Reign of a King (Kingdom Duet 1)

“I have a black belt in karate and two of my brothers are captains in the British Army,” she tells him ever so casually.

“Lay…” I shake my head. The last thing she wants to do is threaten him or put herself on his radar.

Jonathan raises a brow. “Is that a threat, Ms Hussaini?”

“It’s a piece of information, freely provided.” Behind his back, she motions at me to text her, then leaves.

As the door closes behind her with a loud click, I feel the gravity of the situation before Jonathan even says a word.

I gulp down all the emotions rising to the surface and hold eye contact. I’ve never found a problem doing that with anyone in the past.

Now is different.

Everything is. Starting with the man who’s standing in the middle of my office like he owns it — which, in a way, he does.

Maintaining eye contact with Jonathan is like being ripped to pieces and not having the ability to do anything about it. He feeds off my energy in the most savage way, and he has no plans to return it.

“What do you want, Jonathan?”

“I told you what I want, and you purposefully went against it. Very bold.”

I swallow as he rounds my desk and lowers himself onto my chair with utter confidence as if it’s always been his.

My legs are barely keeping me standing, so I don’t attempt to move from my position. “Are you going to leave me alone now?”

He laughs, the sound hollow and frightening. “I’ll take that as a joke.”

“You got what you wanted. Ethan is already out.”

“True, but I did it, not you. Why should you be rewarded for it?”

“So, what? You’ll just own my company?”

“My company, but I digress.”

“You can’t do that.”

“It’s already done.” He places his elbows on the surface of the desk and leans over, forming a steeple at his chin. “Unless you’re willing to offer payment.”

I perk up, hope blossoming in my chest like fireworks. “I am. I’ll pay anything.”

“Anything? Careful, wild one. That’s a strong word to use.”

“I meant within reason, and only if you allow us to pay in instalments.”

“Instalments. I like that idea.”

“Right.” I round the sofa to stand in front of my desk, the one he so bluntly made his. “You can even keep some of your shares as a form of investment if you like.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” I’m blurting things out now, but I don’t care as long as it gets us our company back. “Layla and I might even be willing to offer you a bit more than what you paid for the shares. All we need is the option to pay in instalments and time until our next product is launched.”

“Shares and money aren’t the payment I was thinking of.”

I frown. “Then what is?”

“You, Aurora.”