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Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Skull King: An Alpha Male Dark Mafia Romance: Kabanata 141 - Kabanata 150

164 Kabanata

140

Heath didn’t back down. “You’re scared to change your life. It’s easier just to think about money and who you’re going to kill later tonight. But that’s not real life. It’s just a job, Balto. Cassini is your real life.”I was too proud to sacrifice everything I’d worked for just because of a woman. “If it’s so insignificant, why do you want the job so bad?”“Because I don’t have anything else to live for—you do.”I stared him down.“You know I’m right. Stop being so stubborn. If you’re stubborn too long, she’s going to find someone else. A woman like that doesn’t stay single for long. She can walk into a bar on a Monday night and land more guys than she can handle.”Picturing Cassini surrounded by men with hard-ons made me want to punch a hole through the vault door. I hadn’t been jealous before because there hadn’t been a reason to be. She lived with me and stayed indoors all the time. I never had to worry about another man rivaling me. But now that she was single, she could be sleep

141

19BaltoI woke up with my face pressed against the kitchen table. A bottle of scotch was beside my hand, along with a tipped-over glass. I slowly sat up, feeling the muscles aching from sitting in a weird position for so long. My hands dragged down my face as my eyes slowly acclimated to the afternoon sunlight.A headache burned behind my eyes.I swiped the sleep from my eyes and stared at the half-empty bottle I’d devoured the night before. I found myself sleeping at the kitchen table most nights because I preferred it to the bed.The bed where she used to sleep.My floor was so quiet now that she was gone. All the junk food I never ate had been thrown away. Her toothbrush was left behind in my drawer, but I didn’t have the strength to discard it. Instead, I tortured myself when I looked at it every day.Now my existence revolved completely around work, the only distraction powerful enough to stop me from thinking about Cassini. I opened the bottle and took a drink, remembering the

142

She stared at me as her chest rose and fell deeply, her anger and frustration written all over her face. Her hand glided across her stomach absentmindedly, like my poisonous words gave her a stomachache. She shook her head slightly then released a sad sigh. “Fair enough.”20CassiniI walked in the door, my body feeling heavy like it was weighted with lead. I was sick to my stomach and not because I was pregnant. My exact fears came to life when Balto ordered me away. He was even colder than the last time I saw him. His bachelor life had obviously been good to him.He wanted nothing to do with me.And he wouldn’t want anything to do with our baby either.“How’d it go?” Case rose from the couch in the living room and came toward me. When he saw the sadness in my eyes, his mouth dropped into a frown.I shook my head.“I expected more from him.”“Why? He’s the Skull King. He only cares about money and power.” No wonder why he never told me he loved me. Maybe he never really loved me at a

143

“And we’re still family while I live here. Having a baby around is going to completely disrupt your life. It’ll cry every night, it’ll be messy, and it’ll stink. How are you going to bring women home with a screaming baby in the way?”He shrugged. “At least she won’t try to sleep over.”I rolled my eyes. “Case, I’m fine. It’s so sweet that you want me to stay—”“I really do want you to stay.” He looked at me with desperation in his eyes. “You can’t do this alone—”“I can do this alone. Give me more credit, Case.”“It’s not that I think you’re incompetent. It’s just going to be so difficult to handle on your own. Parenting is meant to happen with two parents. And even with two parents, it’s still hard—”“I’ve survived worse. I can do this.”He finally shut his mouth.“If I need help, I’ll ask. I promise.”He gave a slight nod. “You’re always welcome to come back if you change your mind.”“I know.” I kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for building the crib. My back isn’t the same with

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22BaltoDenise brought another drink.Heath tried to shoo her away. “He’s had enough, Denise.”“No, he hasn’t.” I snatched the drink from her hand and let the liquid drip down my throat.She walked away, not caring if I had too much to drink or not. She wouldn’t question me.When I set the glass down, Heath took it away. “I’m cutting you off.”“No one cuts me off.”“There’s a first time for everything.” He swirled my drink before he downed the rest of it, like consuming it himself would ensure I couldn’t get my hands on more liquor. “I’ve never seen you drink like this.”“I drink like this all the time.”“Well, you’ve raised the bar.”My vision was slightly blurry, and I had a hard time focusing my thoughts. “I’m exactly the same. You’re exaggerating.”“You aren’t exactly the same. Your eyes are fading.” He continued to study me, like he could see other signs of my drunkenness. “I should get you home before the other guys notice. They’ve never seen you drunk. Don’t want tonight to be

