Chapter 7 Reign
REIGN
Ididn’t take the elevator up to my apartment right away. Instead, I stood by the front door of the building and looked out to see her car still parked there, as if she was making sure I would safely make it inside.
I shook my head and smiled a little.
The thought was laughable.
What wasn’t laughable was the way she tasted.
Fuck me, I could still remember her taste on my tongue.
And while I should be wondering why she was plotting against me, all I could really think about was when I would be able to kiss her again.
The little spitfire was so much more than I thought she would be.
Finally, her car pulled away, and I pushed off the glass door and headed to the elevator, taking it up to the penthouse suite.
It didn’t take me long to realize something was wrong. For one, the door was ajar when I knew I had fucking locked it before I left.
I pulled out the gun I always carried with me and pushed the door all the way open with my foot.
It was as I expected.
The place was trashed, and I doubted anyone was still inside.
They couldn’t find what they were looking for, so they left.
Fuckers.
This mess was going to take a good amount of time to clean.
And now I was forced to interact with the fucking psychopath.
I pulled out my phone, scrolled through my contacts, found the name “Psycho,” and pressed the call icon.
Kingston picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”
“Someone broke into my apartment. I’m going to call in some people to clean this mess up, but I thought I’d let you know.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“You don’t have—”
He hung up before I could tell him not to come.
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. What a fucking headache. And to think the night had started off so well.
It didn’t take Kingston long to come by.
I hadn’t bothered to close the door. He kicked some of the paper lying on the floor on his way inside, his eyes immediately finding mine. They roamed over me, from head to toe. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought he was checking to see if I was injured.
I waited for him to speak first.
“What happened?”
I shrugged. “Beats me. I just got home not too long ago.”
“They knew you would be out. Who would know that? Where did you go?”
I crossed my arms. “That doesn’t matter.”
He shot me a look, but I stood my ground.
He let out a small sigh.
“You didn’t need to come. I could have handled this myself.”
He didn’t respond to that. Instead, he walked around the room, inspecting it.
I didn’t know what he was looking for, and it wasn’t like there was much of anything to see.
Nothing in this entire apartment was salvageable. It was a damn good thing I didn’t leave any valuable shit here. I wasn’t fucking stupid.
“What were they looking for?” Kingston asked, turning his sharp brown eyes toward me.
“Don’t know,” I answered.
He didn’t say anything, just continued to stare me down, as if he was trying to decide whether I was lying or not. I wouldn’t be giving him anything.
He nodded. “Okay. Look around to make sure nothing is missing. And check the security footage.”
I held up my phone. “Already did that. Showed three men breaking in. All dressed in black and wearing ski masks. There’s nothing identifiable about them.
About average height, average build, and were inside my apartment for no more than fifteen minutes.
They left about an hour ago in a stolen car, and if they were smart, they would have already found a place to switch cars.
There’s no way to track them. We’ll just have to sit and wait to see what their next move is. ”
Kingston nodded. “Okay. Keep me updated.”
And with that, he walked out of the apartment without another word. I watched his back for a long moment, not doing anything else. Then I looked back at the mess that was my apartment and walked to my bedroom. They didn’t even leave the mattress alone. It was slit down the middle.
Fuckers.
If I ever got my hands on them, I would do to their fucking backs what they’d done to my bed.
And I was sure that wouldn’t be enough to abate my anger.
I would need to find a new place to sleep tonight.
The phone in my hand vibrated, and I looked down to see Rose’s name flashing on the screen—the second time she had called me in one night.
I sent the call straight to voicemail and closed my eyes.
Fuck, but I needed a drink.