Page 2 of Inked in Devotion

Your brother might have killed my mother. I didn’t say it out loud, but by the way Theo’s eyes narrowed at me, he was warning me to keep our little secret. Ah, beneath its wealthy trappings, the King empire was littered with unhinged family drama laced with mayhem and murder. Our father, Duncan King, left me four percent shares under an anonymous trust. The existence of the trust led to several murders and culminated in my shooting of Jeremiah.

When I arrived for our meeting, Theo wasn’t expecting to see Dora with me. It prevented us from speaking freely about what happened to our brother. When I told Theo I wasn’t ready to sign anything today, he appeared disappointed and sent his lawyers away.

The truth was I needed more time. Sebastian wasn’t attached to me. I left my baby in Dora’s care for three months while I tried to figure out if we were in danger.

When she showed up in Manhattan with Sebastian, my son didn’t even want me to carry him and clung to Dora and cried.

It cracked my heart, making me question every decision I made to keep him safe. Whether I even had the right to bring him into this world.

I was already feeling like a failure.

Did I even think Theo would hand me twenty million dollars out of the goodness of his heart?

He barely knew me. Theo confronted me at a coffee shop, and that meeting snowballed into a tragedy and a cover-up.

Now with Jeremiah King in a coma and incapacitated, Theo was under siege from his board. Of course I understood the excitement my unveiling as a recently found King heiress would generate. The media always loved what was shiny and new. But a larger threat loomed.

As if reading my mind, Theo stared at his tablet. “We may have a stopgap while you decide. I could draw from personal funds. My legal team will have questions about Sebastian’s birth certificate. You have the father’s last name as blank.”

I stared at Theo. “It was a one-night stand.”

His gaze sharpened. “But you know who he is.”

“I’m not sharing that,” I said firmly. “At least, not yet.”

“Will he be a problem to you? Or will he be a problem in the future?”

The pressure of his questions caused the back of my eyes to twitch and throb. Because they were the reasons I was here, and I was trying to juggle too many balls in the air, too many paths to consider, and things were happening too fast. Time to sit on a decision was a luxury I didn’t have. “I’m working on it.”

“Chloe, security is imperative. Your only recourse is to fulfill the terms of the trust.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Because of pride?” Theo derided. “Because our father didn’t pick his mistress? I’m trying to make amends now. I am trying to set things right.”

My chest grew tight, my breathing suddenly became raspy, and standing up seemed like a good idea. The flight response took hold. Despite this vast, lush office space, the walls seemed to fold over me, on my independence, my ability to move around and disappear. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

Theo appeared surprised at my reaction and surged up, brows furrowed. “I’m sorry if I was harsh, but I just don’t understand⁠—”

“There’s plenty you don’t understand,” I snapped.

And one of them was my inability to simply pick up my son and seek comfort in his baby smell. I’d gone past failure and, with money being involved, closer to being a fraud.

Dora caught on to my distress and moved towards Sebastian’s stroller that was parked beside the long couch we were sitting on.

He was awake, his bright blue eyes so like his father’s.

I couldn’t keep Sebastian a secret from him for long. I fully intended to tell him the second I found out who he was, but I needed insurance and insulation.

“He’s got the Kings’ blue eyes,” Theo said.

Theo’s eyes were slate blue, and with the lighting in his office he couldn’t see that Sebastian’s eyes were closer to his father’s piercing cerulean-blue irises.

My brother sank his hands into his trouser pockets. “Go home. I can email you the hashed-out trust documents. Have your lawyers look over them.” He paused, looking again at Sebastian with a grim set to his jaw. “But this boy needs the Kings’ protection.”

“We can discuss it after I receive the amended documents.” Flight response activated. I was getting out of here.

Theo’s answer was a tight nod, or maybe it was because his attention was drawn to the buzz of the intercom.