Page 61 of King of Sinners

But they all blink back at me, not an accusation between them.

“What you’re doing with Charlotte is nothing like Dad,” Roman says with a shake of his head as though it’s completely obvious.

“Your dad fucked another boss’s wife and he wasn’t even quiet about it all while he racked up giant debts all over town trying to impress her.” Jake knew more about his brother’s death then even I did. And he might be even more pissed about it than me. He’s got his own plans for revenge, and I don’t get involved with them. That’s his business.

Luke is nodding. “Granted, your relationship with Charlotte isn’t completely complication-free, but they never are.” Luke shrugs. “Leo aside, you’ve picked an available woman who seems to suit you.”

Roman steps up to him, clapping him on the shoulder. And then his gaze meets mine. “We were fools to make that pact and, if we’re all being honest, we did it for Leo’s benefit. He was always the one who was liable to follow in dad’s footsteps.”

“Speak for your fucking self.” Jake curls his lip. “I’m single for life, pact or no.”

I’m not talking because I’m speechless. We’ve never spoken like this and I’m honestly shocked that they don’t seem bothered by my relationship with Charlotte. I’d just assumed…

“The point is…” Roman stresses. “Every kingdom needs a queen. And honestly, I’m starting to wonder if a little softness, that a woman might provide, might not ease some of the tension and actually keep us from making mistakes like Leo did last night. If Dad had still been married to Mom…”

My phone dings again. I look down, Charlotte’s name appearing on my screen.

Dinner is ready whenever you’re ready to eat.

“Who’s hungry?” I ask, trying to dial Leo again. Nothing. Straight to voicemail.

Jake, Luke, and Roman leave the study before me as I try to call my brother one more time. I follow behind watching as they each grab a bowl of noodles from the counter and take a seat at the table.

They dig in without a word, but I make my way around the island running my hand over Charlotte’s arm.

Her eyes hold a question even as she allows me to pull her against my body. I wrap my arms around her, my lips kissing that spot just below her ear, my nose in her hair. “You look beautiful,” I whisper.

Her hands come to my biceps, pink staining her cheeks. “Mason, they’re watching,” she whispers.

“Let them.” I don’t give a shit. Charlotte is mine and my family already knows it.

But I don’t have a chance to tell her.

Because a deafening blast shakes the building to its core.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Mason

I’ve got Charlotte on the ground under the protection of my body in a second, one arm under her back the other cradling her head as drywall from the ceiling rains down a fine dust on top of us.

This building is built to withstand a nuclear bomb, perk of being a real estate mogul, but I have to wonder what the fuck that was? Earthquake? Attack?

“Hellfire,” Jake snarls from the table. “What just happened?”

No one answers. No one knows.

“You and Charlotte all right?” Luke asks, his voice sounding muffled.

“Fine. You?”

“We’re all good,” he says.

“Does the elevator work?” Roman asks. Is he talking to me?

I don’t get up, keeping Charlotte under me as I lift my head to look around. I can’t see any of them around the island. “Check.”

Roman passes by me, half crouched as he pushes the button, the doors slide open. He looks back at me, shaking his head in disbelief. “And I thought you were crazy when you spent so much building this place that no one lives in but you.”

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