Ruthless King (Mount Trilogy #1)

“What?”

I swallow another wave of rising bile before I answer. “Me.”

“Well, f*ck.”





Keira





“What?” I ask, terror running rife at her whispered curse.

“I’m thinking.” Magnolia holds up a hand.

“Has he done this before? Is there a playbook for this?”

She shakes her head. “No. I mean, the man has had plenty of mistresses. He usually orders them from out of the country.”

“And?”

“After a few months, they disappear. Like they never existed to begin with.”

I think of Richelle LaFleur, the girl we knew from church that no one has seen or heard from again and was rumored to have been one of his mistresses. As far as I know, the police consider her disappearance a cold case.

My breathing speeds up again. No matter which way I look at the situation, the only ending that seems to be consistent is me dying.

Magnolia eyes me carefully, as if studying my every feature for the very first time. “After that mess with Richelle, he hasn’t been with any local girls.”

“Why deviate from his pattern now? Why me?” My words come out sounding just as frenzied as my brain.

Magnolia shakes her head. “God only knows.” Her reply doesn’t make me feel any better about the situation. She steps away, crossing to the counter to grab her cell. “I need to make a phone call.”

She leaves me on the couch as she walks out of the room, and I draw my knees up to my chest and contemplate my options. Magically come up with five hundred thousand dollars. Prostitute myself out to a man who has either killed or ordered people killed, and everyone he sleeps with disappears afterward. Or, prepare to die a horrendous death, knowing my friends and family are going to die too.

All because of Brett.

How could I have been so stupid? We’d met online, my first foray into the world of Internet dating. We’d been ridiculously compatible. Our first date had been a dream. It was effortless, the way I thought real love should be. And our chemistry? Off the charts. At least, at the very beginning. I was the one who brought up eloping, and he said it was the most romantic idea he’d ever heard. So, we did it.

And he was a con artist.

I thought he’d been so interested in the distillery because it was my passion, and after we got married, he wanted to be part of running it. We were going to be an unstoppable team, and that thrilled me. Until I spotted him and the other woman. All of a sudden, his reduced interest in sex with me became utterly apparent. He was too busy f*cking someone else to want to go another round with me.

It was time to truly face the facts. Brett Hyde conned me. He never wanted to be part of a team. He wanted to use the distillery as collateral for a half-million-dollar debt to a man scarier than any villain Hollywood has yet to create.

I can’t stop picturing a woman dancing on shattered glass until the pain was so horrendous she slit her wrists.

He’s a monster.

I squeeze my arms tighter around myself, and Magnolia returns a few moments later.

“I only have a hundred liquid. I could borrow another two, maybe two and a half from my connections, but I can’t pull together five hundred in a week.”

I blink twice and stare at my best friend until I realize she’s talking about giving me the money. “I didn’t come here for that. I couldn’t take—”

“Of course you wouldn’t come here with your hand out, because that’s not the kind of girl you are. But I would give it up for you if I could. Your ass isn’t on the line by itself, sweet thing. If you default, we all go down with you.”

Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling like I normally do—determined to take on the world of whiskey and make Seven Sinners the household name it has never been. Today, I’m worried about whether I’ll be alive in another week.

All because of Lachlan Mount. No. Because of Brett.

“I already told him I don’t have the money. He knows.”

Magnolia nods, her teeth skimming her lower lip. “Doesn’t surprise me at all. The man knows everything that happens in this town. What does surprise me is that he’s willing to take p*ssy for payment on a half-mil debt.”

I cringe at her crass language, but one thing I’ve always respected about Magnolia is she calls a spade a spade.

“I’ve heard of him taking property, houses, boats, racehorses, and cars, but never a woman. This isn’t his normal behavior.”

The gears in my brain turn slowly, as though rusted together from information overload. “Why deviate from the pattern?”

Magnolia tilts her head to one side and studies the wreck I surely am. “Have you looked in the mirror lately? I mean, when you weren’t puking your guts up?”

I roll my eyes.

“Ke-ke, you are shit hot. I could book you out every night of the week and twice on weekends.”

“I know you mean that as a compliment, but—”

“But nothing. You got tits, ass, and that gorgeous red hair that makes a man think he’s gonna find fire when he gets you under him. And don’t get me started with those eyes of yours. You’ve cornered the market on untouchable class. And what’s more, you’re totally and completely oblivious to it.”

“Brett clearly didn’t think so.” I don’t even know why I say it. Reminding myself my husband was cheating on me sucks more every time.

“Brett was a f*cking tool and never deserved you. And right now, you need to quit worrying about him and start worrying about Mount.”

I unwrap one arm from around my chest and pinch the bridge of my nose. “I don’t even know where to start.”

Magnolia cocks a hip to the side. “I have a feeling he’ll be calling all the shots, so it won’t matter either way. Actually . . . maybe that’s what’ll save your ass. From what I’ve heard, the others were all meek and submissive—”

I jerk back into the couch cushions. “That’s definitely not me.”

She holds up a hand. “No shit. And maybe that’s it. You’re full of fire and sass to match that ass of yours. You gotta use it.”

I don’t like where she’s going with this, and my belly flips in agreement. “I seriously have no idea what you mean. At all.”

“When you’re Lachlan Mount, no one defies you. No one gives you sass. Something about you caught his eye. I feel that in my bones. You have to use it. Work it. Don’t let him walk all over you.” Magnolia’s voice quiets. “Don’t let him break you, Ke-ke. You keep ahold of your pride and never let go. He won’t know how to handle you.”

The thought of Mount handling me turns my stomach again. “There’s really no other way? No other client—” I can’t even believe I’m throwing the option out there as a possibility.

Magnolia destroys my last hope with a shake of her head. “You’ve already been marked. Lachlan Mount owns your ass, regardless of whether he’s tapped it yet. No one else will touch you because they’ll want to keep their limbs intact.”

“He gave me a week. I have to find another alternative.”