King's Reign

by Nina Levine

  She drew in a ragged breath as she curled her fingers around mine at her neck and tried to prise them off. I gave that to her because I wanted her to talk. When I let go, she said, “I’m not bullshitting you, King. That stuff stresses me out. Some days it feels like I’m drowning. Like I literally can’t breathe under all the stuff I have to deal with.” She glanced down for a moment, turning silent, before meeting my gaze again and placing her hand to my chest. “I’m also feeling a little overwhelmed by you, I think. Like, not in a bad way. It’s just a lot so soon, you know? A month ago, I didn’t even know you, and look at us now.”

  “So you bring that to me when you’re feeling like this. You don’t ever shut that shit down and hide it from me. I’m not a fucking mind reader, Lily.”

  Her brows shot up. “Are you fucking kidding me, right now? I just laid my feelings out for you, was as honest as I could be, and you give me that? And for the record, I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I was trying to process it all myself so I didn’t have to worry you with it. I know these feelings are just because this is so new and so fast.”

  I gripped her waist. “My job is to worry. Your job is not to fucking worry. I don’t care if what you’ve got to tell me will rip shit apart, because I will put that shit back to-fucking-gether. So in future, you bring me your feelings and anything else you’ve got, and hand them to me.” I bent to growl into her ear. “My job is to take care of you, and I don’t give a flying fuck how long I’ve known you, you are mine now, and I will go to the fucking ends of the earth for you.”

  When I pulled my head back, I found her staring at me. This lasted for a good few moments, and then it was like a switch had been tripped. Her hands landed on my cheeks, and with the kind of force that caused my gut to tighten, she dug her fingers in and pulled my face to hers. Our lips smashed together, and she kissed me with wild fucking recklessness. She wrapped one leg around my body and used it to fucking climb me, adding her other leg until she’d positioned herself where she wanted to be, arms and legs encircling me, mouth still kissing the fuck out of me.

  I dragged my lips from hers. “You wanna kiss me like that, you need to be prepared for me to fuck you,” I rasped. This was not the fucking time for sex. Nor the place. But hell if I would be able to stop myself if she continued down this path.

  She squeezed her legs around me. She was fucking panting with lust. “Lock the door. You can be quick, but fuck, I need you inside me right now.”

  I ground my teeth together. “Your kids are right the fuck out there, Lily. You really want them to hear me fuck you?”

  “King, for the love of all things good, just fuck me already. I guarantee you they all have their headphones on. Most of the time that pisses me off, but I’m starting to think it might not be such a bad thing.”

  I was no fucking saint. With her clinging to me, I took the few steps to lock the door before sitting her on the washing machine that was shaking its way through the spin cycle. She reached for my jeans and madly pulled my cock out, like a fucking starved woman. That shit only got me harder. Pulling her off the machine, I spun her around, forced her down over it, shoved her dress up, and yanked her panties down. And as the machine vibrated and shook, I grabbed her hair and pulled her head back while pounding into her so fucking violently that she would feel me for days.

  It didn’t take either of us long to come. I couldn’t recall any time in my life that I’d orgasmed so fast. That was the effect Lily fucking had on me.

  As she pulled her panties up, her eyes met mine. “When I said I was overwhelmed by you, I just meant that I wasn’t looking for a relationship when you came along. And you aren’t like other guys. You’re intense and fast. It’s not a bad thing, though. I like that you’re always here and that it feels like I’ve known you forever even when I know hardly anything about you. I mean, I can’t even explain it—I just feel like this is so right, this thing between us. Like it was meant to be. God, and now I’m rambling and—”

  I put my finger to her mouth to quiet her. “I have to go away, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back. Might be a day, might be a few. While I’m gone, I’m gonna have some of my guys watching you and the kids. And before you give me hell over that, there’s some shit going on with my club that has put you in danger. I don’t want to scare you, but you need to why I’m doing this.”

