Empire of Sin (Empire #2) by Rina Kent

“So he’ll hate you?”

My lips tremble. “Yeah.”

“That means he’ll hate me, too, and I’m not game for that. So you’ll have to give me something more to go on with this plan.”

I take a deep breath. “I’m leaving.”

He lets his hand fall to the side and tilts his head as if I finally have his undivided attention. “Why?”

“Because I’m a danger to his life, and if I stay, he’ll be dead in no time.”

Daniel doesn’t react strongly. In fact, he doesn’t react at all, which is to be expected of a lawyer, I guess. He leans against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. “Explain in more detail.”

“And you’ll help me?”

“If your goal is to protect him, I will.”

Okay.

I can do this.

If there’s anyone who can help me keep Knox away, it’s Daniel. Even if it means hurting him in the process.

However, no amount of emotional pain compares to what would happen to him if he insists on staying with me.

Surprisingly, the words don’t feel heavy when I confess to Daniel, “Because my father is the leader of the New York Russian mafia and Knox is under threat because of that.”





33





KNOX





The need for violence hasn’t left my system.

If anything, it’s growing and intensifying, despite being in the process of murdering the punching bag in my building’s gym.

I keep pummeling on and on, imagining Daniel’s face as its substitute. Or any other man’s face who ever put their hands on her.

Any.

All.

This isn’t normal, is it? Being on the verge of destruction and feeling like I’ll burst any second. It isn’t normal to have urges I thought I got rid of long ago.

Like standing at the top of something high, spreading my arms, and plummeting down, just so I can kill the shadows swirling around me from every side.

Or maybe cutting open my veins so they’ll fucking bleed out so I can stop them from whispering, murmuring, and hissing in my ears.

I haven’t had these thoughts for…years. Or maybe I’ve done a fantastic job pretending they weren’t there anymore.

That I was fine.

Perfect.

Completely over my past

Dad is right, after all. It’s impossible to pretend all is well when it isn’t.

One incident, one moment in time is able to make me backpedal into the worse version of myself.

The version that resisted the urge to jump or cut open my veins because I couldn’t leave Teal. Because I was responsible for my sister and abandoning her was a betrayal of the vow I made to protect her.

But she doesn’t need my protection now. Not only does she have her husband and son, but I can finally admit that she’s in a better place than I am.

I always thought I was her rock and anchor, that I had to be strong for her, but I didn’t stop to think about how much that fake strength would eat away at the edges and seep inside.

That’s how it feels right now—like I’m dissolving from the outside in.

The scene of Anastasia clinging to Daniel keeps replaying at the back of my mind in a loop, in spite of my attempts to stop it. It’s whirling, repeating, and fucking up my breathing.

The way her lips parted when she looked at him and knelt between his legs. Lips that were only mine to kiss. Lips that only smiled at me.

Not anymore, though.

We’re over.

That’s what she said and when I didn’t agree, she proceeded to fucking prove it.

I hit the bag harder until my knuckles and muscles scream with pain and exertion. Until my vision is hazy with sweat and a red mist.

“Are you done murdering the punching bag or should I come back in a bit?”

My head whips to the side to find the fucker Daniel casually leaning against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankles.

I abandon the bag and stride toward him. Thank God the gym is empty, because it’s about to turn into a crime scene.

Sweat drips from my lashes and temples, and the exhaustion from punching the bag slowly recedes as adrenaline moves to the forefront.

Daniel raises his hands and backs away. “Whoa, calm down, mate. You’re making a grave mistake.”

“I’ll worry about that after it happens.”

He keeps backing away and I’m on him, my strides longer and with intent.

“I notarized a new will just now that says if I die under mysterious circumstances, Knox killed me.”

“Might as well make it happen then.”

“You’re being an unreasonable bloody idiot right now.”

“I’m the unreasonable bloody idiot? Are you sure that’s not you? Since…I don’t know. You are the one who put their fucking hands on her. On the one person that I’ve ever called mine. Let’s break down the fucking reason, shall we? What was it, exactly? Jealousy? Or maybe it’s your constant need to feel something after your secondary school crush broke your heart and stomped all over it as if it were mere rubbish? Is it because the only person you wanted never wanted you back, and that made you develop a phobia of blondes you still struggle with even as an adult?”

He stops backing away, his shoulders turning tense and his features gradually shutting down. The agreeable mask he wears for everyone slowly disappears, allowing his true image to show.