Page 38 of Reign of a Billionaire

She nodded somberly, the sadness in her eyes gutting me more than any other horror I’d witnessed. This world wasn’t made for us, yet we found ourselves stuck in it, trying to survive and find light anywhere we could. It was taking a toll on all of us, but Lou the most.

Sofia called her weak. She wasn’t. Lou was compassionate and caring, her soft heart wanting everyone to be okay. Her twin, on the other hand, was tougher and only had a soft spot for her sister. Everyone else, she detested.

I brought my fingers to her soft strands, the scent of sunlight and warm honey seeping into my lungs.

“Do you want to kiss me, sunshine?” My fingers trembled as I brought her hair to my nose, inhaling deeply.

She let out a shuddering breath. “Not if you don’t want to.”

I wrapped the length of it around my wrist. “With you, I do.”

Her eyes and lips were so alluring when she smiled. It made my heart beat faster. “It’ll be my first kiss.”

“Our first kiss.”

Lifting onto her toes, she tilted her head toward mine, offering herself up so generously. I bent to brush my lips against hers, and my chest fluttered. It fuckingflutteredfor her.

She pressed herself against me, her arms coming around me to kiss me deeper, both of our moves unpracticed and messy, our teeth clashing.

Breaking the kiss, she pulled away, breathing heavily. My heartbeat raced in my chest. For her. It was all for her. I could die a happy man now.

I ran my fingers down the length of her golden hair, marveling at its softness and all these feelings that she brought up in me.

“Is it supposed to feel like this?” Her soft whisper brushed against my cheek.

“I don’t know, but it feels right.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face into my throat.

“It does,” she agreed, her lips moving against my skin. “I’m glad you’re my first kiss.”

I took her chin between my fingers. “Your first, your last, your only.”

Her eyes found mine, heartbreak in them gutting me alive. “Forever.” Her lips found mine for a whispered vow. “However long that may be.”

“It’ll be long,” I rasped into her mouth, loneliness in her eyes screaming and pleading to keep us together. “I’ll find a way out of here. For both of us.”

“Kingston, if I don’t make it?—”

I brought a finger to her lips. “Don’t say it.”

She grasped my hand in hers as her chest rattled with a shaky breath. “If I don’t make it, promise you’ll protect my sister.” She squeezed my hand with all her might. “She’s stronger than I am, but not as strong as everyone thinks. Promise me you’ll protect her.”

There was nothing I could refuse Louisa. Fucking nothing. If she asked me to walk into a burning building, I would. If she asked me to burn the world to the ground, I’d only ask when.

“You know I’ll do anything. So if that’s?—”

“There you are!” A voice, similar but so different, cut me off. I looked back over my shoulder, finding her twin fidgeting. “Mother wants to have dinner with us.”

Fuck, I hated their mother. Everything she stood for and everything she was. How in the fuck did someone so evil give birth to someone as good and gentle as Louisa?

Louisa pulled away, and my fists clenched, fighting the instinct to hold on. It was as if I were born with it. Everything about her sparked the protectiveness inside me tenfold.

As she walked away, I didn’t realize it would be the beginning of our destruction.

Her twin was the only thing left behind, a ghost of the woman I lost, but also a temptation. The urge to pretend for a moment—just one moment in this cursed life—that I had Lou back in my life was overwhelming.

I wanted Louisa; I was left with Liana. I vowed to protect Lou, but was left with the promise to protect Liana—even if just for this place in time, here at this fucked-up party.

Maybe Louisa knew all along what was coming? Her death. My lonely existence. The pull toward the wrong sister.