  Concern flickered in her eyes. “How bad is this? Like, how worried do I have to be for the kids? You’re freaking me out here.”

  “Remember when I said it’s my job to worry?” At her nod, I continued, “Let me do my job. All you need to do is go about your business like normal. I’ll handle the situation, and then I’ll come home and shit will go back to normal.”

  “You’re not going to tell me what’s going on, are you?”

  I shook my head. “No. You need to learn to trust me when shit like this comes up.”

  She watched me silently, processing that. I waited for an argument, like all the females in my life liked to give me, but in the end, she nodded and said, “Okay.”

  Fuck.

  Some of the tension in my shoulders eased.

  How the hell had I been blessed with a woman like Lily?

  She finished straightening her clothes as I zipped myself up. When she was done, she asked, “Are you staying for dinner, or do you have to leave straight away?”

  “I’m not leaving until ten tonight. I’m here till then.”

  A smile settled across her face. “Good. I’ve got some jobs for you. And also, prepare yourself to watch re-runs of the royal wedding.” At the arch of my brow, she lifted hers too and said, “Trust me, Harry gets me hot. You’re gonna want me to watch those re-runs.”

  Fucking hell, this woman.

  I jerked my chin towards the door. “Go. Get your list of jobs for me.” After she hit me with one last smile and turned towards the door, I said, “And Lily?” She looked at me. “I will never be like other men. When I know what I want, I don’t fuck around. I make sure I get it. And while I may have fucked up with you once, that shit won’t happen again. You take whatever time you need to wrap your head around this relationship. I’m not going anywhere.”

  20

  King

  I eyed the house Hyde, Winter, and I stood outside as the cold Melbourne wind whipped around us. Motherfucking winter had come a few months early. Not only were we dealing with wind, but rain had poured down on us at least once every hour since we’d arrived in this fucking city about six hours ago.

  Melbourne and I were not friends. Never had been. I’d tried to avoid coming here after a crazy African motherfucker had attempted to cut my head off years ago. The assholes down here pulled some shit I wasn’t a fan of. However, now that I’d decided to set up shop here, I figured I needed to get over my shit and find some fucking joy in the place. Today didn’t look like it would be the day for that.

  “You ready, King?” Hyde asked.

  I pulled out my gun. “Yeah, brother. Let’s shake some fucking shit up.” With that, I drove my foot into the back door of the joint and kicked it in.

  The heavy metal blasting through the house assaulted every one of my senses. That and the smell of weed filling the place. Winter had come through with this address after digging through all of Brant’s known associates and visiting them one by one. Hyde and I had tagged along to two other places so far today, and I was really fucking hoping this would be our last stop. I was always down for some fun, but this fucking weather did my head in. I wanted to deal with Brant, get Ivy out of this shithole town if she was with him, and get back to the woman who had settled herself deep in my soul.

  We made our way towards the voices we could hear, and when we entered the dining room where a guy and a girl sat smoking pot, I pointed my gun at them and said, “You’re having a fucking party and forgot to invite us.”

  The guy shoved his chair back, stood, and pointed his gun at us. “And who the fuck are you motherfuckers?”

  Before he had a cha
nce to pull the trigger, Winter had him in a chokehold. “Put the gun down, asshole. We just wanna chat.”

  As the asshole attempted to fight Winter off, the girl made a grab for my gun. I saw her coming and reached my hand out to push her back down into her chair. “Stay the fuck down unless you want a bullet through your fucking head,” I snarled.

  She spat at me. “Fuck you!”

  Jesus, I didn’t need her shit today. We’d come for one reason today and it didn’t concern her. Aiming my gun at the wall behind her, I shot at it, over her shoulder. The intent was to frighten the fuck out of her so she’d sit down and stay quiet. I didn’t achieve my goal. The dumb bitch lunged at me instead, so I found myself in a fucking wrestling match with her.

