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“You’re mine,” he growls.

I should be scared. He has me pinned down, and I couldn’t escape even if I wanted to, but I know Kingston, and I know he would never hurt me. Not physically.

The same hands he’s holding me with are the ones that nursed me back to life all those years ago. They’re the ones that held my hand when I broke over and over again, mourning everything and everyone I had ever loved.

I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes as I swallow past the sob rising up the back of my throat. “I’m not, King. I can’t be.”

The words hurt as they fall from my lips. All I wanted when I was a kid was to get married and have a houseful of kids. But offering anyone part of my heart wouldn’t be fair.

Pain lances across his usually hard features, and guilt eats away at me, my need to make everyone else happy aching to give Kingston everything he’s asking for.

He stares down at me for long moments, eyes tracing every inch of my face like he’s committing it to memory before his hands drop away from my body.

Without a backward glance, he steps out of the shower, barely pausing for long enough to grab a towel before he’s gone.

Tears well in my eyes, my chest aching with unshed tears, and once again, I’m all alone.

I drop to my knees, the pain barely registering as my chest cracks open.

Kingston was offering me everything I’ve ever wanted, but how could I possibly accept when it means living without them?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

DAMON

NOW

Ibarely manage to stash my burner beneath the mattress before Kyle and Robert burst into the room, their eyes bouncing off the empty walls.

As a teenager, I had trophies and posters littering the space, but those things stopped having meaning years ago, around the same time I realized all I had to look forward to was leading a crime family and spending the rest of my life with someone I loathe.

Mikayla backing out of our arranged marriage has always been a bone of contention with my father, but she said she couldn’t go through with it. Couldn’t commit to someone she didn’t love. I may not have been the one to call it off, but Dad has always blamed me.

“It’s polite to wait to be invited in before entering someone’s private space,” I point out, leaning back against my pillows and plastering a look of indifference across my face.

“Who were you talking to?” Robert asks, stepping farther into the room, making room for someone else to step in behind him.

My father.

“I’d watch your tone if you don’t want to find yourself hanging from the gates on my first day as boss,” I snap.

I’ve known for a long time that my father’s men would struggle to respect me, but the closer I come to taking the throne, the more desperate I am to clean house.

I could take out every single one of them and not lose a wink of sleep. Rebuilding would be a pain in the ass, but it would be worth it to know I could trust those around me.

“I’d like to know the answer,” Dad says, his voice even.

I sigh exasperatedly. “If you must know, it was one of De Marcos psychos. She’s going to call me back later today.”

“Don’t bother taking the call.” He steps forward, his hand resting on the piece in his waistband.

Before I can ask why, he gives Robert and Kyle a curt nod, and I barely have the chance to blink before they’re on me.

Why the fuck didn’t I stand as soon as these assholes stepped into the room?

Robert’s knee pins one of my arms down, twisting my shoulder uncomfortably while Kyle struggles to pin the other half of my body down.

They know if they give me the opportunity, I’ll snap their necks, regardless of whether they were just following their boss’s orders.