Page 158 of Lethal King

My Black Cat.

It’s barely been over forty-eight hours since Rozalia escaped from me at the club, and I’m already desperate to see her again. To feel her. To fight her.

But I haven’t been able to dwell on those desires. Not directly. Flavian gave me five addresses, and despite all of my hard work, I’ve only managed to explore three of them.

The last two on the list almost put me on a long flight, but then I heard about what happened back at home, and I knew I had to come back right away.

Now, I’m in the unenviable spot of trying to figure out just where the fuck to go from here.

Mel was put directly in harm’s way.

And if I didn’t trust anyone to look after her before, I definitely don’t now. She’s not safe with anyone but Maksim and me.

One of us has to be here at all times.

It’s frustrating, but it’s a necessity. My sister can’t defend herself. She’s innocent in all of this darkness. And I mean to keep it that way.

But I don’t trust anyone to go out looking for Leander either. He’s just as much my problem as Rozalia is—if only because he threatens what’s mine.

She belongs to me, you bastard. And I’m going to make you pay for even thinking she didn’t.

But first…

“Why did you hide it?” I ask.

Kicking aside two massive easels, a broad palette and three blank canvasses, I finally set my eyes on the reason I came racing home.

Mel’s painting.

It’s been returned.

“I didn’t hide it,” Mel mumbles.

When I look back over my shoulder, I find her mindlessly twirling a red paintbrush in her fingers and staring off into space.

“It’s too good to stay hidden,” I tell her, still feeling bad about my first reaction to the masterpiece.

“I didn’t hide it,” Mel lies again. “It just gets messy in my studios.”

“Well, you better change that,” I say, not pushing her too hard. “Your new master isn’t going to like a messy apprentice.”

“That’s not happening anymore,” she sighs. I can hear the heartbreak in her voice.

She’s been looking forward to her apprenticeship for the last year. And now, it’s in jeopardy because I can’t control my empire.

Fuck.

“I’ll figure everything out, I promise.”

“It’s fine,” Mel whispers, waving me off.

But when her paintbrush drops, I know she’s about to break.

I leave the painting and go to my sister. But not before giving Maksim a direct order.

“Take it to my office and check it for bugs,” I tell him.

He just nods.