Reign of a Billionaire : A Dark Mafia Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

Chapter 56Louisa

Kingston and I took his jet to Greece, heading for the shelter where we dropped off all the women nearly a week ago. I didn’t know what awaited us, but Kingston was right. We had to find out more about the young woman.

Over the last two days, since memories of my past had started to sharpen into focus, I told Kingston everything that I’d done over the last eight years, including my reason for trying to infiltrate Cortes’s operation.

I explained how I worked with Giovanni Agosti to kill the old Santiago, and how I learned that my sister was used by Perez to be sold using a Marabella Mobster arrangement.

Kingston held me through my tears, promising we’d find her, wherever she was in this world. My gaze brushed over his forearm, tracing the tattoo of angel wings wrapped around his arm.

There was so much history left to uncover between us, but I trusted Kingston to be here with me every step of the way. Somehow we got through torture, death, and separation, only to be brought back again. That had to count for something, right?

“How did you finally realize I wasn’t Liana?” I asked curiously.

His eyes darted over my face before they came to linger on my throat. “On the nape of your neck, there’s a tattoo I gave you.” I reached my hand back to feel for it, tracing it like he had. “It was our secret. Nobody else knew about it, not even Liana.”

A memory probed at my skull. “The angel wings?”

“Yes, sunshine. It always fascinated you.”

“The wings of your guardian angel,” I whispered, remembering why he got the tattoo. “So they can always protect you.”

He wiped at the tears clinging to my eyelashes. “You always represented my guardian angel, sunshine.”

My heart clung to it, beating for him, and for the first time in years, I felt whole. If not for one missing piece: my twin.

“Mother has taken so much from us,” I rasped.

His fingers brushed over my jawline, down to my collarbone, then to the back of my neck. I imagined he was probably tracing the tattoo just like I was tracing his.

“We’ll get it back,” he said with conviction, his voice serene. “And then we’ll make her pay.”

I took his hand into mine and squeezed. “On one condition.”

The corners of his lips twitched. “Name it.”

“I get to kill her.” He stiffened, but before he could protest, I continued. “You protected me for so many years. You’ve killed again and again to keep me and Liana safe.” I brought his palm to my mouth and kissed it. “Your hands are drenched in blood. It’s my turn to keep you safe.”

“No.” His eyes burned into me.

“Kingston,” I sighed out. “My hands aren’t clean anymore.” His eyes darted to my palms, and I watched him clenching and unclenching his fists. “I’ve killed more than once.”

“You were protecting innocent, vulnerable women. I’m not innoc⁠—”

“Don’t you say it,” I warned. The ache in my chest grew at the knowledge that it was my mother who’d made him believe he was less than. “Nobody in this fucking world is innocent. The only way we can make this”—I gestured between us with my fisted hand—“work is by protecting each other. I’ve seen the teeth, and I still don’t give a shit how many men you’ve killed. They deserved it.”

“It was my job to protect you, and I failed,” he hissed.

I shook my head. “It was our parents’ job to protect us, and they failed, Kingston. That’s not on us. We did our best and we survived.”

His body tensed, the muscles of his shoulders rigid, but then he shook his head. “You’re right, sunshine.” Kingston’s mouth tilted up. “I have to get used to this new fierce and strong Lou.”

I swallowed, my pulse thundering. “I know it’s different… I’m different from that girl you fell in love with⁠—”

He silenced me with a kiss. “We’re both different.” His lips molded to mine. “I’ll love any version of you, in every lifetime, in every death, in every universe.”

And then he kissed me like the world was coming to an end.

Wearing a casual black T-shirt, jeans, and combat boots, Kingston walked next to me, holding my hand as we made our way through the compound that was built by Lykos Costello for victims of human trafficking.

“We’re gonna be one of those couples who dress the same?” I mused, squeezing his hand gently as his gaze roved over me in the same outfit. He towered over most people, including me, but tucked into his side, I’d never felt safer.

“We share a heart,” he whispered into my ear as he led us through the hallways. “It seemed appropriate.”

