King of Wrath (Kings of Sin #1) by Ana Huang

“Fuck the press!” My father’s voice escalated into a shout. “What the fuck did you do to my company, Russo?”

“Nothing it didn’t deserve. Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

The paper bags crumpled in my fist. Blood roared in my ears, making their conversation that much harder to hear, but I forced myself to strain and listen.

I had to know what they were talking about.

I had to confirm the horrible inkling in my stomach…even if it destroyed me.

“Vivian will never forgive you for this.” My father’s snarl was that of a wounded tiger. I’d never heard him so angry, not even when Agnes and I broke his favorite Ming vase while playing hide and seek as children.

A brief, loaded pause.

“You’re assuming I care what she thinks.” Dante’s voice was so cold it turned my blood to ice. “Might I remind you I was forced into this engagement? I never willingly chose her as my fiancée. You blackmailed me into it, Francis, and now, your leverage is gone. So don’t come into my fucking office and try to use your daughter to save yourself. It won’t work.”

“If you don’t care, then why haven’t you broken the engagement yet?” my father taunted. “Like you said, you were forced into it. The first thing you should’ve done after getting rid of the photos was get rid of her.”

A painful crack in my chest drowned out Dante’s reply. A burn ignited somewhere north of my heart and spread behind my eyes, so intense I feared it would leave nothing except ashes behind.

I was forced into this engagement…

I never willingly chose her…

You blackmailed me into it…

The words echoed in my head like a nightmare stuck on a broken loop.

Suddenly, it all made sense.

Why Dante agreed to marry me when he didn’t need my father’s business, money, or connections.

Why he’d been so cold toward me at the start of our engagement.

Why Luca had disliked me, and why my intuition had always questioned the reasoning Dante gave for the engagement. I’d overlooked the flimsiness of the market access excuse because it’d been the only plausible one at the time, but now…

The omelet I ate for breakfast rose in my throat. My skin flushed hot, then cold, while an army of invisible spiders crawled over my arms and chest.

I should leave before they caught me eavesdropping, but I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything except stand there while my world crumbled around me.

I never willingly chose her.

You blackmailed me into it.

The burn liquefied and blurred my vision. The astronomy date, the Paris trip, and all the little moments in between.

Had he been pretending this whole time? Trying to make the most out of a bad situation instead of—

A burst of laughter down the hall yanked me out of my spiraling thoughts.

My head jerked up in time to see two suited men walking toward me, filled with the type of swagger one only possessed if they sat in the C-suite of a multibillion-dollar company.

Their arrival broke the immobility spell holding me hostage.

The one on the right noticed me first, but by the time his face lit with recognition, I was already rushing past him, my head ducked and my gaze fixed on the floor ahead.

Just get to the exit. Get to the exit and go downstairs. That’s all you need to do.

Five more steps.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

I burst into the lobby like a swimmer gasping for air.

I shoved the food at an alarmed-looking Stacey and mumbled something about a work emergency before I jabbed at the elevator button.

Thankfully, it came in seconds.

I stepped inside, the car plummeted toward the ground, and I finally, finally let my tears fall.





DANTE

“If you don’t care, then why haven’t you broken the engagement yet?” Francis’s eyes glinted with challenge. “Like you said, you were forced into it. The first thing you should’ve done after getting rid of the photos was get rid of her.”

Red crept into my vision. He said getting rid of her so easily, like he was discussing a piece of furniture instead of his daughter.

How a piece of shit like Francis shared genes with Vivian, I’d never understand.

He looked like shit now, too. Sallow complexion. Dark circles. Grooves of exhaustion in his face. Christian’s meddling with his company’s internal affairs had taken its toll on him.

I would’ve taken greater pleasure in his suffering had the mention of Vivian not been a stab to the chest.

Shutting her out for a week had been painful enough. Hearing her name come out of her dirtbag father’s mouth, knowing what it meant for our relationship…

I clenched my jaw and forced my expression to remain neutral.

“Our conversation is done.” I sidestepped Francis’s question and deliberately checked my watch. “You’ve already wasted my lunch hour. Leave, or I’ll have security escort you out.”

“Those reports are bullshit.” Francis’s knuckles popped from the force of his grip on the armrests. “I’ve worked decades to build my company. You were still a fetus when I started Lau Jewels, and I won’t let a silver spoon-fed, nepotistic child like you ruin it.”

“You were all too happy to have said silver spoon-fed, nepotistic child marry your daughter,” I said silkily. “To the point where you fucked up and blackmailed him. I don’t like being threatened, Francis. And I always pay it back threefold. Now…” I tapped my desk phone. “Do I need to call my guards, or are you capable of walking yourself out?”