King of Depravity (Kings of Las Vegas #1)

by Tammy Andresen

My instincts are never wrong, and that guy is a psycho.

I’m a man who operates in the shadows. She can’t hide in that place, it belongs to me.

I don’t have much of a moral compass, even my family senses it, and they treat me differently because of it.

I don’t actually like it when women cry. It breaks something inside me.

I’ve learned the hard way that begging only makes it more fun for the man and worse for me. So, I remain silent.

I try to avoid trouble, I really do. But it’s got a habit of finding me.

Clothes are part of how I express myself. They are the palette that I share with the world, unlike my paintings, which are way too personal.

I’d like to tell him that it’s not my problem, but Killian will make it my problem.

I didn’t like the sound of her cry, or the way she said please, like I was about to slit her throat. There is a particular way people who are about to die beg…like there is no ego left, only a plea for humanity. I’m normally immune, but I don’t like the sound when Chloe makes it.

My girl knows how to put a face back on. And while it’s impressive, it’s become clear that someone taught her to do so, after they made her suffer.

I study the paintings on the wall again, my breath catching. I love every one of them, the one of her face in pieces best of all. It’s dark, gritty and when I first looked at it last night, it made me feel…seen.

It’s the fucking please that gets me. She begged me in the same way earlier, when she asked me to not put her on her knees. I hated the way she sounded then, broken and battered, like I’d wrung out the last of her dignity.

It’s not lost on me that this is the second time she’s made me promise something. Does my girl struggle to trust?

I’ve already decided that this is too good to just be a random hookup.

“It does feel better to have told you.” Those words break something in my chest and I’m hauling her up my body, curling myself around her.

No woman has ever kissed me like that. They’ve kissed me like they want me. But they’ve never kissed me like I’m something that should be cherished.

He has no idea what it feels like to know you are born of darkness. And what I’m starting to understand, is that Chloe knows about the dark.

“I’m your monster, sweetheart. Let me in so I can protect you.”

When I wake up, I will start putting Chloe’s life on the path she deserves. It will not be worse because I entered it, I’m determined to make her world better.

For the first time in a while, I feel like things are actually getting better and I am moving toward my goals. That usually means my world is about to fall apart.

No one has ever loved me like this. Made me feel cared for, made me feel wanted. Not just for my looks, or my money, Chloe…she values me.

It’s the moment I know that’d I do anything for this woman. Anything.

I know Chloe’s got this thing about people helping her. I assumed it was pride, but this doesn’t sound like pride. It sounds like fear…

“I don’t give a shit about stuff, and I don’t care what you take from my life, Chloe. Take as much as you want. It’s still way nicer to have you here.”

But I can’t just take from people around me. It fills me with loathing and dread.

like that I don’t have to wonder what your true intentions are. I always just know. Even when I don’t like them, I know them and then I can respond to them. That is what makes me feel safe with you, when I don’t with anybody else.”

No one accepts me for who I am. They all look at me with worried eyes, even my family treads cautiously around me, leaving a wide path.

I can’t quite believe it, but she’s given me things that she’s given no other man. And I’m giving her something I’ve never given another woman…my heart. I’m falling in love.

I’d break for her any day.

“You are the only woman I have met who has ever made me feel seen. I know I’m not a credit card to you, Chloe, and a man can’t put a price tag on that feeling.”

Chloe needs to stay with me. If anything happens to her, the entire world will see the depth of my insanity. I will burn the whole fucking thing down. My family. The Kincaids. Vegas. I will reduce it to ash and rubble.

But I’ll take this. Just knowing she’s safe in my home. And I’m going to have to figure a way for both of us to get out of this mess. Because I’m comfortable in the shadows. But it’s no place for Chloe to live. She deserves the light.

Even if she doesn’t choose me, and let’s be honest, she might not, she has to know that I will always protect her. That there are forces out there way worse than me, and I will always be her harbor in a storm.

“I will not let anyone hurt you, sweetheart. Not ever. You’re my girl to care for. Always.”

“I would never hurt you, Chloe. Never. It’s not a promise, it’s a vow. You could burn me to the ground, and I’d still give you everything.”

“I meant what I said, Chloe. You are my forever. It doesn’t matter if you never speak to me again after tonight. You could curse my name. You could turn me into the police and leave me to rot in prison. You’re imprinted inside me, and I will be yours until my last breath.”

I was made from violence, and it lives in my blood and in my soul.

“You’re not listening. She is my family. And if anyone, and I mean anyone, tries to hurt her, the consequences are going to send the whole of Vegas crashing down.”

It’s a painting of Killian, and it steals my breath. Did I call Gris the god of war? In this piece Killian is God himself, holding within him the entire universe, his strength keeping it all together. It’s beautiful and powerful, and if I had any doubt that Chloe returned Killian’s feelings, I can’t deny what I see. Killian isn’t just her world, he’s her universe, her God.

Holding it in the air, I eye him with all the alpha I possess. “This is the last time you question me and I justify my actions. If you don’t have faith in me, my sanity, or my allegiance, there is no place for me here.”

“Because wherever you are is where I’m home.”

“We’ve actually been trained for royalty. And no one knows how to keep power like a royal.”