King of Sloth (Kings of Sin, #4)

by Ana Huang

“I think it’s a great start to the week,” he said as we walked to our couples massage. The spa concierge had been so apologetic about the sauna lock-in that she’d added an extra half hour to our treatment. “We survived death. It can only go uphill from here.” I pushed him into a nearby bush.

As she should

“So,” he said, “you think I’m pretty.”

“What do you like about it?” Xavier must’ve missed the memo that massages were meant to be silent. “Everything.” “Bullshit. You don’t like me.”

You jealous Xavier?

“I don’t…” Breathe. I counted to three and tried again. “I rarely dance. Therefore, I don’t need lessons.” “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.

“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.”

AHHHH

“How’s delusion treating you?” I asked, striving for indifference even as I strangled my glass. “Quite well.”

Me too

“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 noticing her if my life depended on it. Every detail, every moment, all filed and categorized in the Sloane cabinet of my mind.

The standard

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “I’m not you. People don’t care what I do in my free time.” “That’s not true.” I care.

Stop

“You’re always telling me to ‘loosen up.’ Now that I am, you have a problem with it?” “I have a problem with some random guy groping you in public,” I snapped. “Why?” Because the thought of anyone else touching you fucking kills me.

Regular families buried the dead and grieved. Families like mine had to issue press statements. Here lies Alberto Castillo, shitty father and guilt tripper extraordinaire. He was emotionally abusive and wished his only son had died, but man, he was a hell of a businessman.

Heart broken for Xavier

We can’t always control our thoughts, but we can control what we do about them.”

Besides…” Xavier’s dimples deepened. “I said your hobbies are boring, not you. I don’t find a single thing about you boring.” My heartbeat stumbled. God, I wished he were an asshole. It would make things so much easier.

I could always count on Sloane to be Sloane. Whenever I was drowning, she was my anchor in the storm.

Perfect hair. Perfect clothes. Perfect skin. She was the picture of flawlessness, but I was starting to see the cracks beneath her polished façade. Instead of detracting from her beauty, they added to it.

“Regardless, I wouldn’t kiss Xavier Castillo if he were the last man on earth,” I said coolly. “He is not my type.” He’s also gorgeous, and kind, and smarter than people give him credit for, a voice sang in my head. I pressed the tip of my pen against my notepad with more force than necessary. Shut up.

Girl stop lying to yourself

“And Dante?” Isabella’s eyes sparkled. “How’s he doing?” “He thinks Josie or I will break if he looks away for more than five minutes.” Vivian rolled her eyes, but her voice was filled with affection. “Did I tell you he tried to hire bodyguards to stand outside her room twenty-four seven? I swear…” My phone pinged with a new text while my friends teased her about Dante’s legendary overprotectiveness. He terrified pretty much everyone around him, but when it came to his wife and daughter, he was a teddy bear.

My sweet Dante I miss you

“Yeah? You think so?” Vulnerability touched his face for a moment before retreating behind a smile.

God he's so cute

Call me delusional,

Me tho

Kissing Sloane had been a mistake. Not because I regretted doing it, but because once I did it, I couldn’t imagine not doing it again.

Jillian!” I called out. Her assistant poked her head into the room. “Yes?” “Has Sloane eaten yet?” “She had a banana and black coffee for breakfast,” Jillian said. “That was right when I came into the office, so around seven forty-five.” “Thank you, darling.” “Anytime.” She beamed at me, ignoring her boss’s death glare before a ringing phone drew her back to her desk. I faced Sloane again. “A banana and coffee doesn’t last three hours. We need fuel.” I pulled out my phone, already ordering an Uber. “Come to brunch with me, and I’m all yours afterward.

When he makes sure she eats

“I promise, there are better places to live than in delusion.” “Better? Maybe. More fun? I doubt it.”

I agree

I could and did take care of myself. I didn’t want to play the damsel in distress, and I didn’t need a man barging in to reiterate things I’d already said. But fuck, sometimes it felt good to have backup, especially when it came wrapped in muscles and devastating charm.

I was the odd one out. I didn’t mind it; I would rather be single and content than in a relationship and miserable. But there were slivers of time when I wondered how it would feel to exist in the world knowing there was someone who loved me totally, unconditionally, and whole-heartedly for who I was instead of who they wanted me to be.

My grin widened. If someone had asked me a year ago what my favorite thing in the world was, it would’ve been a cold drink on a hot beach. Now, it was making Sloane laugh. Seeing her lower her guard and actually be herself never got old.

Next to her, Bentley remained silent. He hadn’t said a word since he saw me, which was for the best. If he opened his mouth, I’d punch him in it. Twice.

She should punch him anyways

I didn’t want her. I needed her. Desperately. 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.

In a world of black and white, she was my kaleidoscope.

