King of Greed (Kings of Sin, #3)

by Ana Huang

Because when Alessandra angled her chin up and kissed me back, I finally understood, if only for a moment in time, what true contentment felt like.

No yearning, no chasing, no worries. Just her and us. It was all I needed.

I’d kissed my ex-husband. I’d kissed my ex-husband and liked it. What the hell was wrong with me?

Actions spoke louder than words, and in that moment, I didn’t care about the things he’d done or hadn’t done during our marriage.

I simply leaned into him, breathed in the comfort of his familiar scent, and let him hold me together.

That fucker Aiden had tried to stay for dinner as well, but a quick call in the bathroom took care of that problem—he was currently dealing with a vandalization issue at another one of his properties. It was fascinating how much damage one rock could inflict on glass.

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Alessandra threw her hands up, her features painted with frustration. “Do you want me to say I enjoyed the kiss and I don’t regret it even though I should? Fine. I did, and I don’t.

“But I’m living in that world right now, and I’m scared.” Alessandra’s chin wobbled. “I don’t know how to live life without you, Dom. I haven’t dated anyone else in over ten years, and I just…I can’t…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I can’t promise you anything more than I already have.”

“You broke my heart, and you weren’t even there to witness it.”

But I broke her heart once, and I’d let her break mine a thousand times in return if it meant that one day, she found her way back to me.

Our first date. December 21, aka today. It was the first anniversary of ours that I’d forgotten. I’d been too distracted by the mess at the store and the complications of our current relationship.

“No murder before Christmas,” Dante warned me. “Vivian says it’s bad luck.”

Perhaps I was a masochist for carrying her wedding ring around when it reminded me so much of our failures, but like the lighter, it was also one of the only memories of us I could hold.

“I said I’ll stand back and watch you date whoever you want, and I will,” I said. “It’s not my place to tell you what you can and can’t do. But I will not stand back and watch you be disrespected.” Emotion roughened the syllables. “I’ll do anything for you, amor, but I can’t do the impossible.”

“You have no idea what you do to me, Ále.” Warm, strong fingers curved over my hips. “I would destroy the world if it would please you. I would ruin every man who thought he could have you.”

“Fuck me like you mean that, Dom.”

“Do you think I couldn’t tear those papers apart? That ink on a page means anything to me?”

“Do you think I could live without the taste of you on my tongue? Without the sound of your whimpers in my ear as you take my cock?”

I wanted to ask where he’d been all those nights. I wanted to ask why he still wore his wedding ring. I wanted to know how empty these words were compared to the promises he broke time after time.

“I could die in this pussy, Ále. I could die right now, knowing that you are mine.” His hand wrapped lightly around my throat, pinning me to the leather while he moved us into ecstasy.

I just had sex with my ex-husband. The clarity bit at me, but I wasn’t ready to think about what it meant. I’d wanted him, and I’d let him have me.

I missed touching him outside of sex. I missed being able to wrap my arms around him for no reason or give him an absentminded kiss on the cheek when he was working. I missed all the little things that once made us us, but I was also too scared to fall back into my comfort zone.

“I can’t promise anything more than sex.”

Dominic’s eyes flickered in the dim lights. “I can work with that.”

That’s it? I wasn’t sure whether my next breath contained relief or disappointment. I’d expected him to push back, but he seemed willing to follow my guidelines.

I ached for a man I wished I didn’t love yet desperately wanted.

I was no longer an afterthought but an obsession. To be the object of Dominic’s desires was the one thing I’d loved and mourned. I didn’t trust him with my heart, but I trusted him with my body.

I kept my control, but I’d lied to myself. Dominic still owned me.

I wanted to tell her how good she was, how I wanted to bury myself inside her until I was tattooed across every inch of her heart and body and how she would always be mine.

Because that was what it felt like for me. The house was a torturous limbo of memories. It killed me to stay, and it killed me to leave.

“Alessandra’s on a date.” The words tasted sour at the back of my tongue.

“Hasn’t she been dating this whole time?”

“She’s never told me she was going on a date right a...

“I missed you.”

“We saw each other just a few hours ago.”

“I know.”

My pulse slowed like it had been dropped in honey. Don’t fall for it, Ále. ...

But there would always be an emptiness where we used to be.

I didn’t need him, but I missed him so desperately it felt like I did.

I wished we didn’t have to take this road, but part of me was glad we did. As much as Alessandra leaving destroyed me, I would rather suffer through our separation than have her live in silent misery for the rest of our lives.

Saudades de você.” I miss you. In the deepest, truest sense.

“Because I was afraid of getting too attached again. At the penthouse, you asked me to stay, and I almost did. I didn’t want…I don’t…” She inhaled a shuddering breath. “I’m scared I’ll go back and lose myself again. I’m scared you’ll get comfortable and erase the progress we’ve

made. I can’t go through this a second time, Dom. I can’t.”

Pain ravaged his face, but his response was quiet and steady. “The difference is, back then, I thought I had nothing to lose. Now, I realize I have everything to lose.” Sadness reflected in his smile. “You.”

“Give us another chance,” he begged. “One last chance. I swear I won’t fuck it up.

“One last chance.” Dominic’s body sagged with relief at my response. “Please don’t break my heart,” I whispered. That was the only request I had.

“I won’t.”

“I lost you once, and I never want to lose you again.”

He knew how I felt now, and he’d promised time and again he would change. But this was his first big test since we got back together and he wasn’t here.

I didn’t fear dying as much as I feared never seeing her again. Regret hardened into determination. Fuck that. We’d just gotten back together, and we had our entire lives in front of us. I wasn’t letting that go without a fight.