Page 37 of Vengeful King

Lachlan stares down at me. He’s close, but he steps closer when I don’t answer. I can see his jaw tighten, the gleam in his eyes burning brighter. My heart races faster.

“Who sent you?” he asks, his voice harder. “Open your mouth, or I can find a way to do it for you.”

I can feel the fear in my veins like ice. It’s yelling at me to answer him.Save yourself, save yourself from the pain. Answer him!

But I know I can’t.

I don’t even know who Mr. V really is. What do I tell Lachlan? That I met some man who ordered me to do it, and I agreed? If I tell him about my mother, Lachlan could just as easily find her. He could hold her hostage, use her as leverage against me.

He could do anything. He could even kill her in retribution.

I keep my mouth shut. Lachlan glares at me, then leans over. His wide hands grip the chair, and the wood creaks. “What did they offer you? Tell me.”

He doesn’t plead. He demands answers, and I know that means he doesn’t care what I want. He isn’t going to negotiate.

Not after I tried to kill him.

I want to squeeze my eyes shut and pretend this isn’t happening, but I can’t. I have to face it. I failed, and he wants answers now. Answers I can’t afford to give.

Suddenly, he reaches out. His hand grips my jaw, yanking my face up to look at him. It’s not painful but it’s sudden. I blink, unable to look away, pinned in place by his stare.

I can feel the strength in his hand. My body reacts to it immediately, a flush running across my skin even though I try to fight it.

“I’m the oldest of my brothers,” Lachlan says quietly.

I don’t know what he’s talking about. Why is he telling me this? I barely breathe, trying to figure out what to do or say. Lachlan narrows his eyes, his expression serious and deadly.

“It’s my job to protect my family.”

The words stab right through me.

I understand them. I know them because they’re what I feel, too. They’re the reason I took this job in the first place. I only ever tried to kill him for my mother, for the one person in the world that I have left to me.

“You’re a threat. But you’re not the biggest threat,” Lachlan says quietly. “There’s someone else who’s really behind this. If you give that person up, I might not kill you.”

Might.

He’s lying. And it doesn’t matter. I don't know who Mr. V is. I don’t know shit about him. If I admit that, Lachlan will just kill me anyway. He has no use for me.

I’ve seen his club. I’ve been in the back. Even if I told him the truth and he believed me, I still know too much about his brothers and their business. I’ve been in his office, too. He can’t risk leaving me alive.

He will kill me even if I give him what he wants. So the only way to stay alive is to hold out and hope he wants the answers badly enough.

I can see him getting angrier. The fire in his eyes burns brighter, and he leans toward me, his mouth pressed into a line. He’s holding back even now.

Which means that his anger is even stronger than this.

His hand on my jaw twitches. I can feel his fingers move, feel him react physically. And then just as fast, he yanks his hand away, breaking from the touch.

He moves back just an inch but it feels like a mile. My chest heaves; I feel like I’ve just come up for air. Lachlan stares at me, unwavering and harsh. There’s a cold determination in his gaze.

“Youwillbreak for me.”

There’s no question. Not for him.

Not for me.

He leaves the way he came and I watch the sliver of light shrink until it’s gone, leaving me to adjust to the darkness. My heart is still pounding; I can hear my pulse threading in the aftermath. I’m terrified.

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