Icy green eyes regarded me with impersonal scrutiny. “Xavier Castillo.” Alex Volkov’s voice matched the man: cool, distanced, pitiless. “You’re the last person I expected to ask for a meeting.”

ALEX

What the hell happened? One second, I was working and smiling so much I scared Jillian. The next, I was on the verge of a breakdown over a man.

Xavier’s eyes gleamed bright and turbulent. Playboy, heir, hedonist, flirt—those masks were gone, leaving only the man in their place. Raw in his vulnerability, flawed in many ways, and marred by cracks and bruises beneath a deceptively polished façade. I looked at him, and I’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

Oh god im gonna cry

Some people wallowed after a disaster. Others threw fits of temper. Me? I planned.

Why is this so hard?

Our server approached before I could respond. Bentley ordered a beer, and after a small pause, I ordered a glass of red wine.

Ok but this is big beacuse she doesnt drink red wine, she drinks white. So she is about to throw this jawn in his face. Im so sure

“Let me make a few things clear.” I spoke over him. “One, I would rather sleep with a leprosy-infected ogre before I ever let you touch me again. You are a disgusting, misogynist pig whose brain is inversely proportionate to the size of your giant ego, and you’re lucky I was too young when we met to know otherwise. Two, Georgia has many faults, but she and every other woman who’s unlucky enough to cross your path deserves better than you. I hope the next time she throws a vase at you, she doesn’t miss. Three, Xavier is ten times the man you could ever hope to be. He’s smarter, kinder, and better in bed.” I cocked my head. “News flash, Bentley, you’re not the sex god you think you are. Your technique is shit, and you couldn’t find a clit if the woman drew you a map and marked it with a giant X.” A burst of laughter punctuated the end of my rant.

God damn

Killian Katrakis gave me an enigmatic smile. Name number seven. Half-Irish and half-Greek, Killian was the CEO of the Katrakis Group Corporation, an international electronics, technology, and telecommunications conglomerate. They sold everything from cell phones and computers to TVs and commercial sound systems, the latter of which was the reason for his visit today.

I cant WAIT for his book

She was so fucking beautiful it almost hurt to look at her. I wondered if she knew that.

I wondered if she knew how much she occupied my thoughts and how I counted down the minutes to seeing her again when we were apart. 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.

Ana Huang the women that you are

Before Josephine was born, they’d hosted it at their house, but since they didn’t want to disturb the newborn, they rented out the Valhalla Club’s ballroom for an “intimate” gathering featuring three hundred of Manhattan’s richest and most powerful.

Omg the bathroom scene is soon

Kai studied me in that quiet, thoughtful way of his. Isabella’s face popped up over his shoulder again; this time, she gave me a double thumbs-up. Nailed it, she mouthed. “Isa, love, stop talking to Sloane behind my back,” he said without turning around. Her face fell. “How do you always know? I swear you’re not human,” she grumbled. “But fine, I’ll hang out with Ále until you’re done. She and Dom better not be hooking up in the library again…”

God I love these characters

“Believe me, don’t believe me. It’s not my job to convince you of your husband’s infidelity.” My voice cooled another degree. “But there’s an old saying, Georgie: if he cheats with you, he can cheat on you.” I paused, letting pettiness take the wheel. “There’s also another saying: karma’s a bitch.”

POP OFF

“Worry less about my relationship with Xavier and more about your own marriage,” I said, my voice cold and calm. “It took one chance encounter for Bentley to try and come crawling back to me. I don’t want him anymore, of course, nor will I ever want him again. Unlike other people, I prefer partners who understand the concept of loyalty, but I can easily walk away and never give that man another thought. You, on the other hand, are stuck with him.” I offered a casual shrug. “Perhaps try marriage counseling or therapy. I imagine being someone’s second choice is difficult, but you should be used to that by now. You seem to want only the things I’ve had first.”

Jaw. Dropped.

And I wondered, my mind flipping from the first time we’d met in her office to this moment right here, right now, just how in the hell I’d fallen in love with Sloane Kensington.

That was right. I, Sloane Kensington, had willingly invited someone to stay—count them—one, two, three nights with me, and I didn’t dread it. Who even am I?

MEEE

“You kept asking me why I called you Luna. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid it would send you running for the hills. Even before we kissed, before we were anything other than a publicist and her client, you were a light in my life. A persistent, sometimes scary one, but a light all the same.” Xavier’s throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “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.”

Love is so beautiful

Or maybe I was just fucking delusional.

ME

Sloane was obviously exhausted, but even with faint purple smudges beneath her eyes and lines of tension bracketing her mouth, she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. It had nothing to do with her looks and everything to do with who she was. Smart, fierce, and so damn mine.

Damn right shes yours

“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.”

Otherwise, he’ll learn that children aren’t always as forgiving as wives.”

This goes so hard