King's Guard

Chapter Thirty Two

"Reece?" Lorenzo looked confused as he stared at a nervous Kingsley, who was standing outside his door, his fingers enclosed in a fist, and his nails digging into his palm.

"Sorry for, uh, showing up like this. Unannounced," Kingsley said, looking anywhere but at Lorenzo.

"Are you okay? You look... you don't look too well," Lorenzo frowned.

"No," Kingsley answered truthfully as he shook his head. "I'm not okay."

"Hey," Lorenzo said softly, holding Kingsley's hand. "Come inside."

Lorenzo didn't let go of Kingsley's hand as they walked into his living room. He held onto it even when they sat down, but Kingsley nervously pulled it away, making Lorenzo's frown grow even deeper.

"Remember how I said that I wanted to talk to you about something Friday night?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes, what about it? You said it wasn't anything important," Lorenzo recalled.

"I lied," Kingsley said.

"Huh?"

"There are some things that you don't know... about me... Jesus, I don't even know where to begin," Kingsley let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his face with his hand.

"Hey," Lorenzo kept his hand on Kingsley's thigh reassuringly. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. It's okay. Just start from the beginning, yeah?"

"From the beginning," Kingsley muttered. "Okay."

"Okay, go on."

"Remember when I told you about my parents?" Kingsley asked, and Lorenzo nodded. "What I didn't mention was that they're rich. Like really fucking rich. One percent... the type to eat dinner with the President rich."

"Okay..." Lorenzo furrowed his brows. "Why were you so nervous about this? I mean, it's not that big of—"

"My father is Gianni Russo," Kingsley ripped the band-aid.

At first, Lorenzo just looked puzzled, wondering why his father's name mattered. It took him a few seconds to connect the dots, and his eyes widened with surprise as he finally realized what this meant.

"The last-minute investor..."

"Was me," Kingsley admitted.

When Lorenzo stayed quiet, Kingsley finally gathered the courage to be able to look at him. Lorenzo's face was blank apart from a slight frown, it was as if the weight of what Kingsley told him was still sinking in, and he was trying to decipher what it meant.

"Why?" was all Lorenzo asked. His jaw was tightened, and Kingsley could see and feel the tension on his face and in the air around them.

"Because I believed in you, and I... I just couldn't see you lose your company. After working with you... I knew how much it meant to you. It meant everything, and I had the resources to prevent someone else from taking over so... I did it," Kingsley explained. "It wasn't because I wanted to sleep with you or some shit like that. I mean, I did, but I invested solely because I believe in you and the work that we do."

"I meant... why didn't you just tell me? Why has it taken you so long to come clean?" Lorenzo elaborated.

"I was... scared," Kingsley admitted.

"Scared?" Lorenzo glanced at the other man, raising a questioning brow. "Scared of what?"

"Different things at different points of time," Kingsley sighed. "At first, I didn't think it mattered. I mean, you were just my boss. And then we became friends and I... I didn't want you to, I don't know, feel insecure about anything. It was dumb, I know, but I knew it would unnecessarily complicate our... relationship.