Page 28 of King of Depravity

“She’s tough to scare off and she isn’t trying to get me in bed. If anything…”

“Hard to get,” Triston nods. “I get that.”

No. He doesn’t. He has no idea what it feels like to know you are born of darkness. And what I’m starting to understand, is that Chloe knows about the dark. “Look, it’s not serious. I’m not the serious type.”

Triston looks me up and down, his mouth turning down. “Maybe.”

“I’m a fucking assassin, Triston. This…” I point at myself, “is not long-term material.”

“Does she know you’re an assassin?” Triston asks, leaning forward.

And that’s when I understand. I know loads of secrets that my family would be worried I’d divulge. My hands are the dirty ones, but the filth covers us all. “Of course not.”

He nods. “Good. Now tell me what’s going on with the Russians. Or maybe tell me why you haven’t told me you’ve been spying on the Russians.”

“I was going to tell you when you needed to know. I’m just gathering information for now. Learning where they live, where they do drops, have meetings. I know they’re tentative partners with our new in-laws, the Kincaids. But that partnership is tenuous at best. Information will help us no matter how events play out.”

Triston scrubs at his jaw. “Jesus, Killian, that’s impressive even for you. No one is as good at this as you,” he mutters.

I appreciate the compliment. Usually, I think my brothers barely tolerate me. But even the compliment lands flat. I’m different. We all know it. “I was born into it.”

“We were all born the same,” he returns, giving me an odd look.

I don’t correct him, but we weren’t. Pushing up from my seat, I say, “The Russians are planning some move. There have been a lot of meetings, I’ve seen a few of those Italian fucks in and out of the piano bar. You might want to use your connections to see if anything legal is happening, while I keep exploring the illegal side of their relationship.”

Triston jerks his chin. “You got it. Good job.” He stands, crossing to the door. But he stops. “That Alexander is circling Chloe pretty tightly. If you plan on keeping her around for a while, you might want to remove her from the bar to keep things cordial with the Bratva fucks.”

My brother isn’t wrong, but that is going to be tricky. Still, I’ve got a few ideas. “You know that club the Kincaids own, you think they’d hire Chloe?”

“Temptation?” he asks.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Leo would be lucky to have Chloe on staff, I’ve seen her at work, she’s a fantastic waitress, and the tips there would be even better than where she works now. I’ll talk to Leo today.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll reach out tonight with anything I learn about the Russians.”

We both head out of the office, stopping to watch Chloe, who is so focused, she doesn’t even notice that we’ve come back into the open kitchen and living space.

Triston is assessing Chloe as she nips at her lip, her brush working over the canvas. “Be careful,” Triston eyes her warily. “She was dangerous when she was accusing you of following her, but with her in your life like this, she has the power to undo us all.”

“I know my business.” I glare at him. I might be crazy. But I’m not stupid. Then again, I’m starting to wonder what I’d trade to keep her in my life.

CHAPTERTEN

Chloe

This painting isthe most fun I’ve had in a really long time. I mean, besides being in bed with Killian.

Throughout the day, he brings me food, so I barely need to stop.

I look back at my work, smiling.

The galaxy, done in shades of blue and purple sparkles in the late afternoon sun, I did mostly background work today, layer upon layer of paint, but I’ve begun to add the stars that make up the bright center.

I finally have to put the painting down to get ready for work. Killian insists on ordering me an Uber to take me home.

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