Page 1 of Reign of a Billionaire
Prologue
Kingston
Eight Years Ago
We moved through the moonless night like two spirits in the shadows.
I knew by heart every corner patrolled by the guards on the outskirts of the property. Our boots crunched the fresh snow, and I regretted there wasn’t another storm coming to erase our tracks. Goddamned Siberia.
“Mother has security extra tight.” The tremor in Louisa’s voice mirrored the trembling of her cold, slim fingers in the palm of my hand. “Ivan is making a deal with the Tijuana cartel, so she’s extra paranoid.”
I nodded, wrapping my arms around her waist and steadying her before she could step into the spotlight circling the grounds.
“They won’t get to you,” I promised naively. “You’re eighteen. Nobody has the right to hold you back.”
“And you’re twenty-four, Kingston. She’s holding you captive,” she pointed out. I didn’t tell her that once I turned eighteen, she was the only thing keeping me here. I would haverun, willing to die trying, but not without her. Not by leaving her behind and vulnerable to Sofia and Ivan’s men.
The December air howled with bitterness, pulling us into its frigid embrace. It whipped at Lou’s soft cheeks until they were raw, but she hadn’t complained once. She was just as determined as I was.
I just wasn’t as sure about her twin. She was nowhere to be found, and we were out of time. The alarms that surrounded the property would be down for precisely fifty seconds. If we weren’t off the property by then, we’d miss our window.
I whispered, “Get down,” and Lou crouched, making herself smaller—if that were even possible. We slinked into the shadow of the guardhouse just as two men turned and headed in our direction. We knew it was empty; every guard was out patrolling the grounds.
“Where’s Lia?” she whispered, more to herself than me. “It’s unlike her to be late.”
“Maybe she changed her mind.” Her breathing stilled, the fog around her mouth evaporating.
“No.” There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in her voice. “No, no,no.”
Liana—or Lia, as her twin called her—was identical to Lou in looks, but the two couldn’t be more different in personality. Louisa was a peacemaker; her twin was a fighter. Lou wanted world peace; Lia wanted to stir it into chaos. One hated the cold; the other thrived in it. In fact, if I had to guess, I’d say she got caught up in covering her tracks, unbothered by how deadly the conditions could turn.
“No, she wouldn’t,” she repeated again, her voice barely above a whisper. Time was running out, and we both knew it. We were moments away from getting the chance to bolt out of here and never look back. “Kingston,” she breathed, gazing up at me through terrified hazel eyes. “What if they got to her?”
Her distress always stirred emotions in my chest. We needed to leave, but I kept the impatience out of my tone.
“If they did, we’ll come back for her,” I promised. Hesitation flickered in her eyes. “Do you trust me?” She nodded without delay, and my chest warmed. “Then trust me when I say this: they’ll wish they never took her if we have to show up armed to the nines to get her back.”
The first flicker of dawn peeked, smiling upward at the dark heavens and throwing shades of blue, purple, and red across the horizon. Lou nodded once, and then we took off in a run.
Right into the trap.
A metallic smell filled the dungeon.
Lou’s screams pierced the dark space. The dreary gray walls and high ceiling supported by stone pillars gave this dungeon an ominous glow.
My wrists burned from the acid being poured onto my flesh, but the pain was forgotten the minute I saw her tied to the chair, folded over with her back exposed.
What was left of it had been flayed from her bones, raw and blistery. Sofia’s men held her down while one poured more acid on her. Her screams shredded my heart to pieces.
I jerked against my binds, fury suffocating me. “You’re all dead,” I bellowed. “All of you.”
Nobody even glanced my way.
“Where’s your sister, Louisa?” Sofia’s voice was colder than the Siberian temperatures as she watched her daughter with icy features.
“I… don’t…” Lou’s voice was weak. Broken. “I don’t know, Mother.”
“Sofia, let her go,” I rasped, the lead settling in my gut. “Liana wasn’t with us.”
