Page 119 of Feral King

Alexander and Lee both look at me for the first time since they entered.

An uncertain silence hangs in the air. For a moment, I worry that he might lose his cool and his patience and tell one of his goons to shoot me on the spot. Behind him, Sophia regards the situation with an expression of anxiety and concern.

We both know what he’s capable of.

He doesn’t shoot me. Instead, he crosses over to where I am and crouches in front of me. He’s close enough that I can see the sweat at his hairline and his bloodshot eyes.

I’m guessing he’s been running on coke and nerves, and right now he’s running out of both.

“Hey, Ly.”

“Alex.”

He snickers. “You look tired. Sorry about the floor. I’d offer you a chair, but…” He gestures vaguely at the empty warehouse, “This place isn’t exactly Julian’s penthouse.”

I take a slow breath. Part of me wants to spit in his face. But I know that setting him off is not a good idea.

“What do you want?”

An uneasy smile. A glimpse of the pistol beneath his jacket.

“I just want to talk about Julian.”

“You don’t even deserve to say his name.”

He flashes me a hard look before standing and taking a seat on the edge of the desk near Sophia. He still doesn’t look at her.

“I deserve more than that,” he says. “After living my whole goddamn life in his shadow—you bet your ass I deserve more. That asshole thinks he can leave the country for years, then come back and steal the company away from me after all the work I’ve done.”

“You mean raiding the children’s charities to fund your parties?”

He grins and shakes his head dismissively.

“He has no idea about how much I busted my ass keeping both the company and the syndicate above water while he was gone. And neither do you. And what’s more, I kept you out of that world. My brother, on the other hand, doesn’t even give you a month of peace before you’re being shot at.”

He stands, clasps his hands behind his back, and begins pacing back and forth.

“But this conversation isn’t about rehashing all that. It’s about what Julian will actually do when push comes to shove. Because Ly, I think you might have a bit of an inflated idea of what you mean to him.”

I realize what’s going on. He’s going to try and break me down mentally in a way he’s never done before.

I brace myself.

“Don’t,” I say, knowing it’s not going to do a damn bit of good.

“You need to think of yourself as less of a girlfriend and more of a project. That’s what women like you are to Julian. My brother is the conquering type, if you haven’t figured that out already. He likes challenges, things to fix. And who better than a woman like you, someone he can cram into a dress like sausage into a casing and parade past his enemies as proof he can have whatever he wants?”

“Shut. Up.”

“And don’t forget about the sibling rivalry factor. He’s never liked me having things that he didn’t. And that includes women. When he found out his little brother had managed to score a girl like you, that didn’t sit well with him. And that’s why when he came back to town, his first order of business after taking the company from me was claiming you.”

“No oneclaimedme.”

“Okay. If you want to think that you had a say in the matter, go right ahead. But Julian wanted you, and now he has you. And you’re pregnant. Congrats, by the way. I always thought you’d make good breeding stock.”

My stomach turns. I remember the first time he ever said that to me, how disgusted I felt. The smirk on his face makes it clear he remembers, too.

“Julian has found himself in an awful position now, one in which if he wants the crown and the company, he’s going to have to give you up.”