  “Fucking hell,” I roared as I wrapped my arms around her and barrelled her backwards into the wall. When I had her there, I grabbed her around the neck while pressing my gun to her temple. “You want this?” I demanded. “Because I’m not fucking above killing a woman if she gets in my way.”

  “Carly!” the guy yelled out. “Stop!”

  Her eyes flicked to the guy, and whatever she saw there did the trick. Her body went limp and she stopped fighting me.

  I kept my gaze trained on her. “You done?”

  Her lips flattened, anger surrounding her, but she nodded and said, “Yes.”

  Dragging her back to the chair, I shoved her down before turning back to the guy. “Now, can we agree to have a chat or do you need some further encouragement?”

  Winter eased the pressure around the asshole’s neck when he nodded, but didn’t let him go completely.

  “You had a visit from a guy called Brant this morning. Presumably, you sold him a gun. And after doing a little digging, we’ve worked out that you two have done business together before and have spent some time getting shitfaced with your favourite strippers. So what I want from you is every-fucking-thing you know about him and an address for where I will find him today.”

  He stared at me. “You’re joking, right? Like I fucking know where he’s gone today.”

  I stretched my neck to one shoulder and then the other. I also inhaled deeply and then exhaled while I contemplated how best to deal with him. Wasting time wasn’t high on my priority list for the day, but the idea of drawing this out had woken my monster, and now I wanted to dedicate some time to getting blood on my hands.

  “I never joke,” I said, moving closer. Putting my gun away, I flexed my hands before making a fist and jamming it in his face. As he grunted and lifted his eyes back to mine, I said, “You wanna try answering my question again?”

  His lip pulled up angrily. “Nah.”

  “Fuck,” Hyde muttered as I took another swing at him.

  Adrenaline coursed through me as my body hummed with the dark thrill the sight of blood gave me. I jerked my chin at Winter, indicating he could step away.

  “Last opportunity, motherfucker. After that, I’ll beat the information out of you, and you’ll wish you just started speaking a whole lot sooner.”

  “Go to fucking hell,” he spat.

  I grinned, the beast deep inside me screaming to life for this shit. Torture and pain were my beast’s vices, and for the next ten minutes, I gave him what he craved. The asshole took blow after blow. He lasted longer than I figured him for. The crazy fucker. He was a skinny bastard with not a lot of meat on his bones, and he didn’t look like he’d stand up to much of a fight, but he surprised the fuck out of me.

  Ten minutes and a whole lot of blood and broken bones, though, and he was done. Lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, he begged me to stop. “He’s probably at his place on Rutherford Street. He was raving on about setting up base there and that he figured his woman would like it there.”

  Ivy.

  Thank fuck she was okay.

  That knowledge released some of the tension from my shoulders and neck.

  Hyde stepped in and got everything he knew about Brant from him.

  I was already focused on what was to come next.

  The fucking end of all this bullshit.

  We still had the feds to deal with, but once Brant was taken care of, I would breathe a whole lot fucking easier.

  It was almost too easy to get into Brant’s place. For a guy who’d pulled off some intricate fucking shit, he sure as shit didn’t have his house well secured. It concerned me that this was perhaps a setup, but once we were inside and had spoken to Ivy, I came to the realisation we were simply dealing with someone who’d achieved his goals by sheer fucking luck.

  Brant was out when we arrived. We found Ivy watching television, not a hair out of place on her head, completely surprised to see us. And pissed off that we’d forced our way into the place.

  “Was it really fucking necessary to break the door down and scare the absolute shit out of me?” she demanded, glaring at me. “You could have just knocked.”

  “Not if Brant was in here we couldn’t.”

  She frowned. “Huh?”

  “He’s not a good guy, Ivy. He shot a woman tied to the club and left her for dead. Where is he now?”

  Her eyes widened. “Umm, I don’t know. He said he had some stuff to take care of.”

  I glanced at Hyde. “You and I will wait until he gets back. Winter can take her now.”

  “What? Take me where? You can’t just come here and boss me around again,” she said, her shoulders pushed back like she was ready for a fight.

