King of Sloth (Kings of Sin, #4)

by Ana Huang

Xavier came up beside me. “I forgot you know each other.” There was a strange note in his voice, but when I glanced at him, he turned away.

“You have to dance,” he insisted. “It’s one of the island’s rules.” I didn’t budge. “Rules are meant to be broken.” “I didn’t expect a cliché from you, of all people.” His cheeks were flushed from alcohol, and a sparkle brightened his eyes.

Realization dawned. He was flirting with me.

“I like to surprise people every once in a while.” I glanced across the bonfire and caught Xavier’s eye.

He appeared uninterested in what they were saying, but when he saw me looking, his gaze flicked to Luca before he turned to face one of the twins.

my irritation escalating when the twins laughed again at something else Xavier said.

“It’s okay.” Despite his drunkenness, Luca picked up on my embarrassment. “Here.” He placed his other hand on my hip. “Let’s try⁠—” “Don’t bother.” My spine stiffened at the familiar voice behind me. “You’re so drunk, you’ll be lucky if you don’t take both of you down.” An edge ran beneath Xavier’s otherwise affable tone. “Why don’t you sober up and come back?”

“Here I thought you were perfect at everything.”

“I need to give you dance lessons. Can’t have you making me look bad in front of my friends.”

“I’m the one who apparently can’t dance, not you.” “We can change that. I’ve been told I’m an excellent instructor.” “Doubtful.” “You always underestimate me.” “And you always provoke me.”

like it when you get mad. Proves you’re not an ice queen after all.”

“Hey, I wasn’t⁠—” “I have to go.” I pushed past him, my chest tight. His hand touched my shoulder. “Sloane⁠—” “Don’t touch me, and do not follow me.”

“She’s hot. She’s single. I could use a distraction from the Leaf situation.” The burn exploded into a wildfire and set my teeth on my edge. “She’s not the rebound type.” “How do you know?” “I just do.” I slammed my empty drink on the side table. “Go for the Daugherty twins. They’re looking for a good time.”

“Nah. I hooked up with her years ago.” Luca stared up at the sky with a drunk, dreamy expression. “I think Sloane works best. She’s so…shit!” He bolted upright when I knocked over a champagne ice bucket and its contents spilled across his chest. “What the fuck, man?” “Sorry. Must’ve had more to drink than I thought.”

Spanish rom-com onscreen with increasing disgust.

“Te amo,” the actor whispered in Spanish. English subtitles translated what he said. “Nunca te dejaré.” I’ll never leave you.

“It’s not The Bachelor, Luna. The after-the-movie special would just be the actors leaving set.” My head snapped up. Xavier leaned against the entryway, wearing a pair of linen pants, an amused expression, and nothing else.

“And for God’s sake, put on a shirt. You’re not Matthew McConaughey.” His laugh did nothing to ease my annoyance. Two minutes later, he dropped onto the seat next to mine, fully clothed. “Happy? Now you won’t be distracted by my incredible physique.”

“Wait, are we having a bonding moment? Is this the start of a new Xavier and Sloane era?” “Don’t push it.”

“What the hell have you been doing with your bedroom lamp?” Laughter rustled my throat, so quick and unexpected it took me a second to realize the sound came from me.

Shock flashed across Xavier’s face, followed by a slow bloom of pleasure.

“Turning it on,” I said in response to his question. I cringed before the words fully left my mouth. “Oh God. That was terrible.” His howl of laughter drowned out my next words. “Do not ever tell anyone I said that. I—stop laughing.” “Don’t worry.” His shoulders co...

“It wasn’t that funny,” I grumbled. I tried to maintain my sternness, but his amusement was contagious, and soo...

“You go out with your friends all the time, so that’s not true… unless you’re afraid of failing.” Xavier dropped his hand and shrugged. “I understand. No one succeeds at everything.” That fucker. He was good.

Xavier was laughing now, but I was going to make him eat his words.

“Dancing is about movement. You can’t move properly if you’re imitating a petrified piece of wood.”

“Move them in a circle, Luna, not a square.” “It is a circle.” “No offense, but you might need to brush up on your geometry.”

