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

“Sloane. It’s okay. They’re just reservations.” I tipped her chin up so her eyes met mine. “They’re not important.”

She swallowed, a tinge of pink blooming around her eyes and nose. “No,” she said thickly. “I guess they’re not.”

She didn’t resist when I pulled her into my chest, and when she curled into me, just a little bit, I wanted to hold her tight and never let go.

“What did you do?” she asked. “When Hershey…”

“I cried,” I said truthfully. “A lot. He was my best friend. Luckily, he’d been outside with our housekeeper during the fire that…” I faltered at the memory of Hershey running up to me after I’d woken up. He’d refused to leave my side for weeks after the accident, as if he knew I would break if I didn’t have something to hold on to. “If it weren’t for him, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through those first few months. I went to grief counseling for a while, but it didn’t work as well as just having Hershey there.”

Some of the stiffness melted from Sloane’s shoulders as I recounted my experience. After I finished, she stayed in my arms before she said, very quietly, “Having The Fish around helped too. I didn’t realize it at the time, but when I was upset, it was nice to have someone—something—to talk to.” She buried her face deeper into my chest, as if ashamed of what she was about to say.

“I’m sad he died. I never even gave him a real name.”

“Well, he’s a goldfish,” I said practically. “There are worse things you could’ve called him.”

Her muffled laughter made me smile. I knew how difficult it was for Sloane to admit her feelings out loud, so her seemingly small confession was actually a huge step for her.

“Anyway, that’s why I was late,” she said. “We’ve missed our reservations, but if you give me fifteen minutes, I can get ready—”

“Forget about dinner. We’ll order takeout and watch the new Cathy Roberts movie.” I’d rather be here than at some stuffy restaurant anyway.

Sloane lifted her head. “The one where the big-city rich girl is forced to move to the Australian countryside and falls in love with the surly but handsome ranch hand?” she asked hopefully.

“Yep. I’ll even let you write your scathing review in peace without questioning your unfair harshness toward the poor actors or screenwriter.”

Her eyes gleamed. “Deal.”

While I ordered the food, Sloane pulled up the movie and grabbed her review notebook and pen.

However, she hesitated as the film studio’s opening credits played onscreen, and a secret battle waged across her face before she spoke again.

“There’s one more thing,” she said. “Georgia came to see me at work today. She accused me of trying to seduce Bentley.”

My eyes snapped toward hers. Her admission had come from so far out of left field that I couldn’t do more than stare, stunned, as she explained what’d happened with her sister as well as with Bentley over the holiday weekend.

But the more I listened, the more anger seeped beneath my skin, slow yet scorching. I kept a tight rein on it for now, but there was no fucking way I’d let anyone talk to her the way Georgia and Bentley had.

“I should’ve told you about his call earlier, but I didn’t know what he wanted, and I didn’t want to put a damper on Thanksgiving.” Sloane tapped her pen against her knee. It was a nervous tic I’d picked up on years ago, shortly after we started working together. It’d been one of the few cracks in her perfect façade at the time. “Georgia really pissed me off, and I was too upset to stay in the office, so I came home. That’s when I saw… well.” She cleared her throat. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I figured you should know. Just in case anyone tries to make my meeting with him into anything more than it was.”

Warmth rushed to fill my stomach, calming my fury. I swallowed the choice words I had for her ex and simply said, “You can tell me anything.”

Sloane’s pen stilled.

“I know,” she said, even softer than before, and a tiny, crucial brick crumbled from around my heart.

We didn’t say much else after that, but later that night, after the movie ended and our half-eaten food had grown cold, I carried a drowsy Sloane to her bedroom and tucked her in beneath her comforter.

She fully passed out before her head hit the pillow. It’d been a long, emotionally draining day for her, but I didn’t take for granted how comfortable she felt falling asleep while I was here.

As I smoothed a stray lock of hair from her face, revealing the curve of her cheekbone and the shadow crescents of her closed lashes, Pen’s question from the simulation center echoed in my ears.

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.





CHAPTER 35





Xavier





I didn’t confess to Sloane. Not yet.

I wasn’t sure she reciprocated my feelings to that degree, and I needed to figure out a way to tell her without potentially scaring her off.

I did, however, stay with her Monday night through Tuesday morning, when she left for work and I called Vuk’s office back, apologized, and confirmed a walkthrough of the vault later in the month. I spent the rest of the day dealing with club obligations.