I caught a few curious glances thrown our way, nurses and women alike, probably recognizing danger. When you grew up around people like Ivan and Sofia, it was impossible not to carry some of it everywhere you went.

“Maybe when all this is over, we can go on a date,” I teased. “I’ve never been on one.”

I sensed his amusement as he glanced at me. “What a coincidence… Neither have I. You think there’ll be sex on our first date, or should we wait for the second?”

My face heated. We were quite the pair, both of us missing out on so many normal events in our lives.

“Let’s do it on the first date,” I said, grinning. “Since we kind of live together already.”

Kingston raised his brows at that. “Kind of?” He pressed his lips to the top of my earlobe. “Sunshine, that ship has sailed.”

A little smile tugged at my lips. “Where should we go for our first date?”

“A restaurant?” he suggested.

“Maybe we can go wild and see a concert.”

He chuckled. “A concert, huh?”

“Have you ever been to one?” He shook his head and I smiled. “Me neither. We have some catching up to do.”

But before we could iron out the details, I felt his body snap to attention, and I followed his line of sight right to Lykos Costello. At least my mother’s teachings proved to be handy in some aspects.

“Handgun?”

“Yes.” I watched Kingston’s entire posture switch to a predatory mode. “Do we not trust Costello?”

“We trust nobody in the underworld.”

I nodded, and we remained silent as we closed the distance.

“Mr. Costello,” I greeted him, extending my hand. “Thank you again for letting the women stay here.”

His dark eyes studied me, his face half covered by stubble. “Miss…”

He waited for me to give him my full name, but that wasn’t happening.

“Miss is fine.” I smiled tightly. “We’re here to see the girls.”

The man’s eyes were alight with humor at my not-so-subtle dismissal.

He gave a pointed look down the hallway. “All five of them are together in the last room on the left.”

A door behind him opened and surprise flooded me when I saw a woman, her hands and wrists bound to her bed, children around her.

Kingston’s hand on the small of my back urged me forward. “Let’s go.”

I shared a glance with him, picking up on his warning to stay quiet, and we continued forward. The moment we were out of earshot, I asked under my breath, “What was that?”

“Nothing we want to get involved in.” My steps tripped over the smooth surface, but Kingston caught me by my elbow. “Let’s focus on what we came for,” he warned.

When we reached the last door, we found the women, and my eyes traveled over each of them. They looked like different people. Their faces were clean, they wore new clothes, and color had bloomed on their cheeks. They looked healthy. Until you looked at their eyes.

You could always tell by one’s eyes how much they’d suffered.

My throat felt thick with unshed tears as I said to Kingston, “They’ll open up easier if you’re not here.”

He nodded. “Keep the door ajar.”

I knocked on the doorframe, and five sets of eyes turned to look at me when I entered.

“Hello,” I greeted them softly. “Is it okay if I come in?”

Four of them offered soft smiles, while one set of eyes remained staring out the window.

“Hello, Liana,” the girls greeted me in unison, causing me to wince at the name. How in the hell would I ever explain?

“There’s one empty seat,” Visha said.

I perched down at the little table where the girls were gathered around.

“Are you doing okay?” I asked, regretting that I couldn’t take them with me to the island. Alexei had assured me that they’d be safe here, but it wasn’t the same as having them tucked in our territory.

“Yes,” Delilah answered. “We’ve been well taken care of here.”

I nodded, feeling Kingston’s presence even though he wasn’t in the room.

“I have to tell you something,” I said, bringing both my hands to the table and twisting my left wrist. “And then I’m going to ask you for help, but I want you to know, if it’s too… hard or painful or anything like that, you don’t have to tell me anything.”

Uneasiness permeated the air. The girls smiled, millions of tiny goosebumps breaking over their arms, remaining quiet. They were suddenly nervous and I hated being the source of it.

I lowered my head, my heart racing in my chest.

“First, I guess let me start by saying, I…” I swallowed. “Well, it turns out, my name is Louisa.”

Tension filled the room while I considered the girls. Their expressions were mostly marred with confusion, except for the youngest. Her brown eyes flickered with terror.

