King of Sloth (Kings of Sin, #4)

by Ana Huang

I’m afraid of letting someone in again. I’m afraid of getting my heart broken. I’m afraid that, if you get to know the real me, you’ll find me unlovable like everyone else, and it’ll hurt so much more because it’s you.

“You would rather watch a rom-com about a witch and a plumber falling in love than attend a costume party with celebrities?” “One hundred percent. As long as I’m watching it with you.”

“You think you know me so well,” I whispered, even though he was right. “Only parts of you.” The gentle brush of his thumb against my hand unlocked a colony of butterflies in my stomach. “But we’ll get there.”

the most driven, passionate people I know, even if you may show it differently than others, and you built one of the best PR firms in the world in five years. You think someone without passion can do that? And even if you were quote unquote ‘cold’ to your asshole ex, he deserved it. If he doesn’t appreciate you for who you are, then he damn well doesn’t deserve your time or energy.”

I needed her the way the ocean tides needed the moon, and I would give anything for her to feel a fraction of the same way toward me.

I’d spent my whole life chasing the next high. When you had everything, everything got boring fast. I wanted bigger, better, faster. I wanted something that would last, and when Sloane rolled to the side and curled up against me, I knew I’d found it.

“You say you don’t buy that I’ve changed so much, so fast, but not all change is gradual,” I said slowly, forming my words as I went. “Sometimes, an unexpected event forces us to step up in ways we haven’t before, or we meet someone who changes our outlook. It happens

every day. My father’s death was one of those triggers for me.”

“I’m not proud of the time I’ve wasted, but I’m trying to make up for it now.” I met Alex’s gaze with a steady one of my own. “Have you ever done something you regretted? Something you were desperate to fix but relied on someone, somewhere taking a leap of faith on you for it to change?”

“It’s never too late for change. If you’re unhappy with the road you’re traveling, you can choose a new one at any time.”

I wondered if I’d upended her life the way she had mine, to the point where the pieces would no longer fit if she weren’t there, because she wasn’t a pit stop; she was the destination.

“Luna is short for mi luna. My moon. Because no

matter how dark the nights got, you were always there, shining so brightly that I always found my way through.”

“I don’t know when it happened. One day, you were someone I was stuck with if I wanted to keep my current lifestyle. The next, you were…you.” A sad smile touched Xavier’s lips. “Beautiful, brilliant, and so damn caring beneath that mask you present to the world. You can try to hide it, but it’s too late. I’ve seen the real you, with all its perfect and broken pieces, and I love every single one of them.”

“I’ve been falling in love with you day by day for years, and I didn’t even know it,” he said, his voice thick. “Well, now I know it.”

He made me feel everything when I’d thought I could feel nothing, and that realization led to an undeniable truth: I loved him, so much so that I couldn’t breathe, and I’d pushed him away because I knew love would only end in heartbreak.

“I love you, Sloane, and if you think I’m letting you go that easily, you’re mistaken. I’ve spent half my life running from the hard stuff and taking the easy way out because I’d never wanted anything enough to work for it.” I swallowed. “Then I met you, and I finally understood what people meant when they said love is worth fighting for. I know it sounds like a cliché, and if you heard this in a movie, you’d probably write a scathing review about it”—Sloane choked out a laugh—“but I mean it. I’ve learned to fight for what’s important, and there’s nothing in this world that’s more important to me than you. Not the club, not my inheritance, not my reputation.”

I know you think happily ever afters are unrealistic, Luna, but they don’t have to be. You just have to believe in them enough for yourself.

Me and Xavier, the most unlikely of couples. Opposites in so many ways, yet similar in so many others. He knew every part of me intimately—mind, body, and heart—and he loved me not despite but because of my flaws. We’d seen each other at our worst, yet we’d fallen in love anyway.

“Love isn’t about perfection, Luna; it’s about imperfect people creating their own version of happily ever after. And while I don’t know everything, I do know this: Every version of my happily ever after will always include some version of you.”

“I love you,” I murmured. “Más que cualquier otra cosa en el mundo.”