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

“Is it supposed to feel like this?” Her soft whisper brushed against my cheek.

“I don’t know, but it feels right.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face into my throat.

“It does,” she agreed, her lips moving against my skin. “I’m glad you’re my first kiss.”

I took her chin between my fingers. “Your first, your last, your only.”

Her eyes found mine, heartbreak in them gutting me alive. “Forever.” Her lips found mine for a whispered vow. “However long that may be.”

“It’ll be long,” I rasped into her mouth, loneliness in her eyes screaming and pleading to keep us together. “I’ll find a way out of here. For both of us.”

“Kingston, if I don’t make it⁠—”

I brought a finger to her lips. “Don’t say it.”

She grasped my hand in hers as her chest rattled with a shaky breath. “If I don’t make it, promise you’ll protect my sister.” She squeezed my hand with all her might. “She’s stronger than I am, but not as strong as everyone thinks. Promise me you’ll protect her.”

There was nothing I could refuse Louisa. Fucking nothing. If she asked me to walk into a burning building, I would. If she asked me to burn the world to the ground, I’d only ask when.

“You know I’ll do anything. So if that’s

⁠—”

“There you are!” A voice, similar but so different, cut me off. I looked back over my shoulder, finding her twin fidgeting. “Mother wants to have dinner with us.”

Fuck, I hated their mother. Everything she stood for and everything she was. How in the fuck did someone so evil give birth to someone as good and gentle as Louisa?

Louisa pulled away, and my fists clenched, fighting the instinct to hold on. It was as if I were born with it. Everything about her sparked the protectiveness inside me tenfold.

As she walked away, I didn’t realize it would be the beginning of our destruction.

Her twin was the only thing left behind, a ghost of the woman I lost, but also a temptation. The urge to pretend for a moment—just one moment in this cursed life—that I had Lou back in my life was overwhelming.

I wanted Louisa; I was left with Liana. I vowed to protect Lou, but was left with the promise to protect Liana—even if just for this place in time, here at this fucked-up party.

Maybe Louisa knew all along what was coming? Her death. My lonely existence. The pull toward the wrong sister.

Whatever this was, I had to contain it before it spiraled out of control.

Chapter 19Liana

The Ghost.

Kingston Ashford was the man my mother and Perez were afraid of, one of the most lethal men in the underworld. And he aimed his attention on me. This definitely earned him some points in my book. Although, I didn’t think I’d earned any in his.

I couldn’t quite decide whether this man was watching me with disdain or admiration.

The drive to his apartment had been short. I couldn’t go back to the hotel with splashes of blood all over me, and my accomplice in eliminating Tijuana’s guards insisted I get cleaned up.

I pulled out my phone and checked in with my contact. At least one thing went well today. Nico Morrelli had all the women safely in the shelters.

Another shipment intercepted, I thought proudly.