Page 94 of King of Cruelty

“Who’s a dumbass?”

She jerked. Spinning around and came eye level with my face-splitting grin.

“Because I’m pretty sure it’s me for ever thinking you’d let that psycho witch get the better of you.” I dropped my weapons. “I’ll take that flash drive now.” I plucked the drive out of her pocket. “And you’ll take this.”

Hooking through her pants, I snapped her to my chest and kissed the crap out of her.

Tangling in her hair, pulling her close, breathing her in, pressing her soft lips to mine—all the rage, hatred, and vengefulness in my chest disappeared, chased away by a magic that was Kenzie’s.

She melted into me instantly, moaning softly as I broke through her soft, pillowy shield, and tangled with her tongue—wrestling it until she surrendered more moans.

She broke away gasping. “Wow,” she breathed. “If that’s the way you kiss me when you discover I’m not dead, I’ve got to pull that trick on you more often.”

“You already got a man killed for it, baby.” I nipped the tip of her nose. “You may not want to risk it.”

Kenzie sobered quickly. “Wilson?”

I nodded.

“Well, I’m not shedding any tears for him.”

“Good. Don’t.” My voice was harsh to my own ears. “Then tell me I don’t have any tears to shed for Debra either.”

She shook her head. “I had a chance to kill her, but I couldn’t do it. It’s one thing to act in self-defense or the defense of people I love, but slitting the throat of some bitch who’s just lying there? That’s not me,” she said seriously. “I hope you can understand that.”

“I can understand that just fine, Kenzie. You don’t have to be my clone for me to love you so insanely and dizzyingly much, it’d be my pleasure to kill all the bitches you leave lying on the floor”—I cupped her cheek—“if it means I never have to go through the pain of losing you again.”

She pressed her forehead to mine, smiling softly as her eyes fluttered closed. “I’m so sorry I did that to you. I had to make it real for Wilson and you. So that you would give up the drive, and Wilson wouldn’t come looking for it if he believed Debra had it covered.

“If it helps,” she mused, pushing out her lips. “The drive was immediately taken from me, so my cruel plan fell apart instantly.”

I laughed. “Sorry, babes, but the Brotherhood is willing to kill and torture for this drive. The last place I’m hiding something so dangerous is in your pocket.”

“But what do we do now?” she asked, peering around my shoulder. “Jillian, Yumi, and the other shithead bastards are going to be wondering if it worked andDebragot the drive. And that’s only if the real Debra hasn’t walked through the door and revealed it was all a trick.

“Plus, she lied about everything. Debra told me, before she tried to kill me, that all of this is just a stall,” she cried. “The auction. The Brotherhood moving in. All of it. They just want us all in the same building so that the bombs they’re parking all around the foundation will take us all out and make the world believe they died while actually—”

“—they’re off on a beach somewhere with millions in the bank and the flash drive in their hands,” I finished. I cursed, tossing my head. “It’s smart. It’s very fucking smart. And it explains everything. Why they recruited in secret. Why they waited so long to attack. Why they hid their identities from everyone, including the members of their own gang. Why they structured said gang the way they did. And why they made sure that we—their prey—never discovered they were a threat until it was too late.

“This was always how it was going to end. They were always going to kill their accomplices and fake their deaths, but when they take over the underground, they’d have an edge we never had. With our ledger, they’d rule from the shadows without the threat of anyone hunting them down, threatening them, or coming after their families. How could they?

“They’re dead.”

Kenzie swallowed hard, stricken. “They’re evil bastards, but they’re not stupid. They have the perfect exit strategy. Or at least they did until I screamed on the phone. Without the flash drive, they’re stuck. They won’t be ruling any underground, so again, my love, I ask, what do we do now?”

Mind spinning, I drew Kenzie out into the living room—picking up my ax and medieval three-ball flail along the way. There were a million and ten things we could do and should do, but what were the odds of the two of us doing those things when all those people I heard banging on downstairs were armed and ready to stop us.

“What we need to do is get Tricky out of here,” I heard myself say. “But there’s no safe way to do that. They’re all over the servants’ entrance, and the Brotherhood knows about the tunnel.”

“What about the front entrance?” she asked. “The cops, fire trucks, and ambulances are still down there blocking the street. If you walk right out there with Tricky, they’re hardly going to run out in front of all of those cops and stop you.”

I was shaking my head before she finished. “The first thing they’re going to do with their toy soldiers is position them at all the entrances and exits—in between them picking off the Scourges, Sons of Saint, Cardinals, and Liam’s crew one by one. We can’t risk carrying Tricky all over a building filled with armed psychos, but she can’t stay here either since those armed psychos are going to blow up the building!”

“They won’t blow up the building until they’ve got the drive,” she soothed, stroking my arm. “That’s something at least. It gives us room to breathe. And room to figure out a way to warn your gangs.” She looked around. “I tried the fire alarm, but it very much does not work.”

“Nothing works now that the security system’s off.”

She gave me a look. “Yeah, I figured that out. But is there any chance you know the numbers of all of youremployeesby heart?” Kenzie held up her borrowed phone. “Or even better, have a group chat?”

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