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

“Call in everyone, including legal, finance, and the board.” I stood, my blood electric with possibility. “We’re buying a bank.”



The chaos started the second I woke up on Friday and continued well into the night.

As predicted, DBG’s stocks plunged to record lows, and the media frenzy incited a run on deposits that brought one of the biggest regional banks in the eastern United States to the brink of ruin in less than twenty-four hours.

My plan was simple. In order for DBG to remain solvent, it needed capital, quick, and I had plenty of capital—enough to buy it out over the weekend before it fully collapsed.

The tight turnaround meant my team was working around the clock to get everything in order. DBG was fully onboard, and we kept in constant communication with them throughout the day.

We were still in the hastily set up war room next to my office at midnight when my phone rang.

Unknown caller.

It was either the person who’d been messing with me in the fall—Roman said it wasn’t him, but I was still skeptical—or it was another journalist. News of my impending buyout had leaked from DBG’s side, and I’d been fielding calls all fucking day.

“What?” I barked. I motioned for my general counsel. He rushed over and took the stack of papers I shoved in his arms.

“Don’t buy the bank.” The distorted voice sliced through my work fog like a dagger. I stilled, a cold sensation crawling down my throat and into my lungs. “If you do, you’ll die.”





CHAPTER 39



Dominic




I DIDN’T GO HOME FRIDAY NIGHT. I GRABBED A FEW hours of shut-eye in the room I’d set up right after Alessandra left, when I couldn’t stand to sleep in our bed alone, and woke up before sunrise to finish the paperwork. Most of my team crashed in the office as well.

Buying a bank was a huge deal not only for me but for the entire company, and the air teemed with a whirling cocktail of nerves, excitement, and tension. Anything could go wrong before Monday; it was our job to make sure nothing did.

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, I’d already pushed last night’s call to the back of my mind. There were plenty of people who were against the buyout, including the heads of the other regional banks. DBG’s collapse would benefit them in the long run, and none of them were above intimidation. However, I doubted any of them would follow through on the threat of murder.

“We’re almost done.” Dark circles ringed Caroline’s eyes. Behind her, takeout boxes, coffee cups, and stacks of documents littered the conference table. “Contracts will be ready by morning at the latest.”

“Good.” I checked my watch. I had to leave soon to make it to Alessandra’s grand opening on time. “Call me only if it’s an emergency. I don’t want a single text unless someone died or the building is burning down.”

The DBG crisis had bulldozed us during the worst weekend possible, but I would make it work. Like Caroline said, we were in the home stretch, and I trusted my team to hold the fort down until morning. The rest of the night was about Alessandra.

Caroline took my order in stride. “Understood.”

I quickly showered and changed in my office’s en suite bathroom. Two minutes to get downstairs. Thirty minutes to get to the grand opening, depending on how bad traffic was. Timing was tight—I’d stayed longer than I should’ve to nail down an essential clause in the contract—but it was doable.

I rushed into the elevator and jabbed at the button for the lobby.

Forty. Thirty- nine. Thirty- eight. The elevator passed each floor with excruciating slowness. For the first time, I regretted situating my office on the highest floor of Davenport Capital’s headquarters.

It stopped on the thirtieth floor. The doors opened, but there was no one waiting on the other side. Twenty-fifth floor, same thing.

I checked my watch again. My window for arriving on time narrowed by the second. I hoped like hell the traffic gods were on my side, or I was fucked.

I stopped again at the seventeenth floor.

“For fuck’s sake!” I needed to talk to building management about these damn elevators. I reached out to press the close button, but a soft click pulled my attention up.

Black metal glinted inches from my face, its barrel as steady and unwavering as the hand that held it.

Shock waves rippled through my body. No. Perhaps I was delirious from lack of sleep because this made no fucking sense. Except, in a perverse way, it did.

I should’ve known. The coppery taste of betrayal welled in my throat when Roman’s gaze met mine.

“I’m sorry.”

Sincere regret laced his voice as he looked me in the eyes and pulled the trigger.





CHAPTER 40



Alessandra




THE TURNOUT FOR THE GRAND OPENING EXCEEDED my expectations. If Dominic and I were still married, it would be a no-brainer because everyone wanted proximity to the Davenport name. But the fact we’d divorced and every VIP I’d invited was present and accounted for? It was astonishing.

A quick scan around the room showed Buffy Darlington holding court with the socialites from the old guard while Tilly Denman reigned over the new wave of It girls. Ayana looked resplendent in emerald, Sebastian Laurent made his first society appearance since the Le Boudoir fiasco, and Xavier Castillo lounged on the velvet booth, his tousled dark hair and lazy grin attracting a plethora of admiring glances, though his eyes remained on Sloane. I even spotted the notoriously reclusive Vuk Markovic, whose massive body dwarfed his chair with laughable ease.