Page 5 of King of Ashes (Kingdom of Sinners #4)

PHOENIX

I stalk the halls of the house built on my family’s ashes.

Hampton’s desire to replace my father was so complete that the home is nearly identical to what had been there before.

It doesn’t escape my notice that Keira’s room is nearly in the same location as mine had been.

Did she choose it on purpose to remember me or to mock me?

I’m also keenly aware of how comfortable she is. Like this is her place. Her space. It feels like a slap to the face. I hold on to that feeling to guard against the sweet memories that want to break through. Memories of secret rendezvous. Of sharing dreams. Of making plans.

"You're everything," she'd whispered once, pressed against me in the shadows. "I'd choose you over anyone."

How many of our moments were orchestrated? How many times did she run straight from my arms to report back to her father? I imagine her laughing about it later, the foolish Ifrinn heir, so besotted, he never saw the blade coming.

The worst part? I believed her. Every soft touch, every tender look. I drank it all in like a man dying of thirst. She played me until I was completely under her spell.

I'd given her everything. My trust, my love, my future. And she'd handed it all to her family gift-wrapped with a bow. The perfect inside source, feeding them exactly what they needed to destroy us.

She chose her family's wealth and power over my love. Chose to stay silent while they murdered mine. Chose to inhabit my home, my legacy, as if it were her own.

Our marriage will change that. This place will become her prison. The wedding ring will be the chain that traps her here, like a collar around her neck, marking her as mine in the cruelest way possible.

I give my head a hard shake to rid it of Keira. This isn't about old wounds or broken hearts. It's about justice. About making the Keans pay for what they've done. And Keira is just another weapon in my arsenal to make reclaiming my throne easier. Nothing more.

I search for a room that doesn’t stink of the Keans, which isn’t easy.

In fact, my skin crawls at the idea of sleeping under the roof of the man who ruined my life.

But I need to stay, need to sleep under this roof that Hampton Kean stole from my dead parents.

It's the only way to make the other families see that the Ifrinns have come home to reclaim what's ours.

Already, the old guard is falling in line, remembering their allegiances.

Power recognizes power, and Boston's underworld has a long memory.

I finally find a guest suite that will do.

Inside, I pull out my phone and dial Ash’s number.

It’s late… or I guess it’s early, but I don’t imagine he’s sleeping.

I know from Flint’s text that Hannah will be fine, but Ash is my second in command.

I want him to hear from me how we’ve succeeded.

How our parents and Meghan, a woman he once loved, are being vindicated.

“Ash, how is Hannah?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbing the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger.

“She’s going to be fine. She woke up and… we’re all fine.”

All? “Was there a question about that?”

“I’ve been a dick, but she’s forgiven me.”

“Please tell me you finally told her you love her.” I can’t afford to have his attention divided because he and Hannah are at odds.

“I did.” He lets out a breath. “Fuck, Phoenix. I’m going to be a father.”

It takes me a minute to register the words. “She’s pregnant?”

“Yes. That fucker Hampton… the bullet hit her in the side, but she and baby are fine. But I want to kill him. He’s mine. Promise me.”

“When the time comes, I promise.”

“As soon as Hannah is stable?—”

“It won’t be tonight.”

There’s a pause on Ash’s end of the line. “Why? You’re not going to let him live after everything.”

“He’s more useful alive right now than dead. At least until we get the business fully in our grasp. He’s locked in the basement with his wife.”

“What’s the plan?”

I’m thinking now isn’t the time to reveal my plans. Not while he’s with Hannah and celebrating their love and impending parenthood.

“Phoenix. The plan,” he demands.

“I’m going to marry Keira.”

Again, there’s a pause. “Well, I guess it will be a big fuck you to Hampton to reveal you and Keira?—”

“It’s not a love match, Ash. Far from it.

It’s business. I know you love Hannah, but considering how your marriage started, you understand, right?

” I don’t want my brothers getting ideas that I’ll end up with some fairy tale romance like they have.

I’m happy for them, but there’s no love ever after in my future.

I’m still focused on taking back what’s mine, making those who wronged me pay.

“Sure, but if you have control, you don’t need to marry her.”

“Like keeping the Keans alive, it can serve a purpose. It will be harder to go against me if my wife is a Kean.”

“Maybe.”

I don’t like his doubt.

“It’s a risk. And what do you do when you don’t need her? If you’re married to her, you can’t just… get rid of her.”

I can’t think about killing Keira now. “It doesn’t matter. What’s important now is making sure everyone knows an Ifrinn is in charge now. I know you need to be with Hannah, but I’m going to need you soon.”

“I’ll be there.”

When I hang up, I have a moment to be happy for Ash. He’s found peace from the guilt over losing Meghan ten years ago in the fire and new love and happiness with his wife. And they’re having a baby.

I laugh. It seems none of my brothers ever learned to use a condom. Flint is already a father, and Blaise and now Ash are both expecting.

The image of Keira carrying my child comes to mind unbidden. It pisses me off and I nearly pitch my phone across the room in frustration. I need a drink.

I wander out of the room and toward where my father’s study had been. As expected, Hampton’s is in the same location.

“Fucker.” He’s got a fully stocked bar with expensive booze.

At least he has good taste in whisky. I pour two fingers.

My father used to drink this same label while working late in his study.

Now I'm standing in what used to be his space, trying to understand why I don’t just kill them all now.

I could wipe the Keans off the face of the earth just like they planned to do to my family.

It would be clean. Simple. The ultimate revenge.

But strategically, I know keeping them alive right now is the wiser choice.

Marrying Keira is a part of that, and I won’t be dissuaded or undone by memories of a girl who betrayed me.

In fact, forcing her to marry me is an even better revenge.

Making her live with the consequences of her family's actions.

Making her watch as I dismantle everything they built on my family's bones.

Making her feel the pain and fear my brothers and I have endured for ten years.

Making an example of her to anyone who might challenge my right.

I take a gulp of the amber liquid, feeling it burn down my throat as I plot how to break the woman who broke me. Physical violence holds no appeal. It's too quick, too merciful. No, Keira Kean deserves the kind of suffering that lingers. As do her parents.

The wedding will be my first strike. I'll parade her in front of Boston's elite, make her smile and play the blushing bride while everyone whispers about how the mighty Keans have fallen.

Her pristine reputation, the one thing she's managed to maintain all these years despite not being a virgin, will crumble as I expose every dirty secret her family tried to bury.

I’ll take everything she holds of value, everything provided to her by her father through the spoils of her father’s betrayal. She can wear beggars’ clothes for all I care.

The society papers will eat it up, Boston's ice princess caught in a scandal. I'll leak stories about her parents' murderous rise and fall and about how she sold herself to save their worthless lives. Watch her perfect mask crack as her world burns down around her.

"Time to see how you handle being powerless, Princess,” I vow as I down the last bit of my whisky.

The true beauty of my revenge is that she'll have to smile through it all. One wrong move and her parents pay the price. Or that kid. I need to find out who that kid is. Maybe I’ll be a hero and return it to whoever the Keans took her from.

My lips curl into a cold smile as I imagine the pain and fear she’ll feel. It's only fair after what her family did to mine.