The Golden Boys

Chapter Thirteen

"So now you know of Enz's family issues and Dame's nightlife antics," Kenji commented as he took a hit.

"And soon I'll find out your secret," Zara joked.

It was Friday afternoon and the day before, Zara and Enzo ate dinner at the Lykaois' palace. It was a six course meal with rich flavors and a lot of wine, and the two made sure to pace themselves. Miron, Cersei and Andrei's dad, was out of town for business and his wife Lena loved to take advantage of his absence with extravagant dinners and parties. Lena had asked Zara and Enzo if they would like to stay the night, which they politely declined and made up an excuse about school the next morning. In reality, Zara and Enzo knew that if they had stayed the night, they would be mentality and physically drained for the rest of the week. Cersei got her party genes from her mom.

"Be careful what you wish for," Kenji said and offered her a cigarette.

Zara took a hit and passed it back. They were sitting on the roof of the school, skipping last period and enjoying the fall weather. Enzo had business elsewhere, Damian went to class because apparently if he fucks up once he'd be kicked out of school, Cersei met a new guy much to everyone's disappointment, and Andrei was... well, Andrei. He didn't even show up to school this morning and Cersei drove herself in her mom's new Corvette.

"By the way, don't tell Andrei you know," Kenji warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Zara grumbled. "But I still don't understand why."

"We made a pact," Kenji told her. "That all of our secrets only stay between the four of us and we broke the pact when you were dragged into this mess."

Zara frowned. "It's not your fault that all of this shit has happened. You and Enz saved me from those mafia guys, and I happened to figure out Dame's secret life."

"But we didn't have to explain what the hell happened," Kenji argued. "We could've come up with alternative explanations or even have you dealt with─"

"Oh please, you boys wouldn't kill me."

Kenji pressed the cigarette to his lips as if to say otherwise. Over the past couple weeks, she learned that when he took a hit or a sip of alcohol, it was to give him time to think of his response in case he said something he'd regret. "We've killed before to protect our secrets."

The shame in his voice was evident. Zara had many questions. Who did they kill? Who's secret were they protecting? When did they kill the person... or people?

"But I'm family," Zara told him.

She noticed the small beat before he replied, "Which is why the three of us went against our pact to explain our situations. And besides, you're fairly nosey and would've found out eventually. With you, it's better to just show all of our cards in the first round."

"So you gonna tell me your big secret?"

Kenji cracked a smile and released the smoke from his lips. "No."

"What happened to it's better to just show all of our cards in the first round?"

"The first round's not over yet, it's just begun."

Zara rolled her eyes and took the cigarette from his fingers. "You're so dramatic."

"You know what sounds fun," Kenji began, but never got to finish his sentence.

The door to the roof of the school flew open and revealed Andrei with his phone in his hand, gripping it so tightly that Zara was sure he could snap it in back. The boy stormed across the rooftop dressed in a suit, his tie undone and hair ruffled.

"He's back," Andrei growled.

"Who?" Zara asked.

Andrei paid no attention to the girl, his attention was only focused on Kenji. She noticed that her friend had stopped smoking and his eyes widened.

"Bullshit," Kenji stated.

Andrei took the cigarette from his friend's and took a large hit. She knew that he was never a large fan of smoking, only did it for business purposes or if his life was falling apart. The boy released the smoke from his mouth and the cloud drifted off.

"Are we going to do something about it?" Kenji asked.

Zara knew that the pronoun we meant all of the Golden Boys and the phrase something about it meant they would a) run the guy out of town b) continuously threaten the guy c) kill the guy. As Kenji said before, they would do anything to protect their secrets.

"Later," he replied. The boy was looking off into the distance when he took another hit, handing the cigarette back to Kenji. Andrei started to undo his tie and unbuttoned the top of shirt. "I need a fucking drink."

"Zara and I were about to head to the club tonight," Kenji told him. Zara didn't know that until now. "Lynn Hart opened her new club last week, but we couldn't go since we were out of town. The reviews are high and she said the first three rounds are on the house."

"Good, I'll meet you there at ten," Andrei told him and left without another word.

After a few more moments of silence, the two turned back their attention to the view overlooking the forest nearby.

"You're both so dramatic," Zara said.

"He has the right to be dramatic," Kenji countered, shaking his head.

"Who's he talking about?" The quiet answered her question. "Okay then."

"Not my secret to tell," Kenji said.

Zara nodded. "So when were you telling me that we were clubbing tonight? And are we inviting the other Golden Boys and C?"

"Dame has a race tonight and Enz is taking care of business," Kenji told her. "You can ask Cece, but I saw her busy in the hallway about an hour ago."

"He's not even that cute," Zara muttered. "What's his name? Cole? Connor?"

"Who knows, it's not like they're going to last for longer than a month. If anything, we all know Andrei is digging up everything about the dude and going to get him out of her life. You'd think by now others would notice the disappearance of her lovers."

"You'd think she'd notice," Zara snorted. "Am I a bad friend for not telling her?"

"I honestly think she knows already," Kenji said. "But it won't stop her from dating. Dame needs to hurry up because she moves quickly."

"Have you boys ever tried to help him out?" Zara asked.

Kenji released a puff of smoke. "We've asked if he wanted any, he said no."

"Sometimes you just need to help him, obviously he needs it if it's been years. And we know Andrei approves so Dame won't be going anywhere."

"I take it you'll be dropping hints to Cece?" Kenji mused and passed the cigarette.

Zara took the stub and had the last smoke. You knew that you were good friends or family with Kenji when he gave you the last hit.

"They deserve a happy ending," Zara smiled.

"Don't we all?"

She knew he was being sarcastic.

"I fucking don't," Zara grinned.

She stood up on the edge of the building and stepped on the stub, kicking the remainders and ashes off of the roof. The wind felt so nice against her skin.

"That makes two of us," Kenji replied.

all of the golden boys have their own secrets. who do you think will get their secret revealed next, kenny or andrei? and are you guys ready for the club scene? 👅 next chap already up!