Page 7 of Reign of a Billionaire

No matter what I did, it didn’t seem to make a difference. More women were found. More flesh was traded. I couldn’t save them all.

I leaned my forehead on the cool glass and closed my eyes, remembering the first time I’d found them. The innocent, broken girls made to move like cattle.

No, it was worse.

The stench was the first thing that registered when I opened the door to the container. The terrified whimpers were what followed.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness and my heart stopped. It fucking stopped beating, seeing girls and women with bruised faces huddled around each other, bodies angled to shelter themselves from what lay on the other side of the door. Fromme.

Some were lying in a fetal position, wearing nothing but filthy oversized shirts. Others sat with knees raised to their chest, their eyes glossed over and vacant.

It was then I saw their collars—the thick metal gripping their throats.

My nostrils flared, fury surging through me. “I’m going to help you.”

And I’d make them pay.

Someone banging on the bathroom door pulled me out of my trance, my heartbeat racing at the onslaught of bitter memories. Disgust and disappointment swirled like a category-five hurricane inside of me. Unstoppable and destructive.

I’d saved some, but I’d failed more. Including my sister.

My hazel eyes, misty at the reminder of my failures, stared back at me.

With hate. With resignation. With sorrow.

Chapter 3

Kingston

Iwatched her golden locks bounce with each step she took, her skin glowing. She looked fragile, maybe even broken, reminding me of Lou.

My breath stuttered. My chest twisted. The resemblance was remarkable. She looked likeher.Walked like her. Moved like her.

Don’t be fooled, Kingston. The warning rang in my ears. This woman didn’t hold a candle to Lou.

And just like that, it felt like losing her all over again, and the familiar fury bubbled like lava. Sofia took away my chance at redemption and left me in hell. I was no longer under her and Ivan’s thumbs, but I might as well have been. What existed was a different level of hell, where I couldn’t escape my failure to save Lou.

Alexei had been too late.

“I’m here to save you.” Unfamiliar voice, strange words. Nobody was saved here. I cracked open my swollen eyes and inhaled a sharp breath. “I’m Alexei.”

Pale blue eyes stared at me through the darkness.

“Save… her…” I could barely recognize the sound of my own voice as I motioned next to me, only to find the spot empty.

His eyes followed my gaze, waiting for me to explain. Frustration and despair welled in my chest when more words filtered through, this time in a more pressing tone.

“Alexei, we have to get out of here.” I didn’t turn my head, my eyes glued to the spot where I’d last seen Louisa. Her body was no longer there.

“The bomb’s about to detonate.” A third voice.

Alexei shifted my body, setting off an explosion of pain, and I clenched my teeth to stop a groan from slipping through my lips.

He raced us out of there, every one of his steps sending a shot of pain through me. My limbs were too heavy, my body too broken to fight him off—whoever he was. He raced through the castle, but I kept my eyes glued on the stairwell we just emerged from. My mind needed another glimpse of her, even as a ghost.

But destiny wasn’t kind enough to give me that.

A beat later, the air filled with an ear-shattering explosion. Alexei picked up his speed, but it wasn’t long before another boom sounded from the castle.