Reign of a Billionaire : A Dark Mafia Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

The sight that greeted me sent fire through my veins, fury raging like an active volcano. Louisa was tied up, her back exposed and whipped raw, her wrists tied above her head. Her head dangled, her eyes closed and her face red.

Drago stepped into the dimmed light and I aimed the barrel of my gun between his lifeless eyes. It turned out all he was good for was to be Sofia’s pet. I’d take him out right now if his gun wasn’t jabbed into Louisa’s chest.

Sofia’s chuckle had Louisa opening her eyes.

“Kingston,” she gasped, her lips swollen and bruised, the sheer panic on her face had my heart twisting painfully. “Why did you come?”

My brows drawn, I studied her.

“I’ll always come,” I rasped, keeping my tone comforting even though my rage was volatile. “Every lifetime, every scenario, life or death, I’ll always come. My heart beats within yours, and yours within mine.”

She shook her head violently, tears springing down her face. “No, no, no,” she whimpered. “You should’ve sent someone else. Save yourself.”

My desire to protect her was stronger than my nightmares. My safety was nothing compared to hers.

“It’s okay,” I assured her, locking eyes with her. “We’ll get out of this together.”

She swallowed. “Promise?”

“He can’t promise you anything,” Sofia snickered, and Louisa’s eyes darted behind me, all her fire and rage burning inside those golden depths.

“Touch him, Mother, and I’ll end you.” My little warrior queen was so fierce. It’d be different this time. Nobody would hurt her ever again. “And it won’t be a quick death.”

And I’d ensure my woman’s wishes came true.

“Last chance, Sofia,” I said, my voice flat. “Let Louisa and I go or you’re dead.”

“You’re in no position to call the shots. It’s time to end this.”

And here we go.

Chapter 62Louisa

Dread filled me as a flashback tried to overtake me—the two of us bloodied and bruised on this very ground.

I ignored it, working on my bindings instead. If I got my hands free, I could snatch Drago’s gun and Kingston would take care of the rest.

“Ivan warned me about you two,” Mother said, her voice fainter than I was used to. Maybe all this torture she ordered on me was exhausting her.

I met my mother’s malicious gaze with my own. “Ivan played you like a fiddle,” I hissed. My goal was to piss her off, but it was Drago who was getting mad, shoving the gun harder into my chest. “You thought he danced to your tune, when really it was you dancing to his all along.”

“How so?” she asked while I scrambled my mind for anything to keep this conversation going, because surely Kingston had a plan.

Somewhere in the broken corners of my mind, I remembered everything that happened the last time we were together in this room. Parts of us died here, yet Kingston’s eyes urged me to be brave.

“He wanted you to arrange the marriage to the Tijuana cartel,” I pointed out, my bindings slowly getting looser. “You fought him, but in the end, you caved. See, he got what he wanted.”

“You think he wanted that?” she scoffed incredulously. “It was all me.”

My brows furrowed. “But⁠—”

“I wanted bigger and better than what Benito King had,” she answered. “They used me to settle the Belles and Mobsters debt, so I kicked off the Marabella Mobsters arrangement.”

My mouth dropped. “Perez⁠—”

She threw her head back. “I used Perez as a puppet, but it was me pulling the strings all along.”

“So you sold Liana?” I wanted to kick myself because a part of me had refused to believe that a mother would do that to her child.

“No, you idiot.” There was something nudging at my mind, but my brain refused to process it. “I sold you.”

A puzzle piece snapped into place as I stared dumbfounded at my mother, no shadow of a doubt that she was telling the truth.

“That’s why you didn’t bother saving me when I was snatched by Santiago,” I whispered.

“Now she gets it.” She flashed me a frigid smile as she approached me, then leaned forward so that her face was level with mine. And the whole time, Kingston’s aim was on Drago. “In my defense, I initially thought they killed you, but then your name was circulating the dark web, so I knew you survived. I snatched Perez’s scrawny daughter and was going to use her to get my real Liana back.”

My head was spinning from all of it. But one thing was clear, if Kingston hadn’t come for me, I’d be at the mercy of some sick fuckers.

“You were always so weak, Louisa. A problem that needed to be handled.”

I spit on her malicious face as fury shot through me. “Narcissistic bitch. Your firstborn would have hated you. I’m glad she was snatched from you.”

“Don’t touch her.” Kingston’s voice was full of fury, but before I could do anything, my mother slapped me so hard my ears rang and I reeled in my chair. My cheek burned and my eyes stung, but in the next breath, a loud explosion shook the ground.

“That’ll be your final mistake,” Kingston gritted, the sound of fighting, bullets, and explosions somewhere in the castle drawing near. “You’ll never touch her again.”