Page 33 of Lethal King

The reminder is like a thick rope around my throat.

“Has Maksim still not been able to confirm who kidnapped and killed the Congressman’s daughter yet?”

We didn’t have the time to go over the details before this morning, but if there’s anyone in our organization who could figure this shit out, it’s Maksim.

“I think we all already know who it was,” Dad responds. “The problem is finding evidence. Until we do, the feds will keep trying to pin it on us.”

“Just another reason why I need to go after the Black Cat myself,” I growl. “If anyone knows where Drago Raclaw is, it’s her.”

“Does that mean you’re going to abandon your kingly duties?”

“She threatened our empire, Dad. Isn’t it my duty to wipe out a threat like that?”

“Not personally.”

“I’m never handing off my responsibilities again,” I snap. “That’s what I did for today, and look where it got us.”

“A good king must pick and choose where he puts his foot down.”

“I choose her throat,” I blurt out, immediately regretting it.

My anger mixes with shame as I try to focus back on my data.

“Rian,” Dad’s voice suddenly becomes more rigid. “Remember what happened the last time you got this obsessed with catching a little mouse.”

The legs of my chair scratch against the floor as I push myself up from the desk.

“That wasn’t a mouse,” I sneer down at my phone. “That was a rat. A whole fucking swarm of them.”

“You didn’t have any proof. We still don’t. It’s why we had to send you away. Do you think I wanted to temporarily exile my own son? Fuck no. But we had to wait until the heat died down from your wild rampage. Well, it finally has. You’re home, and you have the freedom to do whatever you want. Don’t you want to keep it that way?”

“I’ve learned my lesson,” I huff.

“I don’t think you have. Because it sounds like you’re ready to dive head first into another foolish venture.”

“Capturing the Black Cat is not a foolish venture.”

“It is if it means ignoring all of your other duties.”

The headache I’d had earlier this morning returns with a vengeance as I force myself back into my seat.

“How the hell did you handle having so much on your plate for all those years?” I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose.

It feels like the world’s caving in around me.

Dad sighs. “There’s only one way, Rian. And it’s by taking on each problem as it comes, one step at a time.”

“There are so many fucking problems.”

“Then start combining your solutions. That’s what I used to do. Hell, it’s what I still do to this very day.”

“How the hell am I going to do that?” I grumble. “My problems are all so fucking different. The Black Cat; those slimy Italians and their daughters; your court case. I’ve got an empire to secure, a crown to recover, and a marriage to arrange…”

Grimacing, I force myself to sit up straight and stare down at my phone again.

To my surprise, something has changed on the screen.

The code, it’s re-arranged itself.