King of Sloth (Kings of Sin #4) by Ana Huang

“What happened?” The knots in my chest loosened, but worry lingered in the spaces between them.

“It’s so stupid,” she grumbled, sounding her full nine years of age. “I fell and hit my head on the sidewalk. That’s it.”

“Pen.” I leveled her with a stern stare.

She heaved an aggrieved sigh. “I crashed while Annie and I were taking a walk. I hit my head on the curb and, um, almost got run over by a bicycle.”

I bit back a curse and a litany of questions. Annie was Rhea’s backup whenever Rhea had the day off. She should’ve known better than to take Pen out at this time of day, when she was most likely to crash.

Thankfully, it appeared to have been a mild crash or she would’ve been knocked out instead of talking to me, but still.

I smoothed a hand over her hair, my heart squeezing at how fine and delicate it felt. She was so young, and she’d already been through so much.

“But I’m okay.” Pen’s eyes drifted closed before she opened them again, her small face filled with determination. She always resisted sleeping when we saw each other. The selfish part of me was thankful for the extra time; the anxious part worried it made her crashes worse. “Annie took me here just in case…”

I could guess why they’d put her in a private room so soon. My father had donated an entire wing to the hospital years ago.

“Where’s Annie now?” I asked.

“I don’t know. She got fired.” Pen looked down. “Rhea left her niece’s baby shower early to see me.”

“Because she cares about you. We all do,” I said gently.

I glanced at the bandage again. It was a relatively minor injury, but even minor injuries could have intense effects on people with CFS. The recovery took longer, and the pain could intensify their symptoms.

“Do Mom and Dad know you’re here?” Pen’s eyes were closing again.

“Not yet.” Dread punctured my relief at the thought of confronting them.

“I’m glad you came. They’ll…” Her voice faded into nothing, and she was out.

I lingered for a minute, savoring our last moments together. Pen and I had both changed since I left my family years ago.

We were older, somewhat wiser, and more cognizant of what we were dealing with when it came to George and Caroline. But in some ways, we were the same—still trapped by our circumstances, still helpless to change them.

The adrenaline from Rhea’s call dissipated, leaving me with cold, hard clarity. The second I stepped into the hall, George and Caroline would know I’d been secretly seeing Pen. The only way I could’ve gotten here so quickly was if Rhea had contacted me, and the only reason I’d come so quickly was because I loved Pen. Considering she’d been four during our last known-to-them contact, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out we’d kept in touch over the years.

Maybe I’d get lucky. Maybe George and Caroline wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, and they wouldn’t fire Rhea or lock Pen somewhere I couldn’t get to her out of spite.

Yeah, and maybe Satan will repent and give up ruling the underworld to become an elf in Santa’s workshop.

I was tempted to hide in Pen’s room and wait for my family to leave before I slipped out, but from what I could see through the door window, that wasn’t happening anytime soon. It would be infinitely worse if someone came in and found me skulking around.

I was a lot of things, but I wasn’t a coward. Whatever the consequences were, I’d deal with them. I only hoped I could shield Rhea from the brunt of the impact. She’d told me about Pen’s hospitalization knowing I would show up and she’d probably get fired. She’d done it because she knew Pen would want to see me, and she didn’t deserve to be let go over a moment of empathy.

I steeled myself, walked to the exit, and opened the door.

However, I barely crossed the threshold before I came to a dead halt.

George, Caroline, and Rhea weren’t the only people outside Pen’s room anymore. The nurse was gone, and a slim, perfectly groomed blond stood next to my father and stepmother. Beside her, a handsome man with brown hair and blue eyes looked around with a bored expression.

This time, there was no sneaking past them. Their conversation fell silent as the door shut behind me, and my four (ex) family members gaped at me with varying expressions of shock, disbelief, and confusion.

“Well,” the blond said, recovering first. “This is a surprise.”

I suppressed a flinch. Her voice, lovely as it was, had the effect of burrowing into my skin and peeling the scabs off old wounds. Seeing him was worse. It was like having a Mack truck from the past blindside me from behind and send me flying.

They were the only people who could still make me feel inferior and insignificant.

My sister Georgia and Bentley—her husband, my brother-in-law…and my ex-fiancé.





CHAPTER 24





Sloane





The harsh glare of fluorescent lights painted the hall in stark whites and shadows. Shoes squeaked, medical staff hurried past, and the smell of disinfectant clouded the air.

None of that affected Georgia, who looked like a modern Grace Kelly who’d just stepped out of the pages of Vogue.

“Don’t tell me you called yourself Penny’s family at the front desk so they’d let you up,” she said. “That’s a tad ironic, isn’t it?”