Kingdom Fall

“Connor,” Kalen said.

“Is she with you?”

“Yes.”

“Good. She’s safe.”

“Actually, she is. Matt called. It appears you showing up as her husband has taken the scent off of her. He’s sure she’s fine. Leave her be tonight. She’s with Bailey, explaining things. You can fix things in the morning.”

I let out a slow breath. There was that.

But another call I’d missed would alter all my plans. I went into my father’s office, knowing what I would hear. When I called the number, I got a gruff, “You’re in. Details will be sent an hour before.” Then they hung up.

This was the moment I’d worked hard for over the last several years—once I’d found Ruin and a few of his cronies. I’d bought clubs like Club Sination, Hush, Debauchery, Bangers, Paradise, Come Inside, Our Secret, Tongue and Cheek, The Cat’s Meow, Club Lush, and Silver Scarlet, filling cities all over the US, to get information that could lead to evidence against the six but especially Ruin. Some of the clubs were like mine. Others were less reputable. Bits of information gathered in each had led me to this point.

I’d been feeding information to a guy I knew in college who was working with the CIA. He’d been the one to arrange for me to use the safe house. Sex trafficking happened all over the world. He fed the information I’d given him to the local authorities, including the FBI here in the States.

My call to him went to voicemail. He’d told me it was possible he’d have to go dark for a while after Lizzy had unwittingly given up the safe house.

I ran a hand over my head. I needed someone to know what I was doing to get the evidence I needed to bring down the six. For all I knew, the FBI had put the information I’d given to good use and was one step ahead of me. If this auction was raided, I could be putting my family under scrutiny if they figured out Mr. Black was a well-funded alias. Connor King was an enigma to the public. That didn’t mean a good investigator couldn’t figure out I was a King, not a Black.

The next call I made was to Lizzy’s brother. Only that call said the number was no longer in service. A quick text to Kalen revealed that Matt had said the number he was calling from was temporary and not to call it. He didn’t think Matt had given a number to Lizzy either.

There was no way I would put Lizzy in the crossfire, so after I talked to Dad’s lawyer about his divorce, I called my own. I explained I needed an annulment and fast. I told him where to serve Lizzy. It was imperative she sign the annulment and execute it before I went to the auction in two days.

Once I got home, I prepared a box. In it, I placed a black masquerade mask made of lace. On top, I put a notecard from the club. The front side had a black flame with no words. It was the logo those in the know understood. Lizzy would. On the back, I’d written:

Wear the mask and not much more tomorrow night. Your twenty-four hours begins when you walk through the door.

I didn’t sign it. I didn’t have to. She’d know I was calling in her chip for the bet she’d lost all those many months ago. It would be a night we’d both remember—and our last. I should have left her alone. But I was selfish and needed one more night with her.Twenty-TwoLizzyOne cry hadn’t been good enough. When I opened the envelope and saw the letter from his lawyer requesting I sign the annulment papers immediately, I cried, like, buckets.

“There’s your answer,” Bailey said when my tears had dried.

The box, however, had been a complete surprise. Even I’d forgotten our wager. I had to remind Bailey of the bet I’d lost playing pool with him.

“And he’s given you another,” Bailey said.

“Another what? Puzzle? Because I don’t get it,” I complained.

“He’s telling you he isn’t done. You said you fought about this inheritance thing. By ending the marriage, he’s proving to you that money doesn’t matter to him. The box is to show you matter.”

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

“You give me another reason,” she tossed back.

I had none, but I didn’t want to hope and fall short.

“Go get your man,” she said.

It was too early to go to the club, but I could do a little retail therapy. Despite the risk involved, I’d made up my mind to go and I would make the man see what he’d miss. Afterward, I followed up with Anderson, who was holding down the fort.

Walking into Flame, I felt a little like Cinderella. Except instead of midnight, it was fifteen minutes until ten o’clock. At the entrance, I showed the card to the woman at the desk.