King of Depravity: Chapter 26

I watch my brother disappear into the stairwell and I have this feeling like I might never see him again.

And it would be my fucking fault.

I never take Killian seriously enough. It’s the simplicity of his intentions or the way he just says what he thinks without lifting his head and being aware of his surroundings.

But tonight, I fucked it up. Because if there is one thing I know about Killian, it is that when he sets a course, nothing alters it.

And he knows how to move without being seen. He’s able to do shit I could never do. And I pushed him away with all that shit I just said about Chloe. How I didn’t trust him or his feelings.

So instead of trusting in me, he’s going to fade into the dark and I might never find him.

Something happened when we were kids that totally changed him. One day he was happy Killian. The happiest kid you’ve ever met, and the next, he went dark. I’m six years older than him and I watched his change. I don’t even know what caused it. He never said, the very fact that a ten-year-old never shared what happened is fucking crazy.

But I should know that Killian is iron. Unbendable. Unshakable.

And then there is Chloe. If I’d forgotten how set Killian can become, what I didn’t understand is that Chloe returns every one of Killian’s feelings. There is no gray.

I’ve only watched one other woman in a crisis cling to her man. Gris’s fiancé Arabella wrapped herself around Gris like her life depended on it. It did. But Gris didn’t appear burdened. Not at all.

He rose like a soldier. No. Like a god of war, fighting for his woman with every muscle in his body.

I wonder what it would be like to feel like that. To have a woman you wished to be your strongest self for.

I push that thought away. I’m not that kind of man.

I didn’t think Killian was either. My mistake because Killian has decided that Chloe is the woman he wants to fight for and if he thinks I’m Chloe’s enemy, there isn’t anything he won’t do, any length he won’t go.

Here is the thing, Mason can outmaneuver us all in business. He’s smart and savvy and even more motivated to conquer the world now that he’s married.

But Killian, with his disregard of the rules, his emotional simplicity, and his ability to stay in the shadows, he could take Mason down with a single stroke of his hand. The Kincaids topple, just like that.

I’ve always known that Killian is the most dangerous of us all. And what he needs right now is my allegiance. I get it.

I leave his bedroom and cross the living room, shaking my head at the damage. It’s insane. Glass is everywhere, holes littering the walls, cabinets, and tile.

In the corner stands Chloe’s easel. The painting is turned away from me, but I can see that the right side of the canvas now has six or seven holes. Tentatively I move toward it, swallowing as I grab the canvas and turn the painting around.

I suck in a deep gulp of air at the sight. 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.

This ache hits me square in the chest and I realize…I’m jealous.

No woman has ever looked at me the way she does him.

I grab the painting and follow Killian and Chloe down the stairs. I know they’re long gone. I shouldn’t have dallied in the apartment so long, for all I know, whoever attacked has a follow-up coming.

But I make it down the stairs and out to my car. Revving the engine, I peel out of the garage, heading home.

On the way, I do as Killian asked, and I call our mother.

It’s three in the morning in Derbyshire, England but she still picks up. “Triston?”

“Did I wake you, mum?”

“No. Couldn’t sleep. But the fact you’re calling so late worries me. What’s wrong?”

I don’t even pretend it’s nothing. I’m thirty-six years old, I don’t make a habit of calling my mother unless it’s a family matter. “It’s Killian.”

I hear her gasp. “Tell me he’s alive.”

“He’s alive,” I grimace. “It’s worse than death. He’s fallen in love.”

“Triston Thadius Smith, don’t you dare joke like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Middle name. Fuck. “I’m not joking. He’s…he’s gone off the deep end.”

“How deep?”

“Like quit the whole family. Wage war on us to protect her.”

“You’d better explain.”

I do. All of it. From my speculations about his change in personality, to how he met Chloe, to how she seems to return his feelings, and how I think I made it worse. She listens silently, the way mothers do, and then when it’s all out, she whispers into the phone. “Who attacked?”

“I think the Russians.”

“And Mason?”

“It’s possible, but I doubt it. Gris is his brother-in-law, and he mostly operates on the right side of the law. I’ve only seen him step over the line when his family was under direct attack and Killian does not pose that threat. Yet. But honestly…” I don’t want to say it. Killian knows how to cut off the head of a snake. He’ll do just that if he’s pushed.

“Mmm,” she says, clearly considering. We get all of our savvy from our mother, so I give her the space she needs to work it out. “Call Mason. But first make sure you’re not being followed.”

“All right.”

“I need the number to Killian’s burner.”

“You know I can’t.”

“Don’t argue with your mother. If you want Killian back in the fold, you’ll do as I say.”

I sigh. I’m the head of a global company approaching its first billion in earnings. And I still have to listen to my mother. “Fine.”