  “You’re not fucking safe here, Ivy.”

  “I don’t—”

  I cut her off. “You need to get your shit together and leave with Winter. We don’t have time to fucking stand around arguing over this.”

  Before she could respond to that, the sound of the front door opening and closing filtered through to the lounge room, and Brant called out, “I’m home, Ivy. Where are you?”

  I put my finger to her mouth to silence her and jerked my chin at Hyde. He took the few steps to position himself behind the wall near the entry to the lounge. Winter also moved out of sight. When Brant stepped through the entryway, his eyes came directly to me, darkening with displeasure as they did.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, glancing between Ivy and me. “If you’ve come to get her, she’s with me now.”

  I pushed Ivy behind me. “No, asshole, she’s with me.”

  He advanced our way, his face a storm of hatred. “You’re a smug fucker, King, but this time you’re wrong. This time, Ivy chose me, not you. She finally woke up to the fact you treated her like shit all those years you were together. And she realised I would never treat her that way.”

  “Until the day she changes her mind,” I snarled, “And then you’ll just stalk and murder her, you sick fuck.” At the surprise on his face, I said, “Yeah, we know who you really are, Brant, and we know your history with women. I haven’t had a chance to tell Ivy yet, but once I do, you really think she’s gonna choose you?”

  Ivy inhaled sharply and stepped from behind me to face Brant. “Is that true?”

  His face twisted into an ugly canvas of malice. “They’re lying to you, Ivy. He always lies to you.”

  I grabbed her bicep and tried to pull her back behind me, but she refused to budge. Instead, she took a step toward him. At the same time, he pulled a gun out and aimed it at her.

  Motherfucker.

  No fucking way was he getting a round off.

  I lunged for her as he pulled the trigger.

  The gun fired, the sound deafening as I lurched toward Ivy.

  A second gunshot rang out, and Hyde bellowed something out I couldn’t understand. I was too focused on getting to Ivy that I could barely make out what he was doing, but I did see him charging toward Brant.

  I collided with Ivy, covering her body with mine, and we went down.

  A moment later, a thud echoed on the floor next to me.

  I looked up to find Winter rolling Brant over before Hyde stood over him and shot him. Moving off Ivy, I stood and eyed Brant w
ho lay dead at my feet.

  Looking at Hyde and Winter, I said, “We need to get the fuck out of here now.

  Hyde nodded. “Yeah, brother. You good?”

  “Yeah.” The shot Brant fired at Ivy missed both of us, thank fuck.

  “King.”

  I turned to Ivy who stood staring at me in horror. “Was that stuff true about Brant?”

  “Yeah.” When she didn’t say anything to that and just kept staring at me in shock, I reached for her. “You need to pack a bag, and we need to leave. And if you try to fucking argue with me, I’ll put you over my shoulder and carry you the fuck out of here.”

  She blinked and then nodded. “Okay.”

  Ten minutes later, we were on our way to the premises Winter had found for Storm to operate out of. Romano was out of the picture, Brant was out of the picture, and Ivy was safe. We would finalise some plans with Winter for what he had to do going forward, and then we’d go the fuck home. And once we’d taken care of the feds, life could get back to fucking normal.

  21

  King

  I stood in the doorway and watched Ivy at the kitchen table talking with Brian. I’d brought her to the women’s shelter that he ran for us yesterday and she hadn’t been happy with that decision. She’d argued with me for a good half hour over it until I’d had enough and told her to pull her head in. I’d left not long after that, hoping like fuck she stayed. It had been a long night of little sleep while my thoughts thrashed about in my head.

  I’d come to the decision I couldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to do. Fuck knew, I’d forced enough upon her in the years I’d known her. And not all good things. It was up to her what she did now. I would help her in whatever way she asked, but I had to take a step back and let Ivy live her life to her own plan.

  Brian glanced my way and stood. “King, we were just wondering what time you’d come by.”