Page 47 of Inked in Devotion

If Chloe hadn’t been with me, I would have fucked with them. Maybe stepped out of the vehicle and smashed a camera on the reporter’s head.

Sebastian was enjoying his toys in the TV room. Dora was watching him.

Lucy held out her tablet to Chloe, explaining the structure of the board. “The board hasn’t given Theo control over Jeremiah’s shares yet. And you hold a four percent beneficiary share and one vote. Twelve percent is owned by handpicked allies with three votes. The fifty percent institutional representatives⁠—”

“Institutional representatives?” Chloe asked.

“The hedge funds, banks, index funds—they’re the largest threat. They have six votes.”

I crossed my arms to resist from commenting. I had no patience for boardroom politics. Kirill or Maks told me who to intimidate, gave me preliminary background checks, and I did the rest. I dug further and then found which buttons to push. But Chloe’s presence muted the excitement that usually followed a job prospect. I didn’t want to leave her and Sebastian. They grounded me in this house with no desire to go hunting.

“So, what do you suggest?” Chloe asked. “It’s been radio silence from Theo.”

“They’re going to look for stability.” Lucy looked over Chloe’s head at me.

Chloe spun on me, glaring. “If you hadn’t been sabotaging my marriage prospects, I might have found a suitable match by now.”

“If someone’s name is going to be on that covenant, it’s going to be mine,” I growled before I could stop myself.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. My declaration temporarily displaced the exhaustion in her eyes. “You said you’re not the marrying kind.”

“It looks like we have no choice.”

“Well, I’m making the choice for you. No thanks!”

Lucy laughed. “This shouldn’t be amusing, but it is. You need lessons in proposing.” She sucked her cheeks in before saying, “Maybe from my brother.”

“Fuck no,” I muttered.

“You know what? I don’t know why I let Theo talk me into that covenant anyway,” Chloe said.

“He thought we were a danger to you. Now you can see that we’re just like any family except we’re more decisive”—psychotic—“about protecting our own.”

“The thing is, this is the twenty-first century. I don’t need to get married just because I have a baby,” Chloe declared.

“And I’m with you on that, except half of the twelve percent preferred stock is old money and conservative. Theo needs those votes,” Lucy said.

“I just want this to go away.” After getting fired up earlier, her weariness returned. She folded her arms over the countertop and rested her forehead on it, before lifting her head to take a gulpful of wine.

Do you want me to go away too? I didn’t ask. A thorny ball of uncertainty wedged itself in my throat. This odd emotion I couldn’t place, never experienced, couldn’t describe. Not a simple desire. It was an ache rooted inside me that needed Chloe and Sebastian to stay.

While Chloe groaned into her wine and Lucy commiserated, I walked over to where Dora was watching my son.

The TV was on the news.

“They’re digging up Renée’s history.” Dora grabbed the remote to shut it off. “They brought up Esther’s stay at The Astorian Wellness Center. How Duncan broke her heart and she never recovered her mental state after the affair. How it cast a shadow on Theo’s marriage and led to the bitter divorce. The tabloids are blaming Chloe for coming forward as a King, and one news channel even said maybe the best thing for her is to disappear so the stock market would settle.”

“Who are they?” I asked sharply.

“Don’t tell him, Dora,” Lucy said. “Kirill doesn’t need a mess to clean up.”

“I clean up my own messes.” I glared at Lucy. “Or are you forgetting my position in this organization?” I shot Dora a smile that was all teeth. “I’m the head of security.”

Dora rolled her eyes.

“But let’s be honest,” Lucy shot back. “Your judgment is impaired.”

I narrowed my eyes.