“Should I send your brother?”

She’s talking about our eldest brother, Lord Winston Smith IV, heir to the Duke of Grandmont. He lives in England with her. That is not to say he’s a mama’s boy. If anything, he keeps our mother at a very healthy distance. He does what he wants, and she moves pieces to support his political career.

“No. I am more than capable.”

“Don’t lose Killian, Tris.” Her voice holds a hardness I’ve never heard. “I want to find my lost son again, not watch him slip further away.”

“I’ll do my best.” I don’t make promises I’m not sure I can keep. I hear her dissatisfaction as she hangs up the phone.

I heed her command to make certain I’m not being followed before I pick up the phone and call Mason. I’m not going home. Not yet.

He picks up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“It’s me. We need to meet. Somewhere secure.”

He pauses and I look at the clock. It’s approaching ten.

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency.”

“Your brother dive into the deep end?”

“In person,” I demand, my tone clipped. If I’m going to succeed, my first job is to manage Mason Kincaid. I will not let him know the depth of the threat that Killian poses. Mason might put a target on my brother’s back if he feels threatened.

So I need to make it clear that Killian’s actions are to our advantage.

With a sigh, he texts me an address. I’m there in five minutes, the locked metal gates swinging open for me, though I see no guard. It’s honestly impressive.

I pull into the garage, which is completely empty, and wait. But a minute later, another car arrives. It’s not Mason who gets out, however, it’s Jake Kincaid.

Am I walking into an ambush? I step out of the car, squaring off as Jake approaches. He raises both hands. “I come in peace.”

“Mason didn’t tell me you’d be here.”

“Sorry.” He shrugs off his jacket and turns in a circle, showing me he’s not armed. “I really like your brother, Killian. I want him…”

“What?”

“I want him to join me on the security front. I’ve got loads of technological expertise but he’s miles ahead of me on recon. He sees things, knows things I could only dream of discovering. Together…”

I blink in surprise. I didn’t expect an ally, but it makes my job much easier. “You came here to advocate for Killian.”

“I called Mason just before you. I…” He winces. “I have cameras near Killian’s home. I saw the helicopter and the shooting and was alerting Mason when you called.”

My hands clench. Killian was partially right. The Kincaids are not completely friends if they’ve been spying on us, and I’ve been a fool not to trust my brother more.

Another car arrives, Mason steps out from the backseat. My jaw is set in a hard line as I glare.

But another car is entering the garage. One I immediately recognize as my brother Gris. Mason has stopped. “I knew you would have reservations when Jake told you about the cameras. Gris is here in a show of faith.”

“Did you send that helicopter?”

It’s Mason’s turn to kill me with his eyes. “If I wanted Killian dead, I would never be so garish or so stupid.”

Fair.

Gris gets out of his car approaching in long strides. “What the fuck is going on?”

The four of us stand in a loose circle. “Someone attempted to kill Killian this evening. He’s gone underground with Chloe.”

“Underground?” Mason asks.

“We won’t find him,” Gris says with a shrug. “Unless he wants to be found. He plans for this kind of shit like you would not believe.”

“We don’t need to.” Mason rubs the back of his neck. “I got a text from Dimitri Ivanov this evening. It had footage of Killian killing Alexander. The helicopter was retaliation.”

“Killing Alexander?” Gris’s gaze slashes to me. “What the fuck is he talking about?”

“Chloe went to the bar before hours to quit. Alexander tried to rape her.”

Silence follows my words as each man begins to understand. Every one of them has fallen in love, married. If a man put his hand on one of their wives….

“Would Killian take out the entire Russian Bratva?” Mason asks.

I don’t like the question. Even I know that killing takes a toll on Killian, even though he pretends it doesn’t. “He’s not a fucking assassin.”

Gris meets my eyes, and he gives the briefest jerk of his chin. “We’re sticking to the plan. Meet with the Russians. Put them on notice.”

“Did the video happen to show that Alexander had already killed a Vendetti?”

Mason’s eyes widen in surprise, a smile spreading on his lips. “So they’re already falling out on their own. This is excellent news.”

“Gris is right,” Jake adds. “We have the meeting. Sell Killian’s actions as that of a man in love who lost his temper over his lady. Pretend we’re throwing the Russians a bone by allowing them a second casino in the tunnel deal as an apology.”

We’re all nodding.

But I add, “We should have Killian attend.”

“Why?” Gris asks.

“I agree,” Mason says before I answer. “And let him be as pissed as he wants to be. They should fear him and what he’ll do to them if they don’t fall in line.”

I don’t answer. Because while I agree with Mason, I have no idea if I can convince Killian to come and if I’ll be able to control him if he does.