“I’m naming it the Sloane. Bitter at first but with a sweet aftertaste. Just like someone I know.” “You don’t know how I taste.” His smile took on a decidedly more wicked slant. “Not yet.”

“If you had to choose an actual career, what would you choose?” I was genuinely curious. Xavier had never expressed an ambition for any type of job. What made someone like him tick?

“One I’m good at,” he said. “Like?” A cloud passed over his expression before his smile reappeared. “Like teaching you how to dance. I think we’ve taken a long enough break.” He pushed off the wall and poured two shots of whiskey. “One more for courage. Salud.”

A smile still played at the corners of his mouth, but his eyes contained a soft warning.

I turned my head a fraction of an inch, just enough to meet his eyes. I wished I hadn’t. Xavier’s gaze smoldered like a lit match in the dark, scorching every inch of skin and any semblance of distance between us.

He didn’t stop me, and as I closed my bedroom door behind me and slumped to the floor, I hated how a tiny part of me wished he had.

In fact, I was starting to resent their presence because they took time away from Sloane.

“So it doesn’t affect our relationship in any way.” “Of course not.” “Then you have no reason to avoid me.” Recognition of my trap flared in her eyes. “I’m not avoiding you.” “I didn’t say you were,” I replied easily. “I said you had no reason to.”

“Sure. If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. “Xavier…” “Indulge me. This is what people do. Talk.”

“We’ve worked together for years, and I don’t even know your favorite food.” That was a lie. I knew she loved sushi because it was neat and easy to eat on the go. I knew she preferred double cheeseburgers when she was on her period and steak, medium rare, at client dinners unless her client was vegetarian, in which case she ordered soup and salad. She liked her wine white, her coffee black, and her gin with a splash of tonic.

I knew all of these things because despite her assumption that I paid attention to no one except myself, I couldn’t stop noti...

replaced by my friends’ laughter in the background and the touch of concern on Sloane’s face.

“It’s not work, it’s…” Her skin took on the hue of bleached bone. I straightened, concern washing away the remnants of unwanted memories. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing.” She stood, her expression frozen. “I’ll…I’ll be right back.” Did she just stutter? Sloane never stuttered.

Fuck Georgia, fuck the past, and fuck my father’s attempts to guilt me into apologizing for things they’d done wrong. It would be a cold day in hell before I crawled back to them.

What was Sloane doing at the villa? Was she eviscerating some poor rom-com again?

Silver heels added four inches to her height, and her skin glowed like pearls kissed by moonlight. I grimaced. Pearls kissed by moonlight? Where the hell had that come from? I wasn’t a poetic person in the least, but she looked good enough to inspire Shakespeare himself.

“Sloane Kensington entering a nightclub for fun.” I hid my body’s visceral reaction behind a lazy smile. “Someone check the temperature in hell. It must be freezing down there.”

“Sloane.” Luca’s voice was barely audible over the music. “You haven’t looked away from her once since she showed up.” “Because I don’t want her surprising me. She’s like a predator in the wild. You have to keep an eye on her at all times.” “Right.” I could hear the smirk in my friend’s voice. “So you don’t mind if I dance with her then?” My eyes popped open, and I lifted my head to glare at him. “Actually, I do fucking mind, and not for the reason you’re thinking of. That shit will get messy.”

My gaze swung toward the DJ booth, where Sloane was dancing on a neighboring tabletop. Sloane. Dancing. On a tabletop. Hell must be an ice playground by now.

On the bright side, I’d been right. Her stiffness came from overthinking, and when she wasn’t so focused on making every move perfect, she danced…well, she danced in a way that ignited every cell in my body. I rubbed a hand over my mouth, torn between watching and stepping in.

my amusement died a quick death when one of the other club goers climbed onto the table, grabbed her by the waist, and started grinding against her. My reaction was so swift, so visceral, that I couldn’t have explained what happened next if someone put a gun to my head. One second, I was sitting. The next, I was up and across the floor, my vision tinting with scarlet as I bulldozed through the startled crowd.

Whatever they saw in my expression made them scramble out of the way as I climbed onto the table and yanked the guy off her.

“What⁠—” “You have three seconds to leave,” I said, my voice deadly calm. “Three.”