PART ONE
divorcing
CHAPTER 1
violent delights
NICOLAI
To Rule A Kingdom of Nothing
is the third book in the
Billionaire Sanctuary: The Heir series.
Please read Books 1 and 2 first.
A Prince of Smoke and Mirrors
An Heir to Blood and Power
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https://blairbabylon.com/bill-audio
The next morning, I lay on my back on the bed, my heart pounding my ribs like a fist punching a basement wall again and again.
It would have to be done. I would have to say it.
Like ripping off a plaster, I told myself.
Quick, clear, and firm. Hope was not merciful. Ambiguity was not kindness.
A bold stroke to slice everything cleanly away.
I was fucking dying inside.
My ad hoc wife, Lexi, lay beside me in the hotel bed, a warm, squishy bundle under the blankets. Scooping her into my arms, burying my face in her shoulder, and stroking the softness of her skin was a temptation to which I could not yield.
Her sleeping breath was light, a soft catch in her throat at the turn of each inhale, and then a quiet sigh, again and again.
The in, the out, I meditated upon her breath, floating in those last moments.
My silenced phone lay against my sternum, the battery overwarm from replaying the video again and again.
Don’t wake up.
Lie here, safe and still with me.
Don’t wake up.
But Lexi stirred, tiny little stretches presaging her rise toward consciousness.
I steeled myself for what must be done.
She rolled over. Her quiet murmur might have been a dream. “Hey.”
