The King (The Original Sinners: White Years, #2)(43)

I see the appeal. You look great in drag, and you have amazing legs. And you’ve got the sexy hair and the Greek thing

going—”

“The French thing.”

“French. Right. Sorry,” she said, and he noted her biting

back a smile. “I mean, pardonnez-moi.”

“De rien,” he said.

“All that being said…you’re darn cute. I’m just not attracted to you. I hope that makes sense, and your ego isn’t

too bruised.”

“My ego enjoys the occasional bruise.” Among other parts

of him. “And you don’t have to apologize for not wanting to

have sex with me. I consider it a mark in your favor. Especially if you’re my assistant.”

“What exactly would I be doing for you as a personal as

sistant?”

“Let me show you something.”

Sam raised her eyebrow.

“It’s a building,” he said. “I promise.”

“Good. Just checking.”

When they arrived at their destination, the driver held open

the door for them. Sam exited the car first and then held out

her hand to Kingsley.

“Might I assist you, ma’am?” Sam asked.

“Who said chivalry was dead?” Kingsley took her hand,

and she pulled him—high heels, corset and all—out of the car. Side by side they stood on the sidewalk in the light of a

lamppost, in the shadow of a ghost.

“What are we doing here?” Sam demanded. “This is the

hotel Fuller’s church bought, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“Why are we here?”

“Because I want it.”

“The city sold the place to them two weeks ago. It’s not on

the market anymore.”

“I’ve f*cked more married women than I can count,”

Kingsley said. “If something’s worth owning, it’s worth stealing.”

“You are an interesting man, Kingsley Edge,” Sam said,

watching him as he scanned the exterior of the hotel. “I’m

not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

“You seduce straight girls in order to make them question

their sexuality. Jury is still out on you, too,” he said. “And for

the record, I have had sex with lesbians before.”

“Yeah, how did that happen?”

“One was on an ‘orientation vacation’ as she called it. The

other didn’t know she was until after we had sex.” “Ouch,” Sam said.

“There were no hard feelings. Especially after she told me

she was gay.”

They walked up and down the sidewalk in front of the

building. It was boarded up and chained. Yellow caution tape

warned passersby away. Signs and notices declared it condemned and closed.

Kingsley was undeterred.

“What did the newspaper say about this place?” Kingsley

asked.

“According to the Times, it was called The Renaissance.

Now it’s The Nothing since it’s been closed for ten years.” “Why does a church want a hotel?”

“Reverend Fuller wants to expand his empire of conservative family values into the heart of New York City blah blah

bullshit et cetera,” Sam said. “In the interview in the paper

he said something about how, unlike the righteous Lot who

f led from Sodom, WTL Ministries will infiltrate the city of

New York and save it from within.”

“The righteous Lot f*cked his own daughters,” Kingsley

said. “I wonder if Reverend Fuller remembers that part.” “You know the Bible?” Sam asked.

“I went to an all-boys Catholic school.”

“How did you survive that?”

“By sleeping with a teacher.”

“Was she hot?”

“He was, yes.”

Kingsley made a circuit of the exterior of the building. For

all the dirt and decay, it had beautiful old bones. Twelve fiftyfoot high lancet windows adorned the main f loor. The top

two f loors were decorated with jutting corbels that look like

the beaks of birds. The entire building, with its dark exterior and stone plumage, gave off the impression of a great stone

raven, hunched over in the cold and sleeping.

“Maybe we can find out who sold the place,” Sam said. “I’m

sure we could get the real estate agent to show us the inside.

Maybe they can show us another building like this one but

not already owned by a cult.”

“Or we can look inside it now and see if it’s worth stealing.” Kingsley strode to a boarded-up door and kicked. The

door f lew open.

“Damn,” Sam said.

“I know.” Kingsley frowned. He held up his shoe. “I broke

a heel. Petra’s going to kill me.”

He took off both shoes and stepped barefoot into the building. Sam followed.

“What the hell am I doing?” Sam asked herself as she

walked in behind Kingsley. “I’ve never met you before tonight, and here I am, breaking and entering a building owned