Page 68 of The Stalking King

“Yes.” Anton gasps, wheezing out a breath. “I know. Boss. Sorry.”

I shove him away, shaking my head in disgust.

I can’t believe he’d even say some twisted shit like that.

“Find Vale,” I snap. “And get ready for war. That’s all you need to worry about.”

He bows at the hip. “Boss.”

Once he’s gone, I grab my phone and make a flurry of calls. My men will now scour the city. Crack skulls. Kick down doors. Until we find this bastard with half a key and less than half a heart.

A text comes through from Lia.

Lia: Mom isn’t mad. I thought she was going to be furious because I lied to her. But she just hugged me and said she was sorry. She said she feels terrible because I didn’t feel comfortable telling her the truth. She says that if I chose you, then she trusts my judgment. I wasn’t expecting this reaction.

Despite everything – the attack, Anton’s absurd accusation – the message makes me feel lighter.

Maksim: I’m happy for you. She’s a good woman. She clearly cares about you. She just seems trapped. And I understand that. I’ve been trapped in one role for my entire life. Until I met you.

Lia: I think you’re just dizzy from the blood loss.

Maksim: No, Lia. I’m dizzy from being with you. I know this isn’t simple. I know when this is over, you might want to walk your own path. You might want to forget this ever happened. But I want you to know, I’ll never forget it.

Lia: I can’t make any decisions right now. But I know I’ll never forget this either.

For now, that has to be enough.

A minute later, my phone rings. I shake my head in disbelief.

“Vale,” I say, answering.

“Volkov,” he replies. “I hear you were involved in an unfortunate incident today.”

Shit-eating prick.

“I’m in the process of rectifying that,” I grunt.

“Is that so?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

“Hmm.” He pauses. “I wanted to propose a business deal. Our programmers have been hard at work, but your code is solid. You wouldn’t happen to remember if you misplaced another phone someplace, would you?”

“All this for half a key,” I say, laughing at him. “All this just to fail. When you realize your end has come, when you look up at me and understand you’ll never see another sunrise, will you think this was all worth it?”

I hang up, grinding my teeth.

Steal from me, attack me, threaten me, that’s one thing.

But risk my light’s life?

He’s a dead man walking.

After a few moments, my paranoia gets the better of me. I call Anton. I give him instructions. “Just in case.”

He grunts. “Yes, boss. Good thinking.”

I feel sick.