Page 35 of Vengeful King

But occasionally, there’s no other choice, and we have to bring an enemy here.

I take her to the basement, to the chair in the sealed room. I set her down and bind her more thoroughly this time. Somehow, without thinking about it, I avoid the ropes and chains in the corner. I may need information from her, but I’m not going to tie a woman up in a way that will hurt her. I don’t relish torturing women.

But I’ll do what I need to, to ensure this threat isn’t going to hurt my family.

I look her over as I tie her down. The scar on her chest is noticeable in the harsh fluorescent light. I remember her saying it was an accident. I wonder if that was a lie, too.

Was it a fight, maybe? Another job gone wrong?

I can’t imagine why she’d be the person to kill me. It just doesn’t make any sense. Why send a woman? Everyone in the family knows my rules about the women at the club. It’s not a secret. I’ve never broken it before. They would have had no way of knowing I’d be interested in her.

It would have been simpler to catch me at home, or even coming out of an Assembly meeting. Hell, they could’ve disguised any one of the delivery people that brings in the alcohol and other things we need at the bar. I would have stepped into the alley, been shot, and it would have been a mystery.

I remember how my father was killed. It’s fresh enough that it’s a grim thought. But it drives home what I already know.

This could have been done right. But it wasn’t. So either this is a distraction, or whoever sent Katrina wasn’t worried about whether she’d live.

I don’t know what to think about those possibilities. I don’t have any sympathy for her; I don’t know her, and everything she told me could be a lie. She tried to kill me.

But the more I think about it, the more it seems like she’s in just as dangerous a position as I am.

I step back and look at her one last time. She looks peaceful in her sleep, but that won’t last. She’ll be disoriented when she wakes up.

Just how I want her.

I have questions, and I’m going to get answers. Whoever sent Katrina, I need to find out why. How. I need to know so I can take steps to keep my family safe. My brothers don’t know shit yet, but I won’t tell them before I have a handle on the situation. This is my responsibility.

I hired her. I let her into my office. I almost let her seduce me. It’s my job to take care of her, whatever that entails.

I look at Katrina, tugging at my lower lip as I wonder what the hell I’m going to do next. Then I turn on my heel and leave her alone, tied up in the empty room.

CHAPTER13

Katrina

I never slept well, after my diagnosis. The cancer changed everything. It kept me up at night, paralyzed me, gave me anxiety that blackened everything but the moment I was living in. I couldn’t shut my eyes when every time I did, all I could think was that I might never open them again.

After I made it through, I couldn’t sleep because I wanted to do things. I wanted to live life. But it wasn’t long before I was right back in the hospital again, this time with my mother.

After her diagnosis, sleep was a thing of the past.

So when I wake up now, it’s not easy. It’s in a panic.

I don’t know where I am. I’m disoriented, struggling to bring myself to the surface. It feels like swimming up through syrup. I’m groggy and I can feel a headache forming, the front of my skull pounding. I don’t know what’s happening.

Did I leave work? I feel like I’m sitting upright; maybe I fell asleep in my car. I can’t have fallen asleep at the club.

When I think of the club, my heart starts to pound. Things come back, little by little, and I find myself realizing that everything is wrong. This is all wrong.

I tried to poison Lachlan.

I remember it in a flash, the shape of the bottle in my hands, the smell of the antifreeze. I can see it before me like it’s happening now. I tried to kill him because I had to; I needed to. I didn’t have a choice.

And as soon as I remember it, I remember what came before it.

I kissed him.

I remember what it was like, how it felt as he devoured me. I can feel the shape of his lips on mine, feel the heat of him against me. I can remember my pulse racing and my breath coming in bursts. I remember how hot I felt, how my body was on fire as I let him hold me.

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