Page 30 of Devilish

The elevator stopped on the second floor, and when the doors slid open and the delicious scent of food filled the air, I grinned at him.

“Hope you’re hungry.”

“We’re eating? I thought you were meeting someone.”

“Oh, we are. But there’s no harm in enjoying a good meal while we do it.”

Kai followed me into the world-class restaurant, looking completely and utterly gobsmacked. “I’m not dressed for this place.”

“You look fucking stunning here. Trust me.”

He bit back a smile as I led him to the booth where King was seated. He stood up when he saw us, and I had a feeling Kai noticed that King was dressed similarly to him.

The difference was the pure power radiating off him.

“Lucien,” he said, that gravel-deep voice rich with concern, “good to see you in one piece. Even if your face is looking a little worse for wear.”

“Gee, thanks, but I’d still look amazing in many pieces.”

Kai watched our interaction silently until King held his hand out to him.

“You must be Kai. You can call me Ty.”

“Oh, fuck that,” I said, shaking my head. “It rhymes, and the other guys will talk about ‘Kai and Ty’ all damn day. You can call him King.”

King rolled his eyes and gestured for us to join him. After placing our drink orders, he laced his fingers on the table. “Want to tell me what happened?”

“Some motherfucker blew up my place, is what happened.”

King’s eyebrow shot up, and I took a breath and made myself rein it in.

“Sorry. You mean Alessio hasn’t shown you footage from a street camera?” Our resident tech genius had eyes everywhere.

“He has, but I’m asking you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kai shift down in his seat, trying to hide behind the menu. He was still feeling guilty, butit was unnecessary. None of the blame for this landed on his shoulders.

“A couple of weeks ago, a man named Rupert McGuire entered my club with Kai, and long story short, he was forcefully removed and banned from the premises. It was clear Kai wasn’t safe with him, and I offered him refuge?—”

“Which didn’t go down well with a man like Rupert,” King finished.

“Exactly.”

“So this is all retaliation?”

I nodded. “I’m not sure how much Alessio’s video shows, but Rupert was there. Watching with a smirk on his ugly mug.”

A tall, well-dressed figure moved out of my periphery and leaned against King’s side of the booth. “I can take care of the problem. Just say the word.”

King groaned. “The word is no, Lachlan.”

“I was talking to Lucien.” Lachlan winked at me, looking so deceiving, like a handsome CEO—which he also was—instead of our resident enforcer. Though King hadn’t given him nearly the freedom lately to go as wild as he enjoyed. Lachlan was itching for a good fight; unfortunately, I had a feeling this thing with Rupert would be a no-go too.

“You know you’re my favorite masked vigilante,” I said, giving him hell at every opportunity for the unconventional way he’d met his boyfriend, Cooper.

King held his hand up to Lachlan to stay quiet and then asked me, “How would you like to handle this?”

“I’d like to put him six feet under?—”

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