Page 52 of Brutal Empire

That was all I had all my life, just temporary relief, jumping from one bed to another, and it was getting tiresome.

I looked down the hall to where Cam had disappeared and wondered if I had pushed her too hard. Having her lips might have seemed like enough the other night, but now that I knew I made her pussy wet, it was another damn thing. I wanted to feel her, teach her everything about sex so she knew she needed to be worshiped, and erase every single memory she had about her master and replace them with me.

Maybe I was no better than him because I also wanted to own every single part of her.

Fuck.

I followed after her and wasn’t surprised when her door was locked.

“Angel!” I rasped.

How easy it would be to pick the lock and barge in, but that would ruin everything I had worked toward.

“Go away,” she barked, and I smiled against the door. She was behind it, probably trying to wrap around what was happening between us.

I pressed my forehead against the door, imagining she was just on the other side. I pictured her leaning against it and those brown eyes that seemed to be haunting me wide with wonder, sadness, confusion, but most of all, chaos.

“We leave first thing in the morning.”

There was unease in the pit of my stomach toward this trip. There was no answer, and I let her be. We had made all this progress, but would that be enough?

My cellphone pinged with an unknown number, and I sighed.

Maybe all of this was telling me that it was time to stop running and own up to all the shit I’d done. All the dominoes I’d set in motion. Everything had always come easy to me, but easy wasn’t rewarding. Easy was a numb feeling because, without sweat, blood, or tears, we didn’t appreciate all the things we had.

With one last look at her door, I walked away and left my penthouse because I knew she would be avoiding me for the rest of the day.

Once outside, I went to the back alley of the building and stood in the only place I knew was a blind spot. I was sure Damian had people searching for me. I felt him before I even saw him. I didn’t bother looking at him because I knew there would be a scowl on his face.

“You’ve made a mess of things,” he said, and I shrugged it off.

“What can I say? Damian hated me more than I thought.”

He growled, and I smiled.

“We can’t keep covering your ass for nothing. Entry to all the auctions, Chicago, and now Rivera? You need to give us something.”

I knew this was coming, and usually, this was where some guilt set in, but at the end of the day, we all had to look after our own asses, right? I was sure that Daphne would have done the same thing in my position—or maybe not. Treason would be the last thing she would do.

“Damian is in control of Yorovich Morozov’s men,” I said casually.

Since G did beautifully in dismantling the body, he just disappeared out of thin air. Rumors were that he was back in Russia, but of course, others knew that he was dead. His operation kept a low profile because Damian had not wanted to show the ace up his sleeve.

“That was years ago, Kingsley,” Parker Hayes bit out, and I turned around to look at him. Those gray eyes were shooting daggers at me.

“What can I say? It must’ve slipped my mind,” I said with a smile. He wanted to throttle me, but after years of dealing with him, I’d learned how to play this sick game we had. I patted his shoulder and beamed at him. “See you in Chicago.”

It almost felt like old times.

History has a funny way of repeating itself. Maybe it does it to see if you learned from your mistakes. If not, you’re bound to repeat the same vicious cycle.

* * *

Past

Nine years ago

I’d been flying from city to fucking city, trying to find the missing puzzle piece that connected Katia’s disappearance. It’d been months since I last stepped foot inside KingsleyEnterprises.

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