Page 63 of His Kingdom

“I was checking if I was dreaming, or if this is really my life now. How are you my husband? Have you seen yourself? I mean, I’ve never won anything before, but I feel like I might have won the husband lottery.”

“That’s not true. You won a room upgrade just last week.” I chuckle. “And I’m the one winning here, sweetheart. I get to keep you.” My arm snakes around her back and I pull her against me.

“Mmm, well, you won’t have me if Evie wakes up to a strange man in her room and I’m not there. Because shewillkill me,” Charlotte says, pulling away.

“I don’t care who they are. If someone tries to hurt you, you can believe I will kill them first,” I grunt.

“It’s a figure of speech, Louie. She wouldn’t actually kill me.” Charlotte frowns again. “You really need to not take everything so seriously.”

“Your safety is aseriousmatter.” I grab her hand. “Come on, I’ll drag Emmanuel out of there if I have to.”

“He wouldn’t hurt her, would he?” Charlotte asks me.

I can’t lie to this woman, but I also don’t want to make her worry. “I think his fascination with her is a little odd. But I don’t think he’d hurt her.”At least not yet.

Charlotte sighs. “Yeah, I didn’t get that vibe from him. He seems like he really likes her, almost like he knows her from somewhere else,” she says. “Maybe they’re star-crossed lovers from a past life.”

“This isn’t a movie or a book where everyone gets a happily ever after. Trust no one, Charlotte.”

“What about you? Should I trust you?” She lifts a brow in my direction.

“Trust no one but me,” I clarify.

“Who do you trust? You can’t go through life without trusting anyone, Louie,” she says.

“Trusting no one is the reason I’ve gotten to where I am, Charlotte. Trusting people only leads you to being blind when they stab you in the back. Or in my world, in the front.”

“That’s really sad. I hope that one day you’ll learn to trust me,” she says.

“I married you, Charlotte. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t trust you.”

“But you just said…”

“I know what I said. You aren’t just anyone. You’re my wife.” I lean down and kiss her before adding, “Which also means you can’t testify against me.”

Charlotte’s eyes widen. “Why would I testify against you?”

“You can’t. Married, remember? And it was a joke. Relax. I’m not stupid enough to get caught.” I open the door to the other penthouse suite, walking in before Charlotte. I want to make sure none of Emmanuel’s goons are lurking around. It’s empty, so I follow Charlotte down the small hall to the bedroom where her friend is still sleeping.

Sure enough, just as I expected, Emmanuel is sitting in the corner of the bedroom. Just staring at the motionless form on the bed. “Let’s go,” I tell him.

“Since when do I take orders from you?” He cocks his head to the side.

“Since I just doubled my imports and we have shit to discuss,” I remind him, before turning to Charlotte. “I’ll be downstairs in my office if you need anything.”

“I’ll be fine,” she says.

Emmanuel follows me out. “What’s the real reason you wanted me out of that room?” he asks when the door clicks closed.

“My wife is in there and I don’t particularly trust you around her,” I tell him.

“You need to learn to trust people. I have no intentions of doing anything to your wife,” he says. “Also, can we admit it’s fucking weird as shit that you even have a wife?”

“It’s a change.” I shrug. “What are you doing with Evie? You do know she’s not Laura.”

“I know,” he grunts. “Because Laura’s been dead for seven years.”

I suspected as much.

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