Page 105 of Taint My Soul

“Don’t say my name ever again. I’m giving you an hour, Mason. If you’re still in Kingston, I will find you, and I WILL KILL YOU.” My heart aches with humiliation and heartbreak.

I defended him.

I put him first.

“And you are fired. Never step foot on anything that belongs to me, or you’re dead.”

Those are the last words I say to him. He doesn’t matter to me. I have decided that. Not when my family’s probably waiting for me to look into the evidence Cross has found. Here on out, it’s my family. Nothing more or less.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

SAINT

When I appear from the elevator on Friday morning, Bernard stands primly by the car. Guilt grazes over my skin as my eyes settle on him. He was in the hospital for over a week because I questioned his loyalty. Because I was stupid to trust a man I had known barely two months over a man I had known for twenty years.

I chose warm skin over two decades of loyalty. Every time I look at myself in the mirror, I want to rip off my skin because I believed his lies. I believed his deception. And what makes it worse is that he looked me in the eyes and withheld such information from me. I fell into his trap. I let myself feel something instead of burying those sickening emotions the same way I have done all my life.

Bernard holds the door open, and I enter the car and give him a nod along with a tight-lipped smile. He shuts the door, and he circles the bonnet to the driver’s seat. The entire drive to the King’s mansion is in silence. He keeps his eyes plastered on the windshield while I battle with thoughts in my head.

I have been dreading this day since I sent Mason away.

I should have killed him. I should have offered him a kiss of my bullet. Father would do worse if he learned I gave myself to a man. If he knew how my recklessness almost cost us everything our family has worked for, he’d get rid of me.

I don’t stand a chance of being the successor. Not when I still feel what I feel, even when he’s gone. Even when I promised to kill him, and I hate that I feel.

I hate that every time I close my eyes, all I feel is him.

His touch on my skin. His kisses. His dick inside me.

I hate myself for giving into him.

But I can’t change what happened. I can’t change that I’m attracted to him. I can’t change my feelings for him. What I can change and focus on is my family. The goals my father has set for me. The things he wants. The things my family needs.

That’s all that matters. That’s what should have always mattered.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I expect a call from my father, but it’s not. It’s Ali. I pick up the phone, and he says, “Hello, boss.”

“It’s been weeks.”

“Sorry, I’m running late. I’m gathering as much information as I can.” Ali hums on the other side of the speaker. “I have almost everything you need, and I’ll be in Kingston by Tuesday.”

“I’ll be expecting you, Ali.”

“Hmm.” He grunts before he hangs up.

As I lift my gaze, the King’s mansion comes into view. My heart hammers against my chest in anticipation of my father’s cruel words and jaded stare. He’d have questions. He’d ask why I haven’t given him answers. Why I’m acting like an incompetent leader. If I’m ready to succeed, or if Virgil’s a better candidate. But I can’t give him answers.

What would I tell him? That I lost myself in comfort and almost jeopardized everything we have. Even after all this, my thoughts haven’t moved on from that night.

The lies and the truths entangled.

“We are here, sir.” Bernard announces.

“Thank you.” I say and hop out of the car, heading into the building.

My brothers are already waiting outside my father’s office when I arrive. Virgil doesn’t even let me get close before he storms toward me. “What’s taking you so long?” He demands. “And why did you not bring that bastard in?”

“Mason’s not your business.” I seethe and meet his cold gaze. He retreats a step back and scoffs.