King of Greed (Kings of Sin #3) by Ana Huang

“You did it,” I said when Alessandra collapsed into her chair with visible relief. “The store is officially back on track.”

“Sort of. I have about a thousand flowers left to dry before the grand opening, but…” Her sigh melted into a small smile. “God, it’ll feel good to walk in on Monday and not see a pile of trash waiting for me.”

“To no trash.” I lifted my can of Coke.

She laughed and clinked hers against mine. “Amen.”

We sat on opposite sides of her desk, which groaned beneath the weight of our Chinese takeout. We couldn’t decide what to eat, so we’d ordered a bit of everything—beef with broccoli, spring rolls, sesame chicken, crab rangoon, sweet and sour pork. The delivery guy couldn’t hide his shock when he saw there were only two of us during his drop-off.

That fucker Aiden had tried to stay for dinner as well, but a quick call in the bathroom took care of that problem—he was currently dealing with a vandalization issue at another one of his properties. It was fascinating how much damage one rock could inflict on glass.

I’d exhausted my patience with him days ago. He was lucky I hadn’t called in anything more destructive than a fucking rock.

“I bet this isn’t your idea of the perfect Saturday night.” Alessandra stabbed at a piece of broccoli. “Be honest. Where are you supposed to be right now?”

I’d received invitations to two charity galas, a private museum exhibit, and a dinner party at the Singhs’ townhouse for that night. I’d declined all of them.

“Nowhere,” I said. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”

Alessandra’s gaze faltered. She lowered her food without eating it, and the silence stretched so taut I feared it would snap and break the fragile camaraderie we’d developed since Brazil.

Part of me wanted to sweep the tough topics under the rug and continue enjoying our night. The other part knew that would only be a Band-Aid, not a cure. Alessandra and I had plastered the cracks in our marriage with a shiny veneer. It’d worked—until it hadn’t.

Sometimes, the only way to cross the highest mountain was to climb it.

“We should talk about what happened at the lagoon.” The elephant had been sitting between us for too long. “Our kiss— ”

“Was just a kiss.” Alessandra pushed her broccoli around without glancing up. “We were on a date. Kisses happen on dates.”

“Ále…”

“No. Don’t make it into something more than it was.” A tremor ran beneath her words. “You asked for one date, and I gave it to you. That’s it.”

“If it didn’t mean anything, you’d be able to look at me.” My food lay abandoned on my plate, but it didn’t matter. I’d lost my appetite. “No more lying to each other or ourselves. We deserve that much.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.” Alessandra threw her hands up, her features painted with frustration. “Do you want me to say I enjoyed the kiss and I don’t regret it even though I should? Fine. I did, and I don’t. But physical attraction has never been the issue. When I look at you, I…” Her voice caught. “I think I could never love anyone more than you or after you. That you took everything I had to give, and I gave it freely because I couldn’t imagine a world where we wouldn’t be together.”

Her face blurred beneath the ache tearing through my insides.

“But I’m living in that world right now, and I’m scared.” Alessandra’s chin wobbled. “I don’t know how to live life without you, Dom. I haven’t dated anyone else in over ten years, and I just…I can’t…” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I can’t promise you anything more than I already have.”

I tried to speak, but every time I grasped a response, it crumbled into dust. I could only sit there and listen as she shredded my heart methodically, piece by piece.

“I know you’re trying. I know what you gave up to be in Brazil, to be here, and I truly appreciate it. But I’m not ready for anything more than what we have. I’m not sure I ever will be.” A lone tear streaked down her face. “You broke my heart, and you weren’t even there to witness it.”

If I ever thought I’d been in pain before, I was wrong. Broken bones and my foster mother’s whippings paled in comparison to the white-hot lance of Alessandra’s words.

I’d never intended to hurt her, but impact trumped intention, and no amount of verbal apologies could make up for what I’d done.

“I understand.” A stranger’s voice carried my words. It was too rough, too raw to be mine, but it was the only thing I had, so I used it. “If you need time, take it. If you want to date other people, do it. I won’t interfere. I didn’t appreciate you when I had you, and that’s my cross to bear. But you’ll always be the love of my life, and I’ll always be here, whether it’s a month, a year, or a lifetime from now.” The sound of her sob dampened my cheek with something hot and wet. “There are probably hundreds of men who’d line up for the chance to be with you. I only ask that you let me be one of them.”

I was taking the biggest gamble of my life. She’d said we could date other people in Brazil, but that had been hypothetical; this was real. The thought of standing by and watching another man touch her without doing anything about it made it damn near impossible to breathe.