Page 17 of King of Wrath

Was it just this morning that I sneered at Kim and Leo and declared myself immune to feelings? I’m clearly not the brightest bulb, because I did not see this coming.

I’m in over my head and she’s way more fragile than I thought.

But there is no going back now.

I’m not a man who’s in touch with his feelings. I do strength. I do hate. I pepper them both with sarcasm. The largest compliment any one person gets from me is something like…you’re not half bad.

That’s it.

I think back to the sound of her vomiting in the back of the car. Ittore me apart that I’d scared a woman hard enough that she’d thrown up in fear. And it makes me sick to my stomach too.

Because as much as I’m not sappy, I’m also not cruel. My pops could never train that into me, as much as he tried.

And she in her fear, in her fragility, she’s stripping back all my defenses. Already. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I’ve made a mistake. Parts of this plan are just fucking mean and as much as it’s meant to hurt Toni, Nia is going to be collateral damage. I know that even as I sell her safety.

Does that make me like him? Did he make me as cruel as he was? And why the fuck is that just occurring to me now?

I don’t plan on hurting her myself, not like my pops would have. He’d swing his fists at any member of our family, including my mom.

I would never do that. I’d lock myself in a cell first. But I still know what happens to her after. And it isn’t going to be pretty.

I thought I was fine with that. I wasn’t hurting her.… I was still different. And I was doing this to protect my family. But this isn’t going to end well for Nia.

Then again. Toni Carcetti would do far worse if he got his hands on one of our women. He’s done worse to his own, if the rumors are true. What they say he did to his wife makes my pops look like a saint.

Is it true? That’s what I’m here to find out.

I cross the room and pick up the knife. I’ve likely ruined the blade throwing it like that. Still, I slide the utensil back in the block and take the entire block and place my index finger over the invisible pad that unlocks one of the cabinet doors.

I let out a growl of frustration at my own stupidity. I was here, setting up the house last week. When I made myself dinner, I left the block out and never put it back.

I’ve used every trick in my security repertoire on this place. Fingerprint locks, cameras, digital feeds, electrified perimeter. And it’s all run by a solar array I installed myself. It’s apocalypse proof and what I plan to do for work when this is all done.

Sliding the block in the locked cabinet, I hear the toilet flush and then the faucet come on.

I scrub my hands down my face as I picture her with water running all down her body. Nia’s beauty is another problem.

It’s tempting and distracting, neither of which I can afford. I am here because no one wants revenge on her father more than me, and no man is as immune to the charms of women more than me.

It makes me ideal to coerce Nia into sharing Toni’s dark secrets. The problem, however, is that she’s stroking sympathies I thought long dead.

I’m going to blame the wedding. Leo looking all gooey-eyed is messing with my head.

Or perhaps I should have done this differently. Maybe I should have talked to her at the Diamond. Convinced her to run away with me instead of cutting corners.

Another rumble leaves my chest. I would have been recognized at the Diamond’s bar. That’s the first problem. But worse…

I would have had to charm her into leaving with me, and let’s be honest…that’s a stretch.

But now, she’s scared in ways that are tugging on my sympathies, which is a problem I did not foresee.

How is this happening? We’ve been together for hours, not even days. I’m going to have to put some more steel in my spine.

Nia appears next to me, clearing her throat. “Can I get my toothbrush out of my bag? I need to brush my teeth.”

I straighten up, my eyes flitting down Nia. Her long blonde hair is spilling over one shoulder, her arms wrapped around her middle, pushing her cleavage even higher and fuller while doing little to hide her stunning hourglass figure.