Kill the King

KILL THE KING A KNIGHT’S REVENGE BOOK THREE ELIZABETH DEAR CONTENTS Synopsis A Note From the Author Prologue Chapter 1 Zach - Present Day Chapter 2 Noah Chapter 3 Jolie Chapter 4 Jolie Chapter 5 Bennett Chapter 6 Jolie Chapter 7 Jolie Chapter 8 Jolie Chapter 9 Zach Chapter 10 Jolie Chapter 11 Noah Chapter 12 Jolie Chapter 13 Jolie Chapter 14 Bennett Chapter 15 Jolie Chapter 16 Jolie Chapter 17 Jolie Chapter 18 Noah Chapter 19 Jolie Chapter 20 Jolie Chapter 21 Zach Chapter 22 Jolie Chapter 23 Jolie Chapter 24 Noah Chapter 25 Jolie Chapter 26 Jolie Chapter 27 Bennett Chapter 28 Jolie Chapter 29 Jolie Chapter 30 Bennett Chapter 31 Jolie Chapter 32 Jolie Epilogue Acknowledgments Also By Elizabeth Dear About the Author Copyright © 2023 by Elizabeth Dear Publishing LLC Editing by McKinley & Jamee at Hot Tree Editing Cover by Cherie Foxley Formatting by Elizabeth Dear and Stephