Page 114 of Lethal King

Setting down the filled pitcher, I clench my fists.

“I’m sure my new captive knows where to find him.”

“And if she doesn’t want to tell you?”

“Then I’ll tear it out of her.”

Maksim responds with a knowing smirk. “Are you going to eat that whole chicken by yourself?”

“I didn’t say I’d starve the answer out of her,” I snarl back. “She’s going to have to look good on our wedding day.”

“Do you want me to call a priest?” Maksim calls my bluff—though I’m not sure if it’s on purpose or not. “Perhaps we can threaten her with an early ceremony. I know a particularly—”

“One step at a time,” I interrupt.

But a knot has already appeared in my gut.

How far am I willing to take this charade?

The answer fluctuates by the hour. Hell, yesterday, when we were racing towards Leander’s beachside property, I was so encompassed by jealousy that I momentarily convinced myself to actually go through with that stupid plan.

Anything to keep her out of the hands of some other man.

Fuck. I was on the brink of madness. And what happened next didn’t help.

The Rozalia I found down in those tunnels wasn’t like the one I’d come to hate.

She was so vulnerable. So desperate.

She had changed—or maybe I was just finally seeing the girl Gabriel told me about. The scared little kitten running from all sorts of evil men.

In that moment, I wanted to fix her.

“Keep looking for Leander,” I tell Maksim. Picking up the warm chicken and the cold pitcher, I head back upstairs.

“I will,” Maksim assures me. But before I can leave the kitchen, he stretches out his arm, stopping me. “There is one lead on Leander.”

Raising my brow, I allow myself to take the bait. Still, I don’t hesitate to call Maksim out on it.

“If I didn’t know any better, I might think you were trying to keep me away from my new captive.”

Maksim keeps his steely gaze fixed ahead, but I can tell he’s already seen the stain on my crotch. He’s too perceptive not to have noticed.

If I had to guess, he’s probably concerned I’ll get lost in that bedroom and never come out.

Well, he’s not wrong to worry. But I still have a half-chub, and nothing except some very pertinent information is going to keep me from going upstairs.

I promised to fill Rozalia up. One way or another, I’m going to fulfill that promise.

“I’ve come across the name of a man who might know where to start looking for the Greek billionaire.”

“I’m listening.”

“Flavian Baros,” Maksim says. Taking out his phone, he brings up a file on the screen. “Infamous socialite. Big-time club-owner. Notorious pervert.”

“Seems like the kind of company billionaires keep.”

“Apparently, Leander likes to host large-scale orgies at extremely private locations. Secret residences that he’s paid to keep off the records. I’ve looked into how we might go about finding one of these residences, and that one name kept popping up. Flavian Baros. Apparently, this creep is the one who arranges these orgies for Leander. Every guest is blindfolded and privately driven in. Everyone except the man who organizes them all.”