“Oh, Lilith.” Shit, shit, shit. I can hear him calling for me. I knew he was coming, and I don’t have his money. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
“Fuck,” I hiss as I stub my toe on the stupid cot in the shelter. Some cunt stole my shoes while I was sleeping, and now I’m running around in the dark, trying to get away from him.
Luther Sutton is the right-hand man in the Adair Empire. He sheds blood for fun, laughs at your fear. He is loyal to only one man; a man the entire city fears.
King Adair.
The man is royalty to anyone who knows him. His power and control of the world he inhabits are legendary. People hear his name and run. He is ruthless. He takes no mercy.
Which is why I am trying to evade Luther. I owe them money, and they take nothing less than is owed. If you can’t pay up, then you become payment—in whatever way King chooses.
A shadow falls on my hiding place behind a bunch of boxes stored at the back of the room, and I know I’m done for.
“Come on, Lilith.” Luther holds out his hand for me. Waiting.
Running my fingers through my greasy light brown hair, I look around for a way out, a way to escape.
I know it’s useless. He’ll find me. He always does.
Luther’s a hunter. It’s why he was sent after me.
Giving up, I place my hand in his, and he pulls me to my feet. With nothing said, he walks out the back door. I have no choice but to follow. He isn’t rough with me, and color me shocked, but I figured he’d be dragging me by my hair.
As we climb into the waiting car, he tells me, “You owe him money, Lilith.” His eyes are cold, but they don’t judge me. If anything, they show pity.
“I know,” I whisper. It had never been my intention not to pay King. They’d never understand, though. They are businessmen. Only the bottom line matters to them.
“There will be punishment.”
I stare at him, trying to figure out what’s going to happen to me, but I know. I’m not stupid. You only cross King Adair once.
“Will you make it quick?” I can hear the shaking in my voice. Death is imminent for me.
He cocks his head to the side, studying me like a bug under a microscope. He doesn’t say anything, and that scares me more than if he were to make threats.
The ride to the Adair estate is quiet, tense. All I can think about is that little girl. How doing one good thing in my life means my death. They wouldn’t care that the girl was starving to death, that she was frozen. Running from a man bent on her destruction.
They wouldn’t understand that I used to be her, and in some ways, I think I’m still that lonely, scared little girl waiting for someone to rescue me.
“We’re here.” Luther’s deep voice draws me from my thoughts.
As ruthless and cruel as I’ve heard the man can be, he is treating me like a person. Holding his hand out to help me from the car, he waits as I stand at the bottom of the steps leading to an ominous set of doors. He never rushes me. Doesn’t yell or hit me.
I think his manners make this entire thing worse. I can’t hate him for being kind. Even if he is going to kill me.
* * *
KING
I watch as she climbs from the Lincoln behind Luther. Fear is written all over her thin body. It stands out in her skittish eyes.
I run the biggest empire in the country, hold the entire city in the palm of my hands. I won’t allow disobedience and disrespect. She knows who she took her filth from, and everything I’m about to do to her, she’ll deserve. She’ll take every lash, every belt. Whatever I choose to dish out, I know she’ll anticipate.
You see, I know her far better than she knows herself. I’ve been watching her for weeks. When I wasn’t, Castiel, one of my bodyguards, has been on her. He’s reported back everything she’s done in the past month.
I found her by chance. Had no idea she was one of mine. She was in the park with some other junkie whore when Luther and I were driving past. Her laughter caught my attention. Through the wind and across the street, I heard her. I was hooked from then on. If I hadn’t had a meeting with the mayor, I might have stopped and grabbed her then. She’d have been in my bed for a month already if the prick hadn’t needed his comeuppance.
I had to teach him a lesson in respect. Show him who really runs this town. He is in office because I let it be. He thought he could intimidate me, blackmail me into leaving. Dissolve my presence.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
I bow down to nothing and no one. He knows that now. The crown I carved into his sternum will be a constant reminder of who owns whom.
A knock at my door signals Luther’s arrival with my newest acquisition.
Lilith.
Sweet, sultry, Lilith.
“Enter,” I call for them.
She proceeds my first lieutenant into the dark room. My war room as my men call it. Weapons align one wall, maps another. Bookshelves cover the rest. Datebooks, agendas, planners, logs of distribution fill them to the brim.
Some may say it’s stupid of me to keep detailed entries into my business dealings. I call it smart not leaving a digital trail.
And wagging tongues can get lost.
“King.” Luther greets me with a bow. My most loyal man. He’s been with me since we were kids. He helped me build the Adair Empire, instilled fear into those who thought they could defy or oppose me.
It took us but three years to own the entire city, the police department, the political offices. Everything influential is run by me.
The difference between me and any other organization is that I give respect before I make you earn it. I give chances where others cut off fingers. I don’t break kneecaps to prove my point. I cut you off, let you create your own ending.
I’m a cold-hearted son of a bitch with no remorse for the punishments I dish out, and my sweet Lilith is about to find that out.
“Luther,” I greet my comrade, “how was your night?”
The best offense is always a good defense. Sometimes that means throwing people off track. I’m sure Lilith thinks I’m about to order her to be killed. Quite the opposite. I plan to demand everything the woman has to offer.
“No problems, tonight,” he tells me, sitting in the chair by the fireplace. Relaxed.
“Great. The waterfront looks good?”
Someone tried breaking into one of our distribution warehouses the previous night. Luther took great insult to that, so I pity the perpetrator. He can be creative in his torture.
As I sit across from him, he says, “I’ll cut the weasel’s fingers off and feed them to him.” I laugh at the hungered look of bloodlust on his face.
“I have no doubt, my friend.”
We sit quietly listening to the fire crackle as a servant brings us whiskey before I finally address my new toy.
“Lilith.” I see her shiver at the use of her name. She’s clearly terrified.
“Yes?” Her voice is soft like a whisper; it caresses my skin in sweet agony.
Not looking at her, I hold out my hand to the side. “Come,” I command. She jumps this time. From the command itself or the strength in my voice, I’m unsure.
Slowly walking closer, Luther watches her like a hawk as she takes each trembling step. When she’s at my side, her hand slowly raises to meet mine.
I’ve never been interested in a woman for more than an hour, so to have her here, in my home, with thoughts of permanence is astonishing. I’m sure I’ve had Luther and Castiel running in circles of confusion with my demands.
I tug her hand, so she follows my lead as I bring her to stand in front of me. The fire at her back gives her an ethereal glow, and she glimmers like an angel.
“Kneel,” I tell her, sipping my whiskey.
She glances towards Luther as if he’ll save her. The man nods his head for her to do as she’s told. Softly dropping to her knees at my feet, a deep breath leaves her chest as she looks up to me.
The fear swirling behind her pretty violet eyes has my cock hardening and my blood pumping, begging me to take her right then. I won’t force her, though. I may be a monster, but I’m no rapist. I have never and will never take a woman by force.
“You stole from me,” I tell her flatly.
I can see her swallow as she says yes, barely above a whisper.
“I’ve killed for less.”
Her eyes don’t leave mine. “I know.”
Good. She knows the man I am. “I should kill you.”
Tears fill her eyes. Acceptance meets mine.
“You’ll so easily give into your fate? Won’t try to defend yourself?” I’m genuinely confused by that. Larger men, tougher men, have begged for their lives in this very spot. Yet, she’s accepting her demise with such grace.
Her composure confirms I made the right choice when I announced she would become my queen.
“You made the correct decision, boss.” Luther has clearly read my mind.
“I never had a doubt.” Finishing my whiskey, I bring her hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles lightly. “Tell me, Lilith, why, if you knew my reputation, did you steal from me?” Of course, I know why, but I want to hear her say it.
Clearing her throat, she looks between the two of us, apparently trying to gauge how we will react. “I was going to see Atticus.” He was my collector. “There was this girl. A man…” Licking her dry lips, she’s distraught thinking of what would have happened. “He was hurting her. She needed help. She was cold and hungry…she needed it more than me.”
“This girl, she was worth your life?” I ask, my voice cold. I can’t play my hand too quickly.
With her shoulders back and her head held high, she replies matter-of-factly, “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
“Why?” I need to know everything about her, how her mind ticks. What she’ll do if presented with the same problem again.
“She was me when I was a little girl. Though, the innocence in her eyes still remained. She wasn’t broken yet. I’m nothing but a junkie; I can’t be saved, but she could. I made the only decision I could, and I would do it again.”
Her words are bold, her eyes fierce, and I laugh. Not in amusement but with pride. My queen is going to rain hellfire down on any man who thinks he can take without permission. I will relish in her reign of terror.
“A junkie you are not,” I tell her. I know exactly how much she uses and when. “Atticus tells me everything. He also has an amazing memory. He remembers the first time you came to him and every time after that. I would actually like to kill him just for knowing so much about you.”
She sucks in a sharp breath at my confession.
Luther’s hand on her shoulder has her spinning to face him. “It’s time,” he says to her. Defeat sags her body, but she doesn’t fight it as he helps her to her feet.
“You promised,” she whispers to him.
“Promised what?” I demand. I don’t like that he’s making promises to her.
She looks me straight in the eyes, her’s clear as day, and replies, “To make it quick.”
“I promised you nothing, sweet girl.” Sadness enters her reflection. “Any promises made to you are solely up to your king now.” Kissing the top of her hand lightly, Luther bows to her before leaving the room.
For the first time in my life, I kneel before another.
“I will break you, Lilith. I will take everything from you. And in return, I will give you the world. You will be mine.”
Confusion crosses her face.
It’s her eyes that give her away, though.
Relief.
She’ll be mine.