Page 68 of Kings of Cruelty

Something about the way he says it, the semi guilty tone, lets me know he was with another woman.

Worse: he wants me to know. He’s perfectly capable of lying without remorse, so that guilty tone is for my benefit.

“You mean it wasn’t anyoneimportant,” I mutter. I shake my head.

I wish I could warn those other women, but they’re going to have to learn the hard way what kind of person James is.

“Where to?” James asks.

“My place,” I answer automatically, then wince. “Fuck. I don’t have the key.”

James stays suspiciously silent, but he takes a turn that goes toward my apartment.

“I don’t have the key,” I repeat.

“I do,” James answers. “From when you gave it to me.”

I’d completely forgotten I’d given him a key. As useful as it is right now, it makes my skin crawl. How many times has he gone inside while I’m not there? “Great,” I say, sarcasm dripping heavily from my voice.

Fuck. It’s stupid, and it’s dangerous, but all I need to do is stay one step ahead of Konstantin and his men. They don’t know where my apartment is, and they probably think the lease is already broken. I can gather up some clothes, grab whatever other useful stuff I can find, then get out of here again.

I finish disabling the tracking app on my phone, and at least there’s that. It took longer than I’d hoped, but I’ve been distracted—and I hadn’t thought this through.

There’s still nothing from Kyran or Silvano.

We get to the apartment building and take the elevator up. James uses his key to open the apartment door, and a musty smell hits me. It’s been a few months since I’ve been there, and I can tell. I bet the fridge has moldy leftovers in it.

I spot a dirty bowl on the kitchen table. Wow, I hadn’t even cleaned up before I’d headed over to my parents’ place to eat my feelings. I feel like a slob, but it can’t be helped now.

“You can leave,” I tell James. “Thanks for bringing me here. I need to get in touch with my brother, then I’ll be fine.” I force a smile.

“I can’t leave you here if you’re in trouble,” he tells me earnestly, like he actually does give a shit.

I shake my head. “No, it’s fine. You’re… You’d be in danger too. There’s no sense in both of us risking our asses. Seriously, you can go.”

James scoffs. “Is this about that reedy Russian guy? I can handle him.” He flexes his bicep. “I’ve been working out.”

I burst out laughing despite myself. “That reedy… That Russian guy can more than handle anything you can try to dish out.” If I wasn’t so pissed at Yuri, I wouldn’t mind seeing James get his ass handed to him.

James scowls at me. “Hey. You clearly think I’m capable, or you wouldn’t have called me.”

I almost tell him that I was using him for his car, but something tells me to stop at the last second. “I don’t want it to come down to that,” I cajole. “I’m worried about you staying safe. The guy he works for is seriously bad news. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of him.” I grit my teeth as the familiar anger washes over me again. I still can’t fucking believe Konstantin said those things to me.

James steps into my personal space, and I back up a few steps—straight into the kitchen table.

“I’m not afraid of him,” James says, reaching out to cup my chin. “Babe, I’ll protect you.” His eyes flick down, over my brand, and his expression turns grim. “You need to be protected.”

I clutch the edge of the table and give him a strained smile. “What are you doing, James? Weren’t you with somebody else before I called? Maybe you should check in on her.”

He shakes his head. “Nah. She was nothing. Not like you. You’re so fucking hot, Sierra. And that amazing dress? Fuck, you’retryingto tempt me.”

The dress.

The thought of it reminds me of how much of my body it shows. I try to adjust it to conceal the brand, but like earlier, it’s impossible to hide the mark. “I’m not trying to do anything,” I say, trying to sound calm even as my voice cracks. “I was on a date with someone else. The father of my…” I can’t bring myself to say the words. Ican’t.

James scowls. “Your baby. Because you got yourself knocked up. But that’s okay. We can get rid of it.”

Get rid of it.

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