Page 86 of Wrathful King

He and I were similar on that front. The need to possess, to always reach for more, it was part of our DNA, a need that couldn’t be stopped.

It was power.

For him, it was to bring the world to its knees. For me, it was to protect the people I loved. My family.

“What’s your plan now?” I asked, knowing I had to wrap up this call. The shower had stopped and Reina would be in the library at any moment.

“I’m not leaving Greece till I find Phoenix. I’ve never been the giving-up type and I certainly won’t start being one now.” Silence followed. “How is my newfound sister doing?”

“Better.”

“That’s good. Being a Leone really didn’t serve her well, did it? No matter though, she was a Leone for a hot second before you snatched her back to the Romero side.”

“She’s still your half sister,” I pointed out. He’d been slowly processing it, but then that was Dante. It took him a while to warm up to people, and that was if he ever managed to.

“Yes, although I get the sense she sees Father when she looks at me.”

“If she does, she’s never said it. Besides, once she gets to know you, she’ll see you’re nothing like him.” For the most part. Cruelty was something we both learned from Angelo.

“Maybe if she’s still on drugs. If they’re out of her system, she’d have to be blind not to see.”

“We all resemble our parents in one way or another,” I told him cautiously. “If she’s accepted me and forgiven me for all the shit I’ve put her through, I know she won’t hold who your father is against you.”

“The girl’s head over heels for you. She’d forgive you for burning down the world.”

“Angelo is Reina’s biological father too, and she knows to hold it against you is to hold it against herself. Trust me, she’s not seeing Father when she sees you, and if she does, it won’t last.”

A heartbeat passed. “Yeah, maybe,” he agreed, then added, “Maybe I’ll kidnap Phoenix and marry her like you did Reina so we won’t have a choice but to be a family.”

“That won’t make Reina like you more. If anything, it’ll piss her off.” I knew he was being purposely insensitive to mask his true feelings on the matter, but it still smarted. It was too soon to joke. “And tone your humor down. It might scare Phoenix.”

“Pfft. Women crave my comedy.”

“In your dreams.”

“There too, but mostly in reality.”

“Well, this woman probably doesn’t.”

“She’ll have to tell me that herself.” I palmed my forehead. I was too old for this shit, and I wasn’t even close to being old. Dante’s humor made me feel that way. “But if it makes you feel better, I promise to handle Phoenix gently.”

“I honestly can’t wait until she puts you in your place. Now stop whining and find her so my wife can be happy.”

“You’re no fun since I learned you’re a Romero,” he muttered under his breath. I shook my head. I was always the more serious one, but I’d always attributed it to my mother’s genes. Maybe it was time to rethink the nature-versus-nurture debate as it related to my fucked-up lineage. “Maybe that’s why Phoenix evades me. Because she thinks like you.”

The door opened and I whipped around. Reina strode into the library barefoot, wearing light pink lingerie with dainty white buttons. Her hair was loose, falling over her shoulders and down her back in wild curls. Her eyes shone with such brightness it could easily blind me.

The peaks of her nipples under the sheer material captured my full attention, and I locked on the sight of her soft curves.

In the past few days, I’d touched every inch of her skin. She still hid her scars—she thought she was being sneaky about it—but I was determined to show her just how beautiful I thought she was.

She’d been sleeping better, but I knew bad nights still came for her. It would take time to completely purge those nightmares from her mind.

“Let me know if you learn anything. I have to go,” I told Dante, ending the call without waiting for his reply.

She stopped in front of me, her bare knees touching mine. “Who was that?”

“Business.”