“Did you… forget or something?” Mae asked hesitantly, her eyes darting to the girl who had been beaten into thinking her name was Louisa according to the intel Kingston got.

I took a deep breath, twisting my fingers. It made me sick to my stomach to admit the woman who was responsible for their misery was my mother, but there was no way around it.

“I have a twin sister,” I started softly. “Her name’s Liana. I still have some gaps in my memory—” I watched the girl who clung to me when we saved her, hoping she’d hear my sincerity and sorrow in my speech. “My mother’s Sofia Volkov.” The girls gasped and reared back. “There aren’t too many people who know my face, but I owe you this much. Believe me, a week ago, I fully believed I was my twin.”

“But how?” Mae asked, her brows drawn.

“Eight years ago, my sister, me, and m-my—” Unsure what to call Kingston, I stuttered. “And the man I love tried to escape my mother. My sister never made it to our meeting spot, so my boyfriend and I ran alone, but we were caught.” My bottom lip trembled and I sunk my teeth into it, the copper taste of blood flooding my mouth. “M-my mother had me tortured. She showed me the video of my sister’s death and⁠—”

“She tortured you until you were convinced you were your twin,” the brown-eyed girl whispered.

I nodded. “For eight years, I believed I was my twin,” I rasped. “I don’t even know if she’s alive.”

“She’s alive.” The conviction in her voice stole my breath. “I heard them… the men… whispering about Liana, they said her name in the same breath as Sofia’s. That can’t be a coincidence. They sounded scared of her.” I found her almond-shaped eyes on me.

My throat tightened as I stared at her, pain coiling in my belly. God, what in the hell was happening here?

“But how do we know they weren’t talking about you as Liana?” Visha pondered.

I tilted my head to the side, blinking at them, and something heavy settled in my gut.

“I’ve killed human traffickers.” I shot to my feet. I started pacing around, my mind turning over faster than I knew what to do with it. “But it’s no more than what others are doing. Liana though…” I breathed in and out, hand on my chest. “She was… is stronger than me.”

My heart thundered, my breathing uneven as I made my way to the brown-eyed woman, lowering myself to my knees.

“I’m sorry for what Sofia did to you,” I told her quietly, tears gathering in my eyes. “I want to stop her. I have to stop her.”

My disdain for my mother and everything she stood for colored my voice. I didn’t even bother to hide it.

“What do you need?” Her voice was raspy, like she’d been choked too many times and her vocal cords were damaged.

“What’s your real name?” I asked, and suddenly the temperature in the room dipped ten degrees.

I waited with bated breath, unsure whether I pushed too fast and too hard. She’d suffered enough.

“Lara Cortes.” I gave my head a shake. It couldn’t be any relation to… “My father is… Perez Cortes.”

I stared at her in disbelief, knowing in my heart she wasn’t lying, but I was unable to wrap my head around it. A familiar hand came to my shoulder, squeezing in comfort.

“It can’t be the same man,” I breathed, yet somehow it made complete sense. He took me, so my mother took her.

Lara’s eyes found me and she let out a heavy exhale. “The very same one who sells girls via the Marabella Mobster arrangement.”

The pain inside my chest worsened. My hands started to shake, and a tear rolled down my cheek, soon followed by another. Tears streamed down my face, steady and fast.

“I’m sorry.” Lara’s soft voice, her cries, pierced through my own pain, and I pulled her into a hug.

“Our parents sure made a mess of things, didn’t they?” I croaked, feeling my lips tremble.

Kingston’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “Revenge?”

One word, but it was all I needed to strengthen my resolve. I clenched and unclenched my fists, the cruelty of the underworld echoing in the bitterness on my tongue and hollowness in my stomach.

I glanced at Lara, who must have been in agreement. Heart stuttering at this new piece of information, I tried to process it all and understand it, but there were still so many missing pieces.

But there was one thing I was certain of: Lara needed protection. The moment the underworld learned Perez Cortes had a daughter, they’d be after her.