Page 1 of Ruthless King

PROLOGUE

Thirty-five years ago . . .

Eddie’s eye was melting.

Regent stared at the flames and fought against letting any emotion show. But he couldn’t stop his hands from clenching into fists.

A cold, dark feeling enveloped him as his father placed his hands on his shoulders.

“You can’t get attached, son. I know it’s a hard lesson to learn. But if you don’t care, you can’t get hurt. Understand?”

Regent nodded and looked away from the fireplace and the remains of his beloved teddy bear.

He headed upstairs to his bedroom, where he found a piece of paper sitting on the bed. It had a colorful scribble on it.

A picture from Victor.

Even though his brother was too young to realize what today was, it still felt good to get something on his fifth birthday.

Twenty-seven years ago. . .

Regent heard a scream and turned, looking through the window into the garden. His heart leapt as he saw Lottie lying on the ground.

Had she fallen out of the tree he’d told her not to climb? Where the hell was her nanny? Regent started to walk out of the study, needing to check on her.

“Where do you think you’re going, son?”

Freezing, he stared over at his father. The man who had given him life. And who was slowly trying to bleed the humanity out of him.

“Lottie hurt herself.”

“So?” his father asked coldly. “Your siblings will get hurt, but that isn’t your problem. Glenda will take care of her.”

Lottie was his daughter. His only daughter. She was three. She could have hurt herself badly.

But Laurent Malone didn’t care about anything but business—his legacy.

Regent’s siblings were just fodder to him—things to be used. Victor was to be Regent’s bodyguard. Jardin, his brains. Maxim, the charm.

And Lottie? Well, she was unplanned and a surprise. The first Malone girl to be born in years.

And ever since Regent first held her, she’d become the person he loved most in the world. Who he had to protect.

Lottie was his. And he would do whatever it took to keep her safe. Even if that meant having to pretend that she meant nothing to him in front of this evil, rotting piece of flesh that was his father.

“I thought I would go and tell her to stop screaming. It’s annoying.”

His father watched him. “Careful, son. A weakness can be used against you. Exploited. If you have someone you would do anything to protect, you can be easily manipulated. If Lottie istoo much of a distraction for you, then I can just as soon make her disappear.”

He was going to be ill.

But he couldn’t let it show or Lottie would be the one to pay.

“I have no weaknesses, father. And I never will.”

Thirteen years ago. . .

He died during a thunderstorm.

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