Page 62 of King of Sinners

I don’t smile back. “Luke,” I bark, rolling to the side and taking Charlotte with me. “Go down with him. Find out what’s happened.”

Luke appears without a word, joining Roman in the elevator. I knew I wouldn’t get pushback because we’re all soldiers. The doors close and the two of them disappear. I don’t mean to put them in danger but I’m not leaving Charlotte’s side if we’re under attack.

Jake comes to squat next to us. “Charlotte all right?”

“I’m fine,” she answers, her hands flexing on my back.

Slowly, I start to get up, pulling her with me. She’s covered in the same dust as everyone else, but she looks all right other than that. Sitting on the floor, I pull her into my lap and start checking her body for injuries. I run my hands over her legs, down her arms, circling her ribs, watching her face for winces of pain.

She’s fine, not showing any signs of injury…but I can’t make my hands stop. I run them over every inch of her again, even weaving them into her hair to check her skull.

“Mason,” she says quietly. “I’m all right.”

In answer, I pull her close, kissing her head.

“Not a crier, eh?” Jake asks.

She shakes her head as she answers. “I cry as much as the next girl, I guess. But to be honest, this pales in comparison to when Roman found me in that alley. Or when my dad died.”

Jake cracks a small smile. “Warrior wounds and a fighting heart. Got it.” And then his gaze meets mine and he gives me the tiniest jerk of his chin to show his approval.

Maybe the kingdom really does need a queen. And maybe my men are in agreement about who she should be.

In the distance I hear sirens, and I know I’m going to need to speak with the police. Roman and Luke appear once again, the elevator sliding open. “By the looks of it, pipe bomb in the parking garage.”

“Bomb?” I say, standing up with Charlotte in my arms. “Are you kidding me?”

Roman scratches at his jaw. “With the nest that Leo stirred yesterday, it could be anyone.”

“Tipping over a slot machine hardly seems worthy of bombing my building.”

“Unless a certain family also found out that you were holding a witness for one of their family’s murder victims. Or that you got permits for your tunnel.”

It could be the permits, but then again, my brother might have let information about Charlotte slip…

But my blood is pumping at the idea, the tingle that I’m right pulsing through me. Yeah, my instincts are kicking in, the ones that never fail me and all of them are telling me that Leo is involved with what just happened.

If he endangered Charlotte’s life, my fists clench against Charlotte’s back, the lives of every member of this family, I’ll have his head.

I rise, holding her in my arms still. “As soon as the police leave, you find Leo. I’m going to start making calls…” It was time I personally spoke to the other families. Time they understood.

If tested, I would wipe them all out. I kept myself within the bounds of the law because I could. Because I chose to do so.

Did Leo want to unleash the crazy? I have a deep well and now I have an even bigger reason to fight. I drop a kiss on Charlotte’s head, my hold not easing up. Let anyone of them try and test me. They’d learn just how much grit held me together.

“You’re not going to help us find Leo?” Jake’s gaze slides to the way I’m holding Charlotte. He knows…knows that I’ve made a choice. Maybe I am embracing my old man’s brand of crazy after all.

But I can’t fight it anymore, and what’s more, only my Kincaid insanity is going to top Leo’s.

“No. But when you find him, if you find him, I want to see him.” My hand spreads out on Charlotte’s hip. “Immediately. Am I clear?”

“Clear,” Jake nods.

Her hand is resting on my chest. “Do you need to look for Leo too?”

I can see the worry in her eyes, and I give her a small kiss on the tip of her nose. “I’m staying here with you.”

“I’ll be all right, Mason. He’s your brother. You should?—”

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