Ravenous Kingpin (Kingpins of the Syndicate #4)

27. Killian

CHAPTER 27

Killian

L iam wanted to talk more, but I insisted on wrapping up the conversation and getting Emory out of here and back to my estate where she’d be safe. Unfortunately, before I even had a chance to cut him off, Davina and Emory were pulled away into the DiLustro gang’s lively discussion while I watched my wife smile and talk animatedly. When her brother leaned in and spoke in her ear, she threw her head back and laughed.

Was I jealous of her brother? Possibly. No, scratch that. Definitely.

I am jealous.

Why? Because Emory and Basilio were close and she’d burn down the world for him. But not for me and I wanted to murder her brother for it—for causing this green feeling to stir inside me.

It was irrational, but I wanted to be the one to make her laugh, to own all her smiles and keep her full attention.

“So you fell for a DiLustro too, huh?” My sister’s voice pulled Liam’s and my attention away from business. I ignored her question, but then Juliette gave me a thumbs-up. “I approve.”

“Exactly what I was going for,” I muttered under my breath. “Your approval.”

“Your parents would be so proud,” Liam said, his voice actually cracking. It was the first time I’d ever seen or heard it happen. “Both of you are happily married and have made strong alliances.”

Juliette glimpsed at me. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

A waiter weaved through the crowd with a tray of drinks and I snatched one up, taking a long sip.

“Are you happy?” she repeated. My sister could be such a pain in the ass.

“Yes.” But more importantly, I wanted my wife to be happy. We’d have to find a balance for sure. “How are things with you and Ivy now that all the secrets between our families are out?”

Tears rimmed her eyes. She always got emotional when it came to Ivy. Yes, they’d gotten past the fact that Juliette killed Ivy’s father—forgiven-but-not-forgotten kind of deal—but Ivy’s father also had a hand in what happened to our parents. Sofia Volkov literally had him by the balls and had told him to kill them. And he did.

Anyhow, both were now dead, and so were many others who’d had a hand in it. I’d made sure of it.

But Ivy and Juliette shouldn’t have suffered for the sins of their fathers, psycho bitches, and schemes of the underworld.

“They’re improving. We’re working at it.” She pursed her lips. “I regret killing her father, but…”

I nodded in understanding. “But some deeds can’t be taken back.”

“Yes.”

“It was a good lesson for you, Jules,” Liam said, and I couldn’t agree more. She was too impulsive at times, which often got our cousin and her friends in trouble. But the four of them stuck together like glue.

My eyes darted to my wife and I tensed. Basilio and my wife headed toward the exits, their heads bent together as she chuckled and said something I couldn’t hear. Red washed over my vision.

She’s leaving me.

“I think you’ll find it more effective, Jules, if you?—”

“You two carry on,” I told them, setting my drink down and heading after my wife.

They were already in the hallway, the music quieter and lights dimmer. I intended to interrupt them immediately, but as I drew closer, I heard Basilio’s low, urgent voice. My curiosity piqued, I creeped up at an angle.

“I know you, sis, and Killian isn’t the one for you…”

“I really don’t need you to babysit me anymore, Basilio,” she said.

“He’s too harsh. I wanted someone who wouldn’t be a threat to your position in the Syndicate.”

I stood in place, filled with molten fury. I wanted to interrupt them, slam my fist into Basilio’s Italian nose, and then drag my wife out of here. But I was also curious. I wanted to know what Emory’s response would be.

“But see, brother, it’s none of your business,” she said lazily. “I supported you when you schemed to get Wynter.”

“Wynter isn’t interested in Syndicate business,” he growled.

“And neither is Killian,” she said, narrowing her eyes on her brother and holding her own.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“I love you, Basilio,” she said quietly. “I really do, but there are things you don’t know. You have to stop trying to protect me. I can handle Killian.”

Basilio hesitated.

“I don’t want to see anyone hurt you,” he finally said. “Not after the hellish childhood you endured with our father.”

“You didn’t have it any better.” Emory took her brother’s hand and squeezed it. “I promise you, I’m fine. Father doesn’t deserve our memories. The best revenge would be to forget him.”

“I know Father did something to you,” Basilio said dully. “It’s one secret you’ve kept from me, but it changed you. After you came back from Italy six years ago, Father took you away. You came back some months later not as my little happy sister but as a broken woman you kept hidden behind a hard shell.”

I should interrupt, but I was rooted in place as my mind reeled, pondering the possibilities. That must’ve been when we met, and then… her father took her out of the country? Did he hurt her? What happened to her?

Blind rage overwhelmed me and suddenly I wished her father was still alive so I could kill him myself. Or at least go back to Basilio’s wedding day and help him murder Gio DiLustro.

I stepped out of the shadows and their eyes snapped to me. Taking a few short steps, I took my wife’s hand in mine and pushed her behind me.

“Ah, look here. It’s the stalker husband,” he stated with a smirk.

“That’s rich coming from you,” I stated calmly.

Anger burned my throat. Before I could overthink it, my right fist connected with his mouth, punching the smirk right off the fucker’s face.

I leveled her brother with a hard stare, the entire world coming to a screeching halt. “Next time you try to sway my wife away from me, brother-in-law or not, I will kill you.”

Basilio wiped the blood off his mouth, his eyes lit with amusement. “I always thought you were a calculating bastard, Killian.”

I wrapped my arm around Emory’s shoulder and she allowed it as if in shock.

It wasn’t until we were in a waiting car that she finally looked at me. “My brother was right. You can be so harsh.”

I didn’t answer because one thing was clear: when it came to this woman, all my instincts flared and all bets were off.