Page 39 of Steal a King (Five Kings 2)

Lucas

My world is closing in on me and I’m struggling to breathe. Just for a moment back there, I let my guard down and Ella stepped inside. As soon as I saw her looking so innocent, so trusting and so beautiful, it broke me. I can’t do this; it’s why I fuck whores because I can’t open my heart. I will never allow myself to feel again because I just can’t deal with the pain that comes with it. I am such a fucking bastard for a reason and I need to protect Ella from that, so I do what’s necessary and make her hate me. It’s easier this way.

We make it back into the resort and I know she is struggling to understand my change of mood. She’s hurt, disappointed and I’m sorry about that but what she doesn’t realize is that I’m saving her, setting her free and guaranteeing her safety because if she stayed by my side, she would end up dead. It’s a fact that I’ve had to live with, but I’ll be damned if I drag her down with me.

We make our way to my office and Dixie meets us, looking worried.

“Sir, you have three meetings waiting. I’ve tried to stall them, but Emmerson Parker is getting antsy and threatening to leave.

Sighing, I say irritably, “Where is he?”

“In the boardroom, sir.”

“Fine, I’ll head there and keep it short, tell the others I won’t be long. Hopefully, I should be able to wrap this up quickly.”

She nods and turns away and Ella makes to follow her and I snap irritably, “Where do you think you’re going?”

She looks surprised and I say shortly, “Follow me and sit in the corner. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

I turn my back on her and hate myself more than she must right now because I am tearing down something so special that meant way more to me than I’m letting on and I fucking hate every minute of it.

I don’t even look at her because I’m guessing I won’t like what I’ll see, so I head to the boardroom and sweep inside, my hand outstretched. “Emmerson, please forgive me, something came up.”

I resist the urge to laugh at the irony as he says angrily, “You’re just lucky I’m still here. I’ve waited for 90 minutes already and that’s 89 more than you deserve.”

For all his anger, we both know he would wait 24 hours if he had to. It’s a known fact that any meeting with me is a triumph. A way to make more money and a way to be accepted in the circles most would kill to be a member of. I could have shifted this meeting onto Adam, but we both know that wouldn’t go down well. I am the prize, the golden goose, and I feel a little uncomfortable when I recall the slightly bitter look in Adam’s eye when he mentioned that only today.

As I settle down to business, I’m conscious of Ella sitting quietly in the corner. She is writing furiously into her notebook, and I doubt I’d like the words on the page. I almost can’t concentrate because there is so much I want to say to her but can’t. She must hate me; it’s best that way, but I can’t deal with the feelings I have toward her and there’s nothing I can do about it. She’s here for as long as Ryder says she is and I’m stuck with facing my biggest mistake until he says different.

True to my word, I wrap up the meeting inside of twenty minutes and Emmerson leaves looking happy. So he should, because he has just secured a deal for millions of dollars when I agreed to authorize his license for a casino he’s building in Atlantic City. As casino’s go, it’s on the smaller side, but we all need to start somewhere and it’s important to allow new growth. Everything changes so quickly these days and becomes more innovative, more luxurious and even more profitable as time goes by and it’s necessary to be ahead of the game.

I buzz Dixie and ask her to show the next victim in, and this time it will be a very different conversation.

Damian Reed enterprises is a business I hate doing business with. Outwardly respectable, but behind the façade is a den of iniquity. Drugs, prostitution and illegal gambling. He is here because he wants a legitimate front for his growing empire and thinks I’m going to give it to him—he’s wrong. I’m almost tempted to send Ella away from this one because she won’t like what she sees, but then again, she needs to see this. The ugly side of business that I deal with on a daily basis.

Dixie knows what’s coming more than anyone, and she sends in my security team to sit in the far corner of the room. Charlie and Eddie are two of my more trusted guards and they blend into the business as if they’re executives, but they hide a deadly skill that many get to witness first hand.

Ella looks up in surprise as they take up their positions before Dixie shows a beaming Damian Reed into the room, closely flanked by two of his team.

It’s obvious one of them is his bodyguard, just by the look of him and the way he checks out my own with a professional detachment. It’s like a pissing contest in here already as the atmosphere changes and even Ella sits straighter and looks a little nervous. My heart is screaming at me right now to make her safe. Send her to Dixie and remove her from a potentially toxic situation, but I need her to see this, hell, I need her scared shitless for this to work. To drive her out and make her regret the day she ever met me.

Damien holds out his hand but I ignore it, a move that has him arrowing his eyes and I motion him to sit.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Damien, but business sometimes has its own agenda.”

“Then let’s cut straight to the chase, Mr. Emiliano, do we have our license?”

“No.”

I lean back and the tension in the air closes in on us as his eyes flash angrily. “May I ask why? I have followed the rules to the letter. On what grounds are you refusing me?”

“Damien, let me spell it out for you.” I lean forward. “We both know there is nothing wrong with your application on paper. It ticks all the boxes and some more besides. Outwardly it’s a good proposition, hell you even threw in a charity foundation for homeless addicts. The governor of our state is on board and you have the backing of several well-appointed businesses. So, I congratulate you on that, but my reach is wide, and it’s the business behind it that has sealed your fate.”

“What business?” He is actually going to do this—play me for a fool and I snarl, “The prostitution, the illegal gambling, and the drugs. Not to mention the human trafficking that makes me sick to my stomach. How long before that business drags down your respectable one? How can I condone such an operation, I can’t?”

“What are you talking about, you know nothing, and if you are calling me out on it, then where’s your proof?”

He is so confident I have nothing on him, no tangible evidence linking him to the business behind closed doors. He has always covered his tracks so carefully it’s just a shame I have such good friends behind me who can sniff out shit in a nanosecond. Without saying a word, I open the file on the desk that Dixie has prepared and remove several photographs that show him in a very awkward light. There are stills of him indulging in his dubious pursuits, statements from women who have been rescued from his operation. A whole fucking book of depravity that has been researched by the very best and his name is the one on every fucking page.

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