Page 86 of Vengeful King

I am truly falling in love with him.

It doesn’t matter that he’s a criminal, that he’s done things I know aren’t pretty or nice. It doesn’t change how I feel.

Somewhere along the line, despite the horrors and death, I began to love him. I began to crave not just his body but his comfort, his attention, his care.

And now I’m too far in to get out.

I watch Lachlan disappear through the door and all I can think about is whether I’ll see him again. I curl my hands tight, every muscle in my body tense.

When the police leave, the O’Reilly brothers immediately jump into action.

“Stay here,” Aiden tells me. He’s already pulling his jacket on. “I’ll have Rose come by to check on you. We’ll take care of this.”

He sayswein a way that seems to warn me, as if he knows how much I want to run out the door and bring Lachlan back. I don’t say anything; I just nod and go upstairs, the shock of the arrest still weighing on me.

I stop at the top of the stairs. I don’t do it for any reason—mostly I’m just still reeling, still unsure of what to do with myself.

But then I hear the others talking downstairs, and I can’t help listening.

“Ezra has an in with a cop,” Finn says. He sounds savage, angry and fired up. “He can help us.”

“He may have a dirty cop, but you can bet Yuri does, too,” Aiden warns. “We’re going to have to be careful with this.”

I don’t know who this Ezra is; I never heard his name in the club. Maybe he’s not part of the family. I turn toward the banister and cling to it, hoping that hearing their words will give me some kind of comfort.

“Maybe it’s not the best idea to call in a favor from Ezra before the wedding,” Connor says. “I mean, Lachlan isn’t married to his daughter yet. He has no reason to agree, and he could use it against us.”

“No. The deal is done,” Aiden says, an air of finality in his words. “Since Lachlan is marrying Naomi, it’s in Ezra’s best interest to keep him out of jail. We’ll call him.”

I don’t really register that they saidmarriageuntil I hear the door shut, and by then, I know they never meant for me to hear what they were saying.

But I did. Lachlan is engaged to be married.

I don’t anticipate just how it hits me right in the heart. I sink down on the stairs, pain radiating from my chest so powerfully that I almost worry I’m going to have a heart attack.

How can it hurt this much?

I clutch my chest and try to think clearly. It’s hard when the brothers’ words are swirling in my head, echoing endlessly.Marriage.

Naomi.

That’s her name, Naomi. This woman I’ve never seen or known about. I wonder what she looks like—is she tall, short, curvy, thin? Brown, black, red, or blonde hair? Is she elegant or sexy? What do her eyes look like?

Does he love her?

All this time, despite everything, I’ve been falling in love with Lachlan. But at the very same time, he’s been set to marry someone else.

Someone he never told me about.

I’ve been blinded and infatuated. I never thought to ask, never thought to figure out what all his meetings and business were about. This man—Ezra—has been at the house recently. But I didn’t think much of it, and I didn’t ask.

If I had, would Lachlan have told me? Would he have admitted his engagement?

Or would he have lied to my face?

As I sit on the stairs, I can feel things click into place. I finally think I get it. He’s just been using me. All of this—the times he comforted me, the times he had me in his bed—they were all nothing but sex and a chance to get at Yuri.

He used me to sate his desire, to fuck as much as he wanted before his marriage. He used me to feel like he had one thing over Yuri, one thing he took from him again. I was just a badge of triumph, something to point to and say,look.He didn’t just stop me from killing him. He made me love him, and he fucked me however he wanted.

---