Chapter 1: Forbidden King: Prologue

TEN YEARS AGO

I couldn’t sleep. Thinking about River and Romeo being locked up in a juvenile detention center haunted me. Wondering how my brother and our best friend were surviving was something that I couldn’t shake. They’d both put on brave faces, and I’d done the same, but I knew they had to be scared as hell.

Add in the fact that Hayes and his sister, Saylor, had been taken from their home as well, and this shit show just kept getting better.

“Mom! No!” Saylor’s terrorized voice had me jumping to my feet and hurrying to the room across the hall. I pushed the door open, and she flailed around on the bed like she was fighting for her life.

Lately, it felt like we all were.

“Saylor. Saylor, hey.” I moved to sit on the edge of her bed and placed a hand on her forearm. “You’re okay. It’s King. I’m here.”

Her hands moved over her face to protect herself, and my chest squeezed.

She was fucking scared, and that shit pissed me off.

“Hey, hey. Look at me. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again, okay?” I whispered as her wild eyes locked with mine. She blinked several times, her breathing frantic, and I could see a layer of sweat covering her forehead from the sliver of moonlight shining through the window in River’s bedroom.

“King?” She said my name as a question, and I heard the fear in her voice.

“Yeah. I’m here. You’re okay. You were having a nightmare.”

She used the back of her hand to swipe at the tear that broke free from her eyes, and she looked away. She’d always been a little shy—too sweet for her own good. She was my best friend Hayes’s little sister, so she was family.

End of story.

She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry I woke you up. I’m fine.”

I reached for her chin and turned her face so that she was looking at me. “You don’t have to be fine. This is a lot to take. Do you want to tell me about it?”

Her blonde hair was in a long braid that hung over her shoulder, and her blue eyes locked with mine. “I just—I can’t believe all that’s happened over the last few weeks, you know? And now I’m here. I feel bad about your grandparents taking me in, and I’m worried about River and Romeo. I’m worried about my mom and brother.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and I stroked the loose strand of hair that had broken free away from her pretty face. “Everyone is going to be okay. I promise.” I gave her a reassuring smile. That was sort of my shtick. I could find something good in the shittiest of situations. It had always helped me when things went down, and I wanted to help her right now. “And my grandparents are devastated about River being sent to that hellhole. So having you here gives them a little bit of needed sunshine.”

She nodded, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip as tears started streaming down her cheeks, catching me off guard. I pulled her into my arms as sobs left her body. And I just held her there. I didn’t have a lot of experience with girls that were crying, because the girls I hung out with were usually trying to get in my pants, or vice versa. It was all laughter and flirtation, nothing deep.

That’s how I liked it.

What can I say? I’m a fifteen-year-old horny dude. Well, technically, I’ll be sixteen in a few months.

My hands stroked her back, and I breathed in all that goodness. Saylor Woodson was good to her core.

Smart and pretty and sweet.

And she was Hayes’s little sister. The most important person in my life.

We had a pact, the five of us. River, Romeo, Hayes, Nash, and me.

Ride or Die.

We were all brothers in our own way. So I’d promised Hayes I’d protect his sister while she stayed with us. My grandparents couldn’t afford to take both her and Hayes in. Nash lived alone with his dad, and his father wasn’t willing to take in a teenage girl, so they’d been split up temporarily.

We all had, in a way.

But this was better than the alternative, them being split up and living with strangers.

“I shouldn’t have called the police that night. None of this would have happened. But I was scared because Hayes wasn’t home to break up the fight this time,” she whimpered. “I thought Barry was going to hurt my mom. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“You did the right thing, Saylor. Hayes is so fucking proud of you.” I continued stroking her head as I held her against my chest.

“I guess I should be glad the police got there right after Hayes got home, because he probably would have killed Barry, and then he’d be sent away like River and Romeo.” She spoke through her tears, her voice soft, and I could hear the sadness. The fear. We knew something had gone down, but Hayes hadn’t given much detail. Saylor had somehow been struck by Barry just as Hayes arrived home and flew into a murderous rage. Thankfully, the police got there shortly after. They were both removed from the house and would have been placed into the system, but as soon as he called me and Nash, we got our families involved. They’d spent two days in a foster home before Saylor had come here and Hayes had gone to stay with Nash.

“Is that what your nightmare was about?” I asked, as she pulled back and let out a few long breaths.

“I see Barry in my nightmares. The crazed look in his eyes. The way he turned to me when I tried to pull him off my mom. I was so scared,” she said. “I can’t sleep without seeing his face, King. I haven’t slept in days, and I’m so tired.”

“I know you are. What if I stay with you tonight? I can sleep in here so you know you’re safe.”

“This is so embarrassing. I’ll be fourteen years old next week. I shouldn’t be afraid of the dark.” She shook her head, shoulders pushing back as if she were trying to prove she was okay.

To me.

To herself.

I wasn’t sure. But it didn’t matter.

Because Saylor Woodson didn’t need to be okay on my behalf.

I’d walk through fire to make sure she was safe.

I glanced over at the pile of green stems on the nightstand, and she followed my gaze to see what caught my eye.

“Those are dandelion puffballs that you can make wishes on. I figure if you make enough wishes, someday it’ll work, right?”

“Of course, it will. Come on. Lie down. I’ve got you. No one will ever know about this. It’ll be our secret, okay?” I slipped in beside her, and we both rolled onto our sides, facing one another.

“Thanks, King. I’ll be fine tomorrow. I know I will. I’m just worried right now. About everyone and everything.”

“Yeah. Me, too,” I said. “You’re actually helping me because I couldn’t sleep either.”

“You’re worried, too, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I get to go visit next week. It’s been the longest two weeks of my life since they were sent away. I haven’t slept much at all. And then I was worried about you and Hayes being pulled into the system. I’m a lot happier now that you’re here and Hayes is with Nash.”

“Me, too. I wish we could get River and Romeo out of there, too.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe all the shit that has happened.”

“Hayes told me that they didn’t do it. They were set up by Slade Crawford, right?” she whispered.

“Yep. And his family has more money than they know what to do with, so who do you think they’re going to believe?” I hissed. I was still so fucking pissed off about the whole thing. The rich asshole robs the Daily Market, pushes a man down and hurts him, and then runs out of there and lets two innocent dudes serve his time in juvie hall?

It was bullshit.

“It’s not right,” she said, and I could hear the exhaustion.

“It’s not. But we need to keep it together for them. You and me going without sleep is not going to bring anyone back or get you home any sooner.”

She shifted closer to me. “I don’t know where home is anymore. I’d be scared to go back there. But I don’t like being separated from Hayes. And I need to know that my mom is okay. But all I see is Barry when I close my eyes.”

I found her hand and pulled it between us. “I’ve got you, Saylor. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise.”

She squeezed my hand, and I held her close.

And I kept my fingers wrapped around hers until the sound of her breathing slowed.

Her chest rose and fell against mine, and it soothed me in a way.

I’d been a little lost these last few weeks, and if I were being honest, right now, with Saylor, was the most content I’d felt since everything had gone down.

Maybe protecting my best friend’s little sister was just what I needed.

She needed me, and maybe, in a weird way, I needed her, too.