Page 21 of The Kingpin's Omega Lover
“A setback in the form of a car accident bad enough to put Bishop’s arm in a sling?”
“Yeah, well, the other car was coming off the on-ramp as I was speeding up to merge, so…it could have been worse.”
“Was the other driver drunk?”
“No.” King’s mouth moved in a strange way, as if he was chewing on glass.
He was hiding something, and it didn’t take Malori long to understand. He wasn’t an idiot. “Someone tried to kill you tonight.”
King snorted. “By driving thirty miles an hour on an interstate ramp? It wasn’t an assassination attempt, it was warning.”
“From one of your enemies?”
“Yeah.” King made that ground-glass face again, as if he couldn’t control his words or facial expressions, and it filled Malori with a strange sense of power.
King was answering his questions like someone trying to pass a lie detector test. But Malori had no experience with questioning suspects; he only had his instincts. He studied King’s stiff form, his constantly moving gaze, and general discomfort. And it clicked. “It was a warning about me.”
“Not wholly.” King growled. “Without going into details, I was warned off my investigations into everyone connected to the Farm, including Marta’s kidnapping operation, which would have happened with or without you, because they imprisoned and terrorized my brother. So, this isn’t all about you.”
“It’s enough about me.” Malori tried to order his swirling thoughts. “I assume you didn’t recognize the person who hit you. No idea who paid them to ram you?”
“No, but once I’ve slept for a few hours, I’ll give my people all the information I can recall about the driver, so Ziggy can begin an investigation. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter, King. You and Bishop could have been killed tonight, and Kensley would have been left alone.”
“He’d have had you.”
“I don’t matter. I’m not his brother or his charus.”
King grabbed his forearm and held it in a bruising grip that did not scare Malori. “You’re his friend. You mean so much to all of us, Malori. I don’t care who threatens me or who tries to drive me off the highway. I promised you I would find your son and daughter, and I will keep that promise.”
Malori slid sideways so his thigh pressed close to King’s, leaving their bodies mere inches apart. King’s hand on his arm was a fiery brand. “Don’t seek revenge for me at the expense of your family. Please.”
“I’m not. I’m doing this to reuniteyourfamily, Mal, as much as to protect my own. Right now, those goals are one and the same. My current goals are well-known in the underworld I’m part of, and if I back down, if I show weakness, my enemies will smell blood in the water. They’ll circle the chum, and none of us will be safe again.”
“You call this safe?” He gestured at King’s face. “What if the other car had run you off the side of the ramp, instead of just ramming you? You and Bishop could have died tonight, damn it.” Malori flailed for the last tendrils of his fear and lost his grip on them. “Kensley needs you both. I need you, King.”
King brushed his knuckles over Malori’s cheek in a soothing touch that instantly made Malori want more. “I need you, too. I don’t want to die, but I can’t stop what I’ve put in motion. I need to see it through to the end, bitter or sweet.”
“I know.” He grabbed that hand and held it to his chest, over his rapidly beating heart. “Does this mean you’re done avoiding me now?”
“I wasn’t doing it to hurt you. I was…” King sighed, his free hand resting on Malori’s hip. “I’m not used to being turned down, especially when I was so…”
“Vulnerable? Honest with me about what you wanted?”
“Yes, and yes.” His face reddened. “You turn me inside out, Malori, in ways no one ever has. Man or woman, I’ve never felt this many things all at once. You’re the only person I’ve ever told about being trafficked when I was a child.”
Malori’s entire body startled, and his chest constricted. “What? You’re kidding.”
“Dead serious.”
“Not even Bishop?”
“No. It happened before we became friends, and I actually blocked out most of it for a long time. Those things didn’t start coming back to me until…”
Malori waited but King’s eyes had unfocused, his attention elsewhere. He gave King’s hand a squeeze. “Until what?”
“Until after I killed for the first time.” His voice was brittle and cold as ice, dark eyes swirling in a thunderstorm of emotions.
