’ve never felt older or more lost.

  The sound of Luke sliding the door of the taxi bus open snaps me from my thoughts.

  We all get out, and I follow Luke up to the club and to the bouncer. The bouncer grins at Luke when he sees him, and they do a manly hug and handshake–clearly, they know each other–before he lets us in. The club is boiling hot, and the loud music fills my ears straight away when we walk in.

  Thank god for my small dress.

  I find myself staring around at all the shiny surfaces and the bottles lining the wall behind the bar. It’s a very well decorated club, and it’s clear someone has spent a lot of money on it. It's not trashy at all. There is a shining dance floor, with stools around it and people sitting on them, talking as they drink cocktails. There’s also a glass balcony overlooking everything. While I'm staring around the room, I see Harley walking toward the bar, and several girls turn their heads to watch him. I can't blame them, the man is hotter than any guy I’ve seen in a long time. There’s something about him that makes you not want to look away, and, in my case, makes me want to be near him. He looks back, like he can feel me watching, and I pull my gaze away.

  “I can’t believe we never went clubbing, you remember when we were fifteen and it’s all we wanted to do? We used to beg Grayson to take us, but he wouldn’t,” Izzy says with a laugh, referring to my oldest brother.

  “I remember him walking out of the room and telling us to leave him alone, he was a moody asshole back then.”

  Izzy laughs and links her arm in mine as we follow Luke upstairs to the balcony. The moment the balcony doors shut, the light music from up here can be heard, and it’s clear the room is soundproof. Elliot is at the bar with some men in suits. He waves at us as we come in.

  I sit on one of the leather couches facing the dance floor with the others. Izzy and Blake sit together on one, and Luke sits next to me. I don’t know how long I sit, quietly watching the people dance, losing themselves to the music and wondering if that’s what I need, to lose myself to music and just forget everything for one night. To just lose myself and my past.

  A waitress dressed all in black, with ample cleavage hanging out of her tight top, comes over, eying up both Luke and Blake, but Blake doesn’t seem to notice her as he talks to Izzy. That’s a sign of a good man right there.

  "Can I get you all anything?" she asks with her eyes eating up Luke, and he leans back on the sofa, his arms wide.

  "Shots all around, tequila and a beer for me, gorgeous," Luke says, making her giggle. She might as well lie naked on the table for him at this rate.

  “What do you want?” Luke asks, and Izzy replies before I can say anything.

  “Tilly is a classic Vodka and Coke girl.” Which would usually be true, but not tonight.

  "I’ll have a vodka and Coke," I say to the waitress, and she takes down all our orders before leaving to make them.

  I quickly get up to follow her, but Izzy asks before I can walk away, "Where are you going?"

  "Oh, I don't want ice so I'm just going to check she doesn't put any in," I say, making up another lie and wanting to kick myself for it.


  She is going to hate me when I can finally tell her, and I feel like the lies I’ve told since I’ve come here are just adding up. I never used to lie, and now look at me, I even lie to myself every morning by saying it’s going to be okay when that can’t be true.

  "Right," Izzy says, with a look that makes me wonder what she is thinking and hoping she can’t see straight through me like she always used to be able to.

  "Be right back," I say before walking over to the bar. I call the girl over, who smiles at me.

  "Did you want something else? Elliot said all of your drinks are on the house," she says, looking behind me to my table. At Luke, I’m guessing.

  "No, I just remembered I have to drive somewhere tomorrow so no vodka in the coke," I tell her, and she gets out her notepad, writing it down.

  "Okay, sugar cups." She winks at me as I flush red. My hand travels to my stomach without thought, and I look back at the table to see Izzy staring at me. I try to avoid her gaze as I walk back to the table, noticing Elliot has joined us.

  "Hey, Elliot, right? Nice to see you again, and I promise not break any of your stuff this time," I say.

  Elliot nods at me with a slight laugh.

  “It’s cool, I didn’t need the stuff in those boxes,” he says, but I’m sure he is just saying that to make me feel better.

  "Where’s Harley?" Elliot asks Luke, who shrugs as he replies.

  "Downstairs at the bar, he is in a weird-ass mood this week."

  "Is Allie going to be here soon?" Izzy asks Elliot, whose hard face softens under her name. I know Allie and Elliot are dating, and they are madly in love. Izzy told me they went through a lot and that Elliot is a different man since he has been with Allie. Apparently, they are perfect for each other.

  "Yeah, soon. I'm going to get her. I just needed to chat with some staff."

  "Go on, then, I want to see my bestie." She grins. I heard so much about this Allie from Izzy that I'm looking forward to meeting her.