Page 69 of King of Rage

She didn’t stay to figure it out.

She hurried out of the office and headed downstairs, making her way straight to her car. Once inside, she pulled out of the driveway and immediately searched her phone for a number.

The call rang several times before someone finally answered.

“Hello?”

A deep, masculine voice came through the phone.

“It’s me,” Stella said, her voice tense. “I need you to arrange something for me. I need a favor.”

“What is it?”

“I want to move to London for the next few years and leave Manhattan.” Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “I don’t want to come back until I’m ready.”

On the other side of the city, Lucius’s car pulled up outside Phantom.

Evening had settled over Manhattan, and the club was already packed. It was the weekend, and the crowd inside had grown louder and wilder with the music, alcohol, and reckless energy of people looking to forget their problems for a night.

Lucius stepped out of the car and headed inside.

His friends, Elias, Cassian, Xavier, and Maverick, were already gathered in the VIP section upstairs.

All four men owned powerful businesses with operations spanning the globe, and each of them was every bit as wealthy as Lucius. Their names were counted among the most influential men in the world, and billionaire status was something their families had held for generations, passed down like an inheritance.

Within an hour, the drinking had picked up.

Everyone knew what had been going on between Lucius and Stella, so no one needed to ask why he was in such a foul mood.

Cassian leaned back in his chair, whiskey in hand, and studied Lucius for a moment before speaking.

“Are you really serious about this? I mean, she got angry just because you invested in her business for her?”

“Yes,” Lucius muttered.

He took a long drink of whiskey, his expression still dark and brooding. He had been trying to bury his anger ever since he left the office, but the harder he tried to push it down, the more it seemed to consume him.

Cassian watched him for a moment.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It just doesn’t seem like we’re seeing the whole picture. There has to be something else going on.”

Lucius shrugged, his fingers tightening around the glass.

“I have no fucking idea what else it could be.” He leaned back, his jaw tense. “She’s fighting with me all the goddamn time. It’s making me lose my fucking mind.”

“Then just get a new girlfriend.”

Elias suggested with a smug smile as he watched Lucius drink his whiskey, clearly entertained by his friend’s misery.

“Shut it, Elias,” Lucius growled.

His warning only made Elias laugh out loud.

Xavier straightened in his chair and glanced around the table before turning his attention to Lucius. A triumphant smile spread across his face.

“You know what? I can tell you what’s really going on in Stella’s life.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes.