Page 71 of Scandalous Kingpin

I stared at the group of battered girls. My heart raced, but my mind was numb. My athair helped Sofia traffic girls, and this was the result of it. Simple as that.Goddammit. Acid coiled in the pit of my stomach that he’d willingly participate in such an event—blackmail or not.

Christian turned my head to him, his silent gaze boring into me, wordlessly asking me if I was okay. I gave him a terse nod, unable to admit out loud that my own athair could have had a role in something so grim. That these young, terrified women had been put through who knew what.

“You better have a good reason for being here.” Alexei broke the silence.

“The kingpins and Murphys together,” Kingston stated coldly, his eyes roving over us. “Something’s afoot.”

“My intel indicated Sofia Volkov would be here,” Christian responded, his voice cold and his demeanor unperturbed.

“So you brought an army,” Kingston snickered. “Sofia’s not here.”

“It appears your intel was all wrong, DiLustros and Murphys,” the young woman who looked incredibly badass snapped, clutching her weapon in one hand and holding the shivering girl protectively with the other. “Now get lost.”

Basilio chuckled. “You must have some balls on you. How about you start with introducing yourself?”

“Fuck. You.”

“It’s only fair,” Dante chimed in. “Since you seem to know who we are.”

“I’m Kingston,” the dark-haired one answered. “And this is Alexei.”

Christian scoffed. “We know who you two are. Who is she? And what’s with the girl hanging off her like she’s Mother Teresa?”

Kingston didn’t look thrilled about my husband’s reply, and I sensed a retort when the woman beat him to it. “I’m Lilith. And I’m going to kill you all if you don’t move out of our fucking way. We have somewhere we need to be.”

Their faces remained impassive masks, yet I couldn’t shake off the feeling that the woman was lying. Not about killing us—she definitely meant that—but about who she was.

“Badass,” Juliette commented. “I’m impressed.”

The woman’s jaw clenched, her eyes flashing with fury at my best friend.

“Sofia Volkov killed my father,” I chimed in, but the woman didn’t spare me a glance.

Instead, her eyes locked on Juliette. “No, she didn’t. The person who killed Edward Murphy is standing right there next to you.”

“What—”

“How—”

Every cell in me froze while my ears started to ring, her words on repeat. Who did she mean? Surely she was wrong. Then the woman smiled ferally. “Didn’t you know?”

How could a woman with such a beautiful face deliver such horrible news?

“What do you mean?” My voice shook violently, my teeth clattering.

“Juliette DiLustro killed your father, Ivy.” The chaos around us suddenly reflected what I felt inside me too. “Now, if you’ll excuse us…”

Alexei shook his head. “Listen, we have to get these girls to safety. It’s our priority. You guys figure this shit out,” Alexei saidin a cold voice, but I had a hard time hearing it. My world spun and spun until it landed upside down.

The woman, Alexei, and Kingston started moving, keeping the rescued girls surrounded, when the woman who just destroyed me glanced over her shoulder. “By the way, Sofia’s not yours to kill. She’s Kingston’s.” Her gaze met mine, unspoken words swimming in her eyes. “So back the fuck off, or you’ll answer to me.”

The three of them disappeared, but the rushing in my ears didn’t.

I turned to stare at my best friend, her ghostly pale face a silent confession. But I needed to hear it. Ideservedto hear it.

“Is it true?”

Everyone around us stood frozen as we watched each other.