Page 23 of Queen Of Dark Money

Logically,Iknew he wouldn’t kill me sinceIwas the key to getting what they wanted, but tell that to my anxious brain.

Sureenough, even now, sitting in his kitchen asIstitched up my own fuck-up, he was the epitome of calm, cool, and collected.Thisdude exuded a confidenceIonly wishedIhad a fraction of.Itwas wild, how just a look from him was enough to cow me, put me in my place.

Ihad to get it together.

Ihad to get out of here or convince themIwas the wrong girl.Bothof which would be easier said than done.

“So, about this whole arrangement,”Istarted, wrapping a layer of gauze around his stitched palm. “Letme explain.”

“Noneed,” he snapped, his dry tone brooking no argument. “You’regoing to tell me you’re notCatrionaSinclair, andI’mgoing to tell you that’s a lie, and then we go in circles for hours until you get tired orIget bored.”

Fuckingmen think they know everything.

“That’snot whatI–okay, so maybe it was,”Iamended as his piercing, stony gaze landed on me with a disdainful air and turned-down lips. “ButI’mnot lying.Iswear you have the wrong girl.I’mher twin,Kerenza–”

“Ourdossier didn’t have a sibling of any kind listed,” he remarked, standing from his stool to meander over to the fridge.Twowater bottles came back with him, and he offered one to me, whichIgraciously accepted.Evenwhile arguing my case,Icould still be reasonable.

“That’sbecauseI’mmy father’s dirty little secret.”Thebottle tipped in my hand asIdowned half of it in one swallow, sucking wind likeI’dbeen starved for it whenIpulled it back. “Youever see the movieParentTrap?”Heshook his head, andIsighed.Somuch for a mutual popular media reference that would quickly bring his understanding around. “Well, fuck.Basically, this family has twins, and the parents don’t wanna be together anymore, so they split up and split the twins.Andthen one day, they get reunited, and–well, that’s the less important part.Pointis, my fath–EddySinclair, he loves my sister.Andhe decided he needed to protect her, so he hired me, the expendable twin, to stand in her place at some huge events.Hesaid it was because she was unwell, but—”Iglanced up and down his towering, deadly frame, for all the world a billionaire who would kill you in a heartbeat if you blinked the wrong way at him. “Ithink we all know that was a lie.”

Iknew my explanation made sense.Butthese men didn’t deal in random chance.Thesemen dealt in cold, hard facts.Andright now, whatIwas telling them and what they knew were two completely different things.

Soof course they’d believe what they knew to be true.

“Listen,I’mnot going to argue it tilI’mblue in the face, but it’s the truth.You’llsee.”Iplunked myself down at hisridiculously expensive-looking marble-top island and sighed, putting my head down. “You’llsee.”

Hepulled a phone out of somewhere,Iwasn’t paying attention, andIcould hear the damn thing vibrating as he typed in something or maybe dialed a number.Determinednot to let it get to me,Iinstead picked at the hem of my dress, the sharp sequin edge pressing painfully into my skin asIworried it between two fingers.

Imight not be rich, butI’dbeen toldIhad to play the part, and these fuckers would have known a fake designer dress from a mile away, soEddyand his assistant had pulled out all the stops for my public appearance wardrobe.Prettysure there were actual fuckingSwarovskicrystals woven into this dress.

Evenif he didn’t want me back, he would surely want to recoup his investment in my clothes.

Ihoped.

“King?Stone.Listen,I’llmake this as plain asIcan.”Ilet my ears pick up whatever they could, pretending to pay no attention while secretly on the edge of my seat, clinging to every word he uttered.Maybesomeone would come get me, andIcould sneak off while they did the handoff.Itcouldn’t be that fucking hard for a girl who’d grown up on the streets of inner cities across the country to give the slip to some rich assholes from upperKhulaCity.

Hisfeet were silent on the marble floor tiles, butIcould see his shadow as he walked in a circle around me. “No,Imost definitely willnot.”

Oh, he was pissed.AndIknew the reason, right down to the stilettos on my heels.

Iwas an unwelcome guest.Apain, an inconvenience.Richdudes like him rarely liked having their routine upset, even in the slightest.Hell, he probably had a fucking secretary who scheduled his days down to the fucking minute.

“Youcan’t seriously expect me to babysit a full-grown woman for you–”

Oh, he wasspitting mad.Dude’shand slammed down on the countertop next to me, andIfucking jumped, damn near pissing myself in my haste to get away.

So, of course,Ifell right the fuck out of the chair and onto the floor, landing on my ass with a painful swear.

Histirade stopped suddenly, his shadow looming over my body as he knelt beside me and snapped his phone shut.Iwatched him slip it on the counter as he checked me over for any sign of injury.

“Getup,” was the only thing that came out of his mouth, his words snarled with a full set of perfectly white teeth he bared in a mockery of a predator. “I’lldeal with you in the morning.I’mgetting a fucking headache just looking at you right now.”

Well, pardon the fuck out of me,Iwanted to say.Instead,Ijust nodded weakly and followed along, letting him lead me by the arm to the stairs.Upwe went, the trip a familiar one, until he shoved me into a room across the hall from the oneI’dbeen in earlier and shut the door behind me with a slam.Assoon as it registeredI’dbeen left alone,Iflung myself at the door, desperate to be let out, but it was no use.

Thisjailer was a dick, and a big one.Thesound of his receding footsteps carried across the hall, whereIheard him open his door and pause momentarily before he called out.

“Oh, and don’t bother trying to sneak out.I’veset the alarms, all the doors lock from my personal tablet, and the doorman knows not to let you out.Apparently, theKingsfelt it prudent to station a hired hand outside of my front door as loss prevention, to protect their asset.”

Hisstilted laughter echoed after his door shut, andIfell to my knees with a sob, hands still pounding angrily on the oak panel between me and my imagined freedom.

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