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

I just wasn’t as sure about her twin. She was nowhere to be found, and we were out of time. The alarms that surrounded the property would be down for precisely fifty seconds. If we weren’t off the property by then, we’d miss our window.

I whispered, “Get down,” and Lou crouched, making herself smaller—if that were even possible. We slinked into the shadow of the guardhouse just as two men turned and headed in our direction. We knew it was empty; every guard was out patrolling the grounds.

“Where’s Lia?” she whispered, more to herself than me. “It’s unlike her to be late.”

“Maybe she changed her mind.” Her breathing stilled, the fog around her mouth evaporating.

“No.” There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in her voice. “No, no, no.”

Liana—or Lia, as her twin called her—was identical to Lou in looks, but the two couldn’t be more different in personality. Louisa was a peacemaker; her twin was a fighter. Lou wanted world peace; Lia wanted to stir it into chaos. One hated the cold; the other thrived in it. In fact, if I had to guess, I’d say she got caught up in covering her tracks, unbothered by how deadly the conditions could turn.

“No, she wouldn’t,” she repeated again, her voice barely above a whisper. Time was running out, and we both knew it. We were moments away from getting the chance to bolt out of here and never look back. “Kingston,” she breathed, gazing up at me through terrified hazel eyes. “What if they got to her?”

Her distress always stirred emotions in my chest. We needed to leave, but I kept the impatience out of my tone.

“If they did, we’ll come back for her,” I promised. Hesitation flickered in her eyes. “Do you trust me?” She nodded without delay, and my chest warmed. “Then trust me when I say this: they’ll wish they never took her if we have to show up armed to the nines to get her back.”

The first flicker of dawn peeked, smiling upward at the dark heavens and throwing shades of blue, purple, and red across the horizon. Lou nodded once, and then we took off in a run.

Right into the trap.

A metallic smell filled the dungeon.

Lou’s screams pierced the dark space. The dreary gray walls and high ceiling supported by stone pillars gave this dungeon an ominous glow.

My wrists burned from the acid being poured onto my flesh, but the pain was forgotten the minute I saw her tied to the chair, folded over with her back exposed.

What was left of it had been flayed from her bones, raw and blistery. Sofia’s men held her down while one poured more acid on her. Her screams shredded my heart to pieces.

I jerked against my binds, fury suffocating me. “You’re all dead,” I bellowed. “All of you.”

Nobody even glanced my way.

“Where’s your sister, Louisa?” Sofia’s voice was colder than the Siberian temperatures as she watched her daughter with icy features.

“I… don’t…” Lou’s voice was weak. Broken. “I don’t know, Mother.”

“Sofia, let her go,” I rasped, the lead settling in my gut. “Liana wasn’t with us.”

“Liar,” Sofia bellowed, her manic expression alarming. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off.

“It’s true,” I gritted, the bullet that’d pierced clean through my shoulder burning like a motherfucker.

Sofia’s wild eyes snapped to me, full of hate. “Because they have her,” she screamed, her usually perfect silver chignon disheveled and her eyes wild. “The Tijuana cartel ended her, and it’s your fault, Ghost.” Lou whimpered, tears running down her cheeks, and shook her head in disbelief. “You’re their bodyguard, why didn’t you protect her?”

Lou’s breathing escalated, her eyes darting wildly around to her mother’s guards. “Mother… I… made him… run… with me. Lia didn’t… c-come.”

“More acid,” Sofia ordered, and Lou’s wounded whimper slashed through me. She trembled but fisted her hands, trying to be brave.

I roared with fury, fighting against the chains. Unsuccessfully. Instead, I was forced to watch while enduring my own torture.

I’d been holed up in the windowless room for what seemed like days as I drifted in and out.

Sanity refused to leave me. Somehow it had endured the cruelty inflicted on my body.

My limbs were frozen, my belly empty. My right shoulder was dislocated, and my entire body screamed in pain. I was filthy and naked. I couldn’t hold my head up without getting dizzy. Every breath was agony.

It wasn’t my first beating. The years had been hard. Time had no meaning here. Only torture did. Until I met the girl with the golden-hazel eyes.

The girl who’d grown up with me. My savior.

A cry tore through the haze in my brain, causing me to peel my swollen eyelids open.

“Don’t worry, Lou. I’m okay,” I grunted. All the fucking years of torture and I’d never cracked—until today, when she was forced to partake.

I was hanging by a cord that was cutting through my wrists. Lou had to watch my latest bout of torture. It was either that or have Sofia’s men hurt her too.

And she had done plenty of refusing—her scars were proof.