The room went silent for a long moment. Outside, the sound of a distant siren wailed through the fog. Scarlett looked at him, searching for a lie, a crack, a sign that this was all an elaborate trap. She found nothing but the cold, hard resolve of a man who had already seen the end of the world.
"I need to know one thing," she said softly. "Last night... you whispered something to me. You said I needed a king who knows how to kill his enemies. Why me? There are a dozen other CEOs you could have approached with this."
Zayn stood up, walking toward the window. He looked out at the city, at the thousands of people moving like ants below. "Because you’re the only one who didn't look down on me when I was the 'trash' of the family. You didn't pity me, Scarlett. You ignored me. And in a world
