Page 253 of Lethal King

Even from a distance, I recognize the lone man at the head of the table.

Adriano Sabatino.

His hate practically seethes through the warm air.

He hates me. And I hate him. A year ago, I would have killed him without a second thought. But doing something like that now would only hurt the man I love.

So, instead, I’ve come to help Rian negotiate with the unhappy don.

“Rian. Rozalia.” Adriano nods as we approach his table. There are two empty seats beside his. We don’t take them. Not quite yet.

“Adriano,” Rian replies, his voice rigid and stern. “I’m glad you’ve finally decided to talk to us.”

“Yes, I’m glad you accepted my invitation,” he says. “The other dons will show up momentarily. But first, I’d like to talk to you privately and apologize for my past insolence. You must forgive me, I—"

“He doesn’t have to do anything,” I hear myself interrupt. With a subtle side step, Rian places himself between me and the infuriating don.

Fuck. I promised myself I wouldn’t cause any trouble. But sometimes, that’s still hard to do.

Old habits die hard, after all.

“Yes, of course,” Adriano quickly agrees. “The king does as he pleases, with whomever he pleases.”

Despite his obedient words, I can see the Italian just barely holding back a sneer.

He’ll never forgive me for ruining his plans. The idiot still thinks I’m the reason Rian didn’t want to marry his underage daughter.

Moron.

A man this stupid shouldn’t be afforded a position in our empire. But Rian insists that the Italians are too important to cast aside. So, we must learn to work with them—or, at the very least, we must try.

It’s not going to be easy.

“What are your terms?” Rian asks. Pulling out a chair, he rests his powerful hands on the crest rail. His sleeves are rolled up, and his thick veiny forearms bulge with strength.

I bite my bottom lip.

Sometimes, I just want to beg Rian to leave this royal life behind and run away from me. Then, we could spend all day fucking.

Adriano starts talking, but I don’t listen. Gazing around the grand ballroom, I let my mind wander.

I picture a cottage in the hills, like the one Tytus and I bought for Babcia in the countryside. I imagine an entire litter of kittens making a mess of the place. I imagine a sturdy bed and all the privacy anyone could ask for. I imagine keeping some of our underworld connections, just so we could slip into the city and have a little fun every once in a while.

All of my life, I’ve wanted to be powerful beyond belief. I’ve wanted to be richer and stronger than everyone else. But I only wanted that so I could finally be free.

Now that I have all that at my fingertips, I realize freedom doesn’t come from power.

It comes from love.

A quiet existence could be enough now.

… Or it could be boring as fuck.

Shit. Who the hell knows?

“Where’s he going?” I ask, slowly coming back down to earth.

Adriano has turned his back on us and started to walk away from the table.