Page 74 of King of Sinners

But Leo shakes his head. “You first.”

“Me first what?” I ask, reaching an arm behind me to gently wrap around Charlotte. She needs to know she’s safe.

One of her hands flattens out on my back, her cheek pressed between my shoulder blades.

Leo gives me a cold smile. “Your confession first.”

My lip curls. “And what is it you think I need to confess?”

“How you promised all of us that you’d sacrifice Charlotte to our new competitors if it meant you got your revenge. Come on, man with a plan, tell Charlotte how she was just another tool for you to use.”

I feel the shiver that runs through her, the soft rush of her breath.

“Leo.”

“She’s in love with you, you know,” Leo practically snarls. “And I think she ought to know the sort of man she wants to give her heart too.”

“How would you even know how she feels? How I feel?” I ask, my chest growing tight. Charlotte tries to push away from me, but I keep her in place with a very light pressure. She’s safest pressed to my back.

“She made you a book,” Leo shakes his head. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Mason. You are a winner.” He points a finger at me. “I wanted to get Vendetti to prove to this family that I’m a winner too. And I will succeed. It’s practically done.”

“And trying to take Charlotte against her will. Does that make you a winner too?”

“Can’t blame a guy for wanting to take you down a peg or two.” He smiles again. “I’ll tell you the rest after you tell Charlotte the truth.”

My heart is slowing as I spread out my fingers, trying to keep her close. “I did not say I’d sacrifice Charlotte for revenge.” I know I’m trying to find a loophole here.

“What did you say you’d sacrifice her for then? For what reason would you give her over to the Dukes?”

I feel a shudder run through her as my own temperature drops. I’ve promised Charlotte protection, but how will she trust me to keep her safe when she hears this.

Maybe she shouldn’t, except everything is different now and I’m not sure how to say that. I haven’t even told her how I feel about her.

I’ve armed Leo with this information and he’s going to use it to drive a wedge between me and her. I seriously doubt I’m winning this one. Not with her.

I feel my heart cracking as Charlotte’s soft sobs fill my ears.

I turn my back to my brother, wrapping my arms around her. Her face is too pale, it’s almost chalk white. “Take Leo downstairs. We’ll finish this conversation?—”

“We’ll finish it here,” Charlotte speaks for the first time since I heard her on the phone. Her voice is barely a whisper but it’s resolute. “We’ll finish it now.” She notches her chin.

“Charlotte,” Roman says. “Don’t listen to Leo. He’s not trying to help you, he’s?—”

“I know what he’s doing,” Charlotte says as she steps to the side. That’s when I notice that her arm is hanging at an odd angle. Red blurs my vision.

“What’s wrong with your arm?”

She barely looks at me. “I don’t know.”

“How did that fucking happen?” It’s a snarl of words as I look back at Leo with my fists locked into two anvils.

“Leo—”

But she only gets out the name when I spin and in a single motion land a fist right in Leo’s nose. Blood spurts from the wound as Leo takes three steps back but I’m on him before he can recover, hitting him several more times.

“Mason!” Charlotte screams. “Stop.”

I do, taking three steps back but my hands are still clenched at my sides, my feet in a wide stance. “He hurt you. I’m going to do far worse than break his nose.”

---