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

Chapter 54Louisa, Present

Eight years.

Memories pierced through me like a sharp blade.

I had lost eight years of being me; eight years of loving the boy who protected me and my sister; eight years of looking for my twin.

I desperately tried to hold my tears back but was quickly losing the battle. One tear rolled down my cheek, then another, until it was impossible to stop them.

Finding Kingston’s dark gaze on me, we both ignored Dr. Freud’s eyes on us as the past danced around us. My eyes filled with tears again as I stared at him like I hadn’t seen him in eight years.

The boy was gone. A harsh man was in his place.

I couldn’t stop remembering the boy, memories breaking my heart slowly, wreaking havoc from the inside out.

I shook my head. “I… I need⁠—”

I couldn’t breathe.

Rushing out of there, I heard Kingston call for me. “Louisa!”

“A minute,” I croaked.

My mind was a jumbled mess. I couldn’t think with his eyes on me. I couldn’t breathe when he was near. Most importantly, I couldn’t shake off the guilt of forgetting him.

“I’ll be right behind you, sunshine,” he called out. “Take all the time you need, but I’m following right behind you.”

This was not how it was supposed to be.

My heart squeezed, so many memories bouncing off my skull and suddenly making sense. The faceless man. The brutality of our childhood. The pain of his torture—and mine.

I walked aimlessly around the island, Kingston’s footsteps distant but steady behind me. My skull screamed, my muscles protested, and my left wrist ached. Fuck, no wonder it hurt. My mother broke it so many times, forcing me to use my right hand.

A headache slowly formed between my temples, the throbbing pain matching the one in my heart.

I stumbled through the shrubs, staring at my surroundings through my blurry vision. Birds chirped. The waves soothed this raging storm inside me.

I failed them.

For eight long years, I’d been failing Kingston and my twin. I let my merciless mother twist me into something I never was.

A shadow fell over me, and I lifted my head.

Kingston—my ghost and personal shadow—lurked over me.

“It’s going to be the only promise I can’t keep,” he rasped. “Please tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay.” I managed an awkward smile, unable to tear my eyes from the man he’d become. It felt like a twilight zone.

“You’re not okay.”

“I shot at you,” I blurted, feeling like sobbing my heart out. “Twice. Then Russian⁠—”

I was such a mess. A killer who was unable to keep her shit together. No wonder Mother didn’t want me as Louisa. No, don’t think like that.

“And I hated you.” Kingston’s soft admission pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts. “I thought you were Liana, and I hated that my Lou was dead while she was alive. I wanted to kill her… you… but a promise I made you kept me on track.”

My fingernails curled into fists, digging into the palms of my hands. My pulse roared in my ears.

“But you kept your promise,” I whispered. “How could I have forgotten you?” I croaked. “My sister?”

He cocooned me against his strong chest, the familiar warmth and spiced-vanilla scent enveloping me into a protective bubble.

“You survived.” A broken moan left my lips and I buried my face against his chest. “You kept your promise because you survived and came back to me.”

“No, Kingston. You found me.”

Another tear rolled down the side of my face, but this one held hope.

My ghost—my Kingston—had found me despite the universe conspiring against us. The warmth of his love and the lines of his face kept me going in my dreams, only for him to find me again.