Reign of a Billionaire : A Dark Mafia Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

My heart thundered, my breathing uneven as I made my way to the brown-eyed woman, lowering myself to my knees.

“I’m sorry for what Sofia did to you,” I told her quietly, tears gathering in my eyes. “I want to stop her. I have to stop her.”

My disdain for my mother and everything she stood for colored my voice. I didn’t even bother to hide it.

“What do you need?” Her voice was raspy, like she’d been choked too many times and her vocal cords were damaged.

“What’s your real name?” I asked, and suddenly the temperature in the room dipped ten degrees.

I waited with bated breath, unsure whether I pushed too fast and too hard. She’d suffered enough.

“Lara Cortes.” I gave my head a shake. It couldn’t be any relation to… “My father is… Perez Cortes.”

I stared at her in disbelief, knowing in my heart she wasn’t lying, but I was unable to wrap my head around it. A familiar hand came to my shoulder, squeezing in comfort.

“It can’t be the same man,” I breathed, yet somehow it made complete sense. He took me, so my mother took her.

Lara’s eyes found me and she let out a heavy exhale. “The very same one who sells girls via the Marabella Mobster arrangement.”

The pain inside my chest worsened. My hands started to shake, and a tear rolled down my cheek, soon followed by another. Tears streamed down my face, steady and fast.

“I’m sorry.” Lara’s soft voice, her cries, pierced through my own pain, and I pulled her into a hug.

“Our parents sure made a mess of things, didn’t they?” I croaked, feeling my lips tremble.

Kingston’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Revenge?”

One word, but it was all I needed to strengthen my resolve. I clenched and unclenched my fists, the cruelty of the underworld echoing in the bitterness on my tongue and hollowness in my stomach.

I glanced at Lara, who must have been in agreement. Heart stuttering at this new piece of information, I tried to process it all and understand it, but there were still so many missing pieces.

But there was one thing I was certain of: Lara needed protection. The moment the underworld learned Perez Cortes had a daughter, they’d be after her.

Chapter 57Kingston

I’d been dealing in information and collecting secrets for years, my end goal always being to be untouchable when I came out on the other side. I had become a ghost so nobody could ever get close to me—my siblings and Alexei being the only exceptions.

Soon after the truth had come out at the women’s shelter, we left Greece and headed for my property in Portugal—Lara in tow. After learning her true identity, we couldn’t leave her. Louisa and I agreed she’d fare better under our protection.

The girl had suffered because of who her father was. Once others learned of Lara’s existence, there’d be no mercy shown. Fuck, they’d probably come after Louisa, but I’d protect them both. With Louisa by my side, we would fight anyone who dipped their toe into the filth that was human trafficking. While we were all murderers and sinners, we wouldn’t allow certain lines to ever be crossed.

The atrocities of evil men and women would continue, but we’d never give up. The young boys and girls who found themselves in the clutches of human traffickers would be our responsibility to eliminate. We wanted a better world for these children; one that wasn’t afforded to us.

“I still can’t believe Perez had a kid,” Alexei said, his legs stretched out as he sat in my study. I was at the window looking out at my woman, my sister, and Lara by the coastline. The tightness in my chest eased up, watching Lou smile at my sister and holding Lara’s hand in her own.

Lara gravitated to Lou, and after what they’d both been through, I knew they’d be good for each other. She was under our protection now. We offered the same to the other girls, but they were content to stay in Greece.

“It’s a fucked-up story,” I muttered.

“Do we know why the other girls were taken?” Alexei pierced me with his pale blue eyes. Every child was taken for some reason or another—revenge, blackmail, as a pawn. The other four girls kept their stories close to their chests. It made sense; they were older and probably guarded more secrets. Lara was the youngest, which was probably why she cracked first.

“No, but I have a feeling we’ll be finding out more information.”

They’d all need rehabilitation. They’d need help—physical and mental. The same thing that Alexei provided me with when he saved me.

“Are you going to tell the Omertà about Perez’s kid?” he questioned.

“No.” He didn’t seem surprised. “The girl’s fifteen. She deserves to have a life—a safe one—and her last name will make her a target. Especially after the shit that happened with the latest auction.”

He nodded. “Nobody knows she exists. Let’s leave it that way.”

My mind was still reeling from all we’d learned in the past twenty-four hours. The results for that mystery finger came in today, and they were unexpected.