King’s (The King Trilogy #1)(50)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“I wish I could tell you otherwise, Miss Turner; however, I cannot.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I can’t believe Justin would do this.”

“Maybe your brother is not the man you thought.”

“What are you trying to say?” I asked.

“Your brother may not have been aware of who Vaughn really was, but he still agreed to the deal. One that equated to stealing.” King held up his hand. “Not that I’m opposed to such activities—after all, one must do what they have to in this world—but your brother was not an innocent child.”

“I don’t care what he did. He’s still my brother, and I love him.”

“I am sure you do, but that doesn’t change anything.”

“I want to see him.”

“I cannot do that. I accepted your brother’s offer, and I must uphold his terms. This is how things operate in our world.”

I pushed King’s chest, but it had no impact. “Negotiate new terms,” I demanded.

He crossed his thick arms. “No.”

“Why not? Because I don’t have anything to persuade you with or trade you for?”

He shook his head. “That is not the reason.”

“Then tell me! Why not?” I wailed.

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he pierced me with his iron gaze.

“You want me to finish what we started on this desk, is that it?” I yelled and felt the dark office fill with energy so heavy that I could barely breathe. “You want me to submit to your punishment to save him?”

He ground his teeth. “I won’t deny that the idea of f**king you over that desk makes my c**k hard. But your submitting will not change my position.”

King was admitting to wanting me? I mean, I knew he did, but he was admitting it.

This was when my brain hit a deep, dark, emotional pothole. King never said or did anything without a reason. He didn’t waste a moment of his beautiful, precious time if it did not please him or drive him closer to his ultimate goal, which meant that those sexually explicit words had been said to take the fight from my angry sails. Hadn’t they?

I clenched my fists and resisted the bait. “Why won’t you talk my brother out of this?”

“Because,” he tugged at his crisp white cuffs peeking out from beneath the sleeves of his tuxedo jacket, “your brother does not deserve saving. He’s not a good man, nor will he ever be. And I want the Artifact. Therefore my reneging on the deal with your brother simply to appease you serves no purpose. And finally, you will submit to me anyway, Miss Turner. You want to f**k me as badly, if not more, than I want to f**k you. I’m willing to wait—makes life more interesting. Don’t you agree?”

Rage sparked my vision. King was the master of mental chess, and he was trying to use sex to get under my skin, to distract me from the real issue, but I couldn’t let him. As for his accusations of Justin being unworthy, all I saw was that my brother wanted to find a way out of his mess while insulating his family. If I could get King to see past his greed, then perhaps I could get him to see there was another way. “Haven’t you ever cared about anyone or anything, King?”

“Do not be ridiculous, Miss Turner. I care about many things; your brother is simply not one of them.”

I laughed bitterly. Again, it was all about getting this Artifact. “Hell, King. I don’t know what happened to you, but it must’ve been bad. I really pity you.”

“Have you ever thought for a moment that, perhaps, the reason I am this way is because I once had someone just like your brother in my life?”

It was a confession I hadn’t expected from King, but if someone he loved hurt him, it might explain why he was so tainted. “I’m sorry that someone caused you pain. I truly am. But Justin isn’t like that. He made a stupid mistake, and now he’s about to make another by shutting the door on the people who love him. All I’m asking is to have a discussion with him, to find out if there’s another way to resolve the trouble he’s in.”

King sighed with impatience. “Miss Turner, this is what you are failing to understand. Yes, there is another way. However, it would require making a deal with Vaughn. Is this a path you are willing to go down?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. King was right. If Vaughn was the one Justin needed to hide from, then there were no deals to be made.

“No. But why can’t something be done about Vaughn?” I asked.

“As in kill him?”

I looked at King, but didn’t respond. He knew what I meant, and he likely knew that I wasn’t the sort of person to say those sorts of things out loud. Still, I thought them. Oh, Lord. I thought them.

“It’s not so simple. He is a member of 10 Club. Why do you think I left him alive on both occasions?”

I supposed I had wondered why King hadn’t killed him. “Don’t tell me those people object to murder?”

“Not at all. They simply object to members openly murdering each other. Not to say it doesn’t happen all the time, but one must make a superficial effort to respect the laws and cover their tracks. At the moment, I would be the obvious culprit.” King pretended to look at his watch and then grabbed his tie. “I am late. I must leave now. You will need to stay with Mack until I return.”

“Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?” I watched King make a quick, but perfect knot with his bow tie. I tried not to think about why he was re-dressing himself or how, even now, even after what just happened between us, I still couldn’t help looking at the man and feeling something I shouldn’t. Perhaps King was right; a part of me was just as dark as him. That part was drawn to him and eventually going to cave to its desires to have him physically.

“Why do you look at that sundial tattoo? What is it?”

He flashed an annoyed look at me. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, Miss Turner. And I meant what I said about staying with Mack. Until things are settled with your brother and Vaughn, you are a pawn for the taking.”

I rubbed my lids with the heels of my palms “When will you be back?”

King smiled, and it was that charming smile I now knew he used when he wanted to hide some dark, sinister thought.

“Hopefully by tomorrow night. I need to meet with the 10 Club council to discuss Vaughn’s accusations.”

“Accusations?”

“He is saying that he rightfully owns you and, therefore, had every right to touch you.”