Page 74 of King of Envy

So no, Beaumont wouldn’t take my side when they inevitably found out what happened. They’d keep it hush-hush and figure out a way to placate Wentworth.

I angrily swiped the back of my hand across my face again. The rational part of me recognized that I should get off the street before someone took and uploaded a picture of me crying to the internet.

I was well known, but thankfully, I wasn’t famous enough to warrant a horde of paparazzi following my every move. That didn’t mean I was safe from candid photos taken by random passersby.

I sucked in a long, calming breath and tried to think. What should I do next?

I didn’t want to go home to an empty apartment; I wanted to be with someone I trusted. But who did I have, really?

Jordan was the obvious choice from a practical perspective, but I didn’t want practical. I wanted emotional support, and that wasn’t something I turned to him first for.

Kim was working, and Indira was a definite no. She’d understand the predicament, but she was too close to the industry. Sloane would be too logical about it, and my family wouldfreak outif they knew what happened. My father would probably come up and kill Wentworth himself. I didn’t want to place that emotional burden on them when they already had so much work and reception planning on their plate.

My tears finally slowed to a trickle.

If I were honest with myself, there was only one person I wanted to see. It made no sense, but few things in my life did anymore.

So, before I could talk myself out of it, I headed to the nearest subway station and took the train uptown, toward the most dangerous man I knew.

CHAPTER21

Vuk

Ihave a proposition for you.

Roman’s words hung in the air. He lounged behind the desk, seemingly uncaring, but the sharpness of his stare suggested my answer meant a hell of a lot more to him than he let on.

“I want to take down the Brotherhood,” he said. “And I want your help to do it.”

I raised my gun again.

“I know, I know. You might be thinking, why would you want to help me?” If Roman was fazed about staring down the barrel of a Glock, he didn’t show it. “I was the one who set fire to the Vault. I almost killed you. So I can see why you’d be a little?—”

A gunshot exploded.

The bullet streaked past him and embedded itself in my wall. A warning—one so close his hair ruffled just the tiniest bit from the speed and proximity of the call.

Roman paused. “Upset about that,” he finished coolly. “It wasn’t personal. I owed the Brotherhood a debt, and I paid it. If I hadn’t, we both know what would’ve happened to me.”

My mouth thinned. Unfortunately, I did know firsthand what it meant to owe the Brothers. That didn’t change the fact that the bastard tried tokillme using my biggest weakness.

White-hot fire bubbled in my veins. I wanted to toss the gun aside, take out my favorite knife, and paint the walls with his blood.

My baser instincts demanded I give in to them, but in the end, rationality prevailed.

Roman lived—for now.

“On that note, I’ll cut straight to the chase. The longer I’m here, the more likely it is they’ll find out I’ve initiated contact with you.” He flicked his eyes around the office like the Brothers themselves were hiding in the shadows. “The Brotherhood wants you dead.Badly.”

No shit. Tell me something I didn’t know.

My silence communicated my unimpressed displeasure.

“It’s not for the reasons you might think. The organization is at war.” Roman offered another mirthless smile at my twitch of surprise. “Gallo died last year. His protégé Shepherd took over, but a faction of the Brothers strongly opposed his leadership. It split the group in half, and now they’re battling for control. Instead of carrying out hits on each other—which would obviously be detrimental to the overall health and longevity of the Brotherhood—they’ve determined a prize for winner takes all.” Roman inclined his head. “You.”

The revelation sank into my skin like razor blades.

He didn’t elaborate, but I could fill in the rest of the blanks myself.

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