Page 25 of His Kingdom

“I don’t want you to keep your shit together. If you want to cry, then cry. If you want to scream and smash things, then do that too. If you want to stab someone, make sure you hit a vital organ so they don’t get back up.” I smirk.

“I’m good,” Charlotte says.

“Would you want to see him?” I ask, keeping my tone nonchalant while piling some steamed vegetables onto her plate.

“Who?” Her brows knit in confusion again.

“Your ex? Hypothetically, if he turned up here looking for you, would you want to see him?” My breath pauses, waiting for her answer. I don’t know why I care.

If she says yes, I should let her know he’s here. I shouldn’t stand in her way, right?

Fuck that. I’m not going to let that fucker sweet talk her after what he did. If I have to make sure she doesn’t have a chance to see him, I will.

ChapterFourteen

Do I want to see Owen again? The visual of the gun and all the knives that were in that drawer I opened makes me think yes. I’d love to see him, have him held down, and use one of the knives to cut off his useless dick. Except I’m not that person. I want Owen to crawl into a hole and never appear in my life again.

Reality is, that’s not going to happen. But do I want to see him right now?

“Absolutely not,” I say with certainty. “I mean, I’d like to see him in the street and mow him down with my car. Maybe reverse over him to make sure he’s really dead, you know. But, no, I do not want to see him.”

Louie looks at me tentatively for a moment. “If you want him gone, for good, I can make that happen,” he says with an eerie seriousness.

I laugh, because I want to believe he’s joking. “Don’t do that. Plus, he’s a cop with cop friends. I doubt they’d take lightly to him going missing.”

“Well, say the word and I’ll do whatever you want me to do.” Louie shrugs.

“He’s already here, isn’t he?” I ask.

I know Owen. I knew it wouldn’t take him long to chase after me. He’d hate the embarrassment of standing in that church waiting for a bride who didn’t turn up. I can only imagine the excuses he made, what he said about me to save face.

“He was asking around downstairs. He didn’t get any confirmation that you’re actually here.” Louie says. “He also won’t be able to enter this casino again without a warrant, which he won’t get.”

“Okay, thank you. But he’ll get that warrant. I should probably call him. He won’t leave until he tries to talk me into going home and fixing what I did.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Louie growls.Yes, growls.

“I left him standing at the altar waiting for me. I told my sister I wanted to make a grand entrance and to ensure nobody came looking for me. I wanted him standing in that church. I wanted him to feel a tenth of the humiliation I felt when I saw them.” The tears are burning my eyes. I’m not going to let them break free again, though. Inhaling, I pick up the glass of water in front of me and swallow down the cool liquid.

Louie tilts his head. “Is he… abusive? Are you afraid of what he’ll do if you do see him?”

I laugh. “Owen? No, he’s never been abusive. He… is set in his ways and has a knack for talking me into doing things I don’t necessarily want to do. I’ve been a pushover. I know that, and I know it makes me sound weak.”

“You’re not weak. A weak woman would have walked down that aisle, Charlotte. You chose yourself. That’s not weak,” Louie tells me.

“Why are you so good at this?” I ask him.

“At what?” he questions.

“Talking? Why is it so easy to talk to you?” I don’t understand how I’m sitting here spilling my guts to someone I just met, when I can’t even bring myself to pick up my phone and call any of my friends.

“You’d have to be the only person on earth who would say I was easy to talk to.” Louie laughs.

“Well, I appreciate you listening to me,” I tell him. “What would you normally be doing? Like right now, if you weren’t sitting here with me?”

“I’d be out walking the floor, talking to high rollers, making sure they were spending as much of their money as possible.”

“Sounds fun.” I smile, trying to be positive. I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse than talking to a bunch of rich people with so much cash they can blow it on gambling.

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