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“Not true.” He shook his head. “Balto always kept you safe—and that was one of the reasons you loved him.”That was true. I couldn’t stand it when he left at night. And if it weren’t for him, I would have died as Lucian’s wife. I never would have known freedom. “There’s only one Balto…and no other guy will compare.”Case was going to argue more, but my phone rang.I looked at the screen and noticed Heath’s name. “I’ve got to take this…” I took the call. “Heath? Everything alright?” I hadn’t spoken to Heath since before Balto dumped me. He wouldn’t call me for a chat. He would only call me if something were wrong.Case dropped his pen and stared at me, obviously tense that the phone call was taking place.“It’s been a while, huh?” he asked. “How are you?”“Fine…what about you?”“Eh. I’ve been better. Worried about Balto.”“Why are you worried about him?”“Because he’s a loose cannon. He’s been drinking too much. And for Balto, that means he’s drinking a lot. He should get a blood test

146

I chuckled. “It’s a little excessive, but since he’s probably watching us, let’s just go with it.”He smiled then pulled out my chair for me.It was a gentlemanly move I hadn’t expected since I’d never been with a gentleman. Evan, Lucian, and Balto never did those things.He sat across from me, still smiling. “Pregnancy definitely suits you. You know that glow everyone always talks about? You have it.”“Aw, thank you.” I smiled and grabbed my menu. “Other than the morning sickness and back pain, it’s been pretty wonderful.”“How far along are you?”“Five months now…approaching six.”“So, the baby will be here soon. Are you ready?”I chuckled. “I don’t think any first-time parent is ready. And I’m definitely not ready for labor. I wish they could just put me under and then take the baby out.”He chuckled. “You and every other woman in the world.”“So, enough about me. What’s new with you?” It was surprising that Alessandro didn’t care about my pregnancy, but it was even more surprising

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Finding her was easy because of the chip I’d implanted in her ankle. I narrowed down her location to the outdoor patio of a French bistro.It was a short drive away, less than ten minutes. The entire way, I imagined what I would say to her. When I saw her sitting across from some guy, would I immediately punch him in the face? Would that just piss her off?Then what would I do?What would I say to her?Even if I wanted to give her everything she asked for, was ruining her date the best way to go about it?It really did make me an asshole.I didn’t want her to sleep with him. I didn’t want another man to be inside her. I could text her and tell her not to go through with it, but again, that made me such an asshole. And she might sleep with him just to spite me.I was worked up because I still loved this woman, loved her more in her absence than her presence, but I wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment. I was pumped up on adrenaline and rage. This was a really stupid idea.I pulled over

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She crossed her arms over her chest. “Balto, it’s not what you think…”“I know a pregnant woman when I see one. What was your plan? To never tell me? That’s wrong, and you know it.”She looked into my eyes, the pain obvious in her gaze. If she still loved me, she didn’t show it. She’d showed more compassion to the guy she’d been with just a minute ago. “I didn’t tell you because it’s not yours, Balto.”All my pain disappeared because there was a bullet in my heart. I slowly came back down to earth, my eyes narrowing in surprise. When I saw her belly, I assumed I was the one responsible for making her that way.“It’s Lucian’s…”“You’re sure?”She nodded. “The doctor told me how far along I am. It’s not possible for you to be the father.”Shocked, I continued to stare at her. When I first saw her belly, I felt a surge of joy. I didn’t want a family, but seeing her glowing with life was a turn-on. I imagined us going home, getting naked, and me kissing her belly everywhere. But now, ever

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“Well, no wonder he was pissed,” he said with a chuckle. “Why didn’t you tell him?”“I didn’t want him to be with me out of obligation. I wanted him to be with me because he wanted to be with me. He told me he never wants kids and marriage, so I don’t want him to be with us if he doesn’t really want to be there.”“Gotcha.”“So I told him it belonged to someone else. That should chase him off…”Alessandro was quiet for a while. “So you still love him, but he won’t commit?”“Basically…” I didn’t want to lie to Alessandro, not when he’d been so good to me. He deserved my honesty. “I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth. He and I have been through a lot together. Right when I thought we would be together forever, he dumped me. It’s more complicated than that, but that’s the short version of the story.”“If that guy stormed your date like that, it’s obvious he loves you too.”It would only be obvious when he actually said it to me. “But love isn’t enough for him.”“What’s h

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