King of Depravity: Chapter 28

I wake with Chloe’s body snug against mine, soft in sleep. I don’t move because I don’t want to wake her. Last night while she slept, I bought her a license, passport, credit cards, the works, under a new name.

If shit is going sideways, I need to know that she’ll be safe.

Gently, I brush a kiss over her temple, keeping my body relaxed. I know that today is going to be the day that sends us careening into one direction or another.

A future together here in Vegas, or a future for her without me. I just want to delay the start, soak in the feel of her skin, her smell.

I feel my heart beating in my chest. I’m sure it’s been there the whole time, pumping life through my veins, but the sound is new to my ears. Her hand is on my stomach, and I cover it with mine, sliding it up my body until it’s resting over my heart. I need Chloe to know that it beats for her and her alone.

The movement makes her stir and I still again, rewarded when she falls back to sleep.

Softly I begin to whisper promises about the future I’m going to give her. I’ve already wired millions into an offshore account. If I’m not around, there is no way Chloe is waiting tables and making herself more vulnerable to filthy men.

The buzzing of my phone draws my attention. It’s my regular phone, Triston’s name appears on the screen. I don’t pick up.

But Chloe still stirs. Her head lifts and her sleepy eyes open. “Who is it?”

“No one.”

She cranes her neck. “Triston is no one?”

“Right now, he is,” I return tightening my arms around her. She has no idea that Triston called her a problem, that he intimated I ought to make that problem disappear. I told him not to make me choose, but the truth is, I already have.

My phone stops ringing and the burner starts. “Pick up,” Chloe murmurs.

“My family is not our biggest supporters,” I rumble back.

“Of course they aren’t.” She burrows into me. “We’ve known each other for less than a week, I witnessed you commit murder. They don’t know who I am or what I’m about. And they are worried about you.” She lifts her head then, her eyes meeting mine. “I wish I had family like that. No one has ever cared about me enough to worry until you.”

My teeth grit together because I see her fucking point. They are trying to protect me even if they are mostly just pissing me off.

The burner stops and then starts again. This time, I pick up. “What?”

“Good morning,” Triston replies, sounding like the smooth fuck he is. “Get any sleep?”

“Like a baby,” I answer, rising from the bed. I’m naked, not that I care, as I open the bedroom door and head out into the kitchen.

Chloe doesn’t follow, I know she knows I need a bit of privacy.

“Jesus, Killian,” Triston rumbles. “Yesterday had to bother you.”

“Of course it bothered me,” I bite back. “That’s the thing about having a soft woman in your bed. She reminds you of what you’re fighting for.”

Triston is silent for several seconds. “Killian.”

There is a different tone in his voice. It concedes. Maybe even asks…

“What?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

I pull the phone from my ear, staring at it. “Are you having me killed today?”

“What the hell? Why would you ask that?”

“Because you’re acting fucking weird.” I lower my voice, which has been rising with each word. “And because we both know you think I’m a problem and so does Mason Kincaid.”

Triston lets out a long breath. “I don’t think you’re a problem, Killian. In fact, I think you’ve been seeing several people and events with a lot more clarity than I have. This is me admitting I’m wrong and you’re right, just to be clear.”

Triston never admits he’s wrong. This entire interaction is just off. “Now I know you’re planning something.”

“I’m not…” He lets out a frustrated breath. “I spoke with mum.”

“Yeah?” my stomach sinks.

“She said if anything happens to you, she’ll disown me.” Triston scratches at the stubble on his jaw, I hear it through the phone. “And then I spoke with Mason, and I realized that you were right not to trust him. He’s had cameras on our houses this entire time.”

I hear my brother. I mostly believe him. But I stay alive because I always apply a bit of mistrust. “What do you want, Triston?”

“We’re meeting with the Russians tonight. I want you there.”

“Fuck that.” I push the words through gritted teeth.

“You scare everyone, Killian. Even more than Mason, they fear you. That’s why they tried to kill you, and I want you to come and be your scariest fucking self. I want them to piss themselves in fear and then I am going to strip them of every motherfucking piece of Las Vegas real estate they own.”

I take a deep breath, considering Triston’s words. Triston is a strong man who shapes our world, makes us a success.

I’d be taking a risk going into a room with the Russians, Mason Kincaid, and Triston. Then again, if what Triston says is true, then this would be my chance to build a life with Chloe here where she can finish school, complete her dreams.

I’ve never been a man who let fear hold me back. “Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Really?”

“Really. Where and when?”

He rattles off the details. We hang up and I return to the bedroom to find Chloe still in bed, still naked, her green eyes searching mine. “Is everything all right?”

The next part of what I have to do is tough. I slide on top of her, settling my weight over hers. “It’s great, baby. We’ve got a meeting tonight to see if we can’t push the Russians from Vegas.”

She gives me a smile and then a long kiss.

Here comes the tough part. “Sweetheart.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to need you to leave Vegas for a bit.”

Confusion clouds her clear green gaze. “But… No… I don’t want to leave you. I’m safest with you.”

I kiss her again, though her mouth is stiff under my lips. “Here is the thing,” I whisper close to her ear. “If this goes sideways…”

“It could go sideways?” she asks, her voice getting higher with her fear.

“I don’t want you here. I want you far away where you’re safe.”

“Killian.”

I get up again and go out to the kitchen. Coming back, I hand her the folder. “Social security card, license, passport. There is travelling money and a Swiss account with enough for you to live on for the rest of your life.”

She stares at the file, a tear slipping down each cheek. “How much is enough to live on for the rest of my life?”

“Twenty million.”

A strangled cry rips from her throat. “Twenty million?”

“I’d have made it more, but I thought you’d be offended.”

She drops the folder and vaults into my arms, still naked. I catch her and then crash my mouth down over hers. I’d love to bury myself deep inside her, but I’ve got a plane ticket to buy. Hers.

“I’m sending you to the South of France. You can attend art school there, access Switzerland if you need. I have a friend, his contact info is in the folder, as is my mother’s.”

“Your mother?” her voice trembles.

“If you’re pregnant, you call her. She’ll help you, no matter what my brothers think about the situation.” I don’t want to let her go.

“I’m not leaving without you,” she cries, her arms locked around my neck.

“If everything goes the way it should, I’ll join you in less than twenty-four hours. If I don’t come, though, you don’t come back. Understand?”

She’s crying again, big tears rolling down her cheeks. “No. I don’t.”

“Yes, you do,” I give her a soft smile. “I happen to know you’re ridiculously smart.”

“And I know you’re the strongest man in the world.”

I doubt that’s true, but I’m not telling her that. “Which is why I’ll be fine, and we’ll be walking on a French beach together in just a few days.”

I see her soften and I know she’ll go.

In the lining of her suitcase are several data files holding the whereabouts of the Russian operation. Tucked in the back of the folder are the instructions to destroy them should anything happen to me.

Mason isn’t going to kill me if everything I know will die with me. He needs the information I’ve collected.

Hopefully, it all goes down just like I’ve planned. But there is only one way to find out.