Chapter 30 DOMINIC
DOMINIC
“The daughter of the businessman Maddox King has returned home after being missing for two months. The King family refuses to make a statement and asks for understanding and privacy after the tragedy that befell them. Athena King is expected to-”
I shut off the TV mid-sentence, the sound of her name slicing through my skull like a blade. If I hear that name one more time, I swear to God, I’ll put a bullet through the nearest wall and then maybe through someone’s head.
I lost my fucking mind a long time ago.
Not when she disappeared. Not even when she blew my entire plan to hell. No.
It happened the second she climbed into my lap in that park and made herself come using me like a toy. It was supposed to be physical. It should have stayed that way, but I let her kiss me. I let her in, and that’s when everything unraveled. She wasn’t the pawn anymore. I was.
I see her fucking face everywhere—TV, headlines, online articles—all painting her as the delicate King princess who returned home after being missing for two months.
They don’t know the truth. They don’t know she was in my arms, in my fucking bed, wrapped around me like she belonged there. And now? Now she’s everywhere but here.
The plan was simple: kidnap her, marry her, kill her family, take everything. Retribution for my mother and my half-brother. For everything Maddox King stole from us, but I fucked it all up.
Linda helped her escape. She thought Mexico could hide her. Thought I wouldn’t find out. My people found her in days, and what I’ll do to her when I have her on her knees? Linda will learn exactly how wrong she was.
The door opened, and Alec walked in.
“Your father’s here again,” he said flatly. “Won’t leave until he sees you. Also… Angelo King’s routine is mapped. He’s heavily guarded, but we’ve found his weak spot. Say the word.”
I nodded, eyes locked on the storm brewing outside. When Garrett barged in moments later, I didn’t move.
“Leave us,” Garrett barked. A moment later, it was just the two of us.
Silence, thick and bitter, settled between us like smoke.
He made himself at home, sinking into the couch beside me like he owned the place.
Arrogant fuck. He didn’t speak right away—just stared at me, studying me like I was a misbehaving dog.
Finally, he opened his mouth.
“You know, Dominic, I had high hopes for you.” His voice was rough. “I built you up. I praised you. I made you my heir—”
I tilted my head back and let out a quiet laugh, already bored of this speech.
“You made me your heir because your perfect, legitimate son got himself killed,”
His jaw clenched. That struck him, I could see it in the way his fingers twitched, like he wanted to hit me but remembered too late that he doesn’t scare me anymore. He bit back whatever was on the tip of his tongue, but his fury was written all over him.
“Save your sentimental bullshit,” I added. “You don’t get to play father now.”
“You ungrateful little bastard,” he spat, voice rising. “I made you into something. Everything you are, you owe to me. No one else.”
“And you’re proud of that?” I laughed, a deep, mocking sound. “Father of the year. Want me to call up one of your mistresses and have her suck your cock as a thank-you gift?”
His face turned scarlet. Fists clenched, but he didn’t move. Smart of him.
“Ungrateful son of a bitch.”
“It runs in the family, don’t you think?” I lifted my glass and poured another round of whiskey. My only friend lately. Without it, this entire city would already be up in flames.
“I’m not your enemy, Dominic.”
I almost laughed. The scar on my face tells a different story.
“We want the same thing,” he added.
I stared at him. In part, he’s right, but he’s also wrong. I don’t just want The Kings dead. I want him dead, too.
“Fortunately,” he said, voice turning smug, “you’ll have a chance to fix your little mistake. Allyn King’s birthday party. This Saturday. A celebration of her and of Athena’s return.”
I set down the glass. Now he had my full attention.
“No one suspects you exist,” he continued. “You can slip in clean.”
“Athena’s seen me. She knows exactly who I am. You think I can stroll into their house unnoticed?”
He waved it off. A grin spread.
“She hasn’t said a word.”
I stilled.
“What?”
“We’ve got a man inside Maddox’s estate. Athena King hasn’t told them shit.”
Why? Why the fuck hasn’t she exposed me? She has every reason. Garrett chuckled darkly.
“Whatever you did with the little brat, it worked. She’s staying silent. Well, partly. ” His eyes gleamed like he could read every thought in my head. Like he knew she’s still under my skin. I stepped closer, glaring down at him.
“What do you mean by that?”
He didn’t answer. Just pulled out his phone and held it up like the smug bastard he is. I wish I hadn’t looked. The screen was filled with photos of Athena, taken recently—paparazzi shots. She was smiling, glowing, and clinging to Mason fucking Rivera like he was her entire world.
My chest tightened, fury swelling like a bomb about to detonate. She looked like she belonged to him, like everything that happened between us was nothing, like I never fucking touched her or she never screamed my name with her legs wrapped around my waist.
Then Garrett scrolled down and showed me the headline.
“Athena King and boyfriend Mason Rivera spotted on cozy dinner date after her safe return.”
Boyfriend. That word repeated in my skull like a drumbeat.
Looks like I will pay their little celebration a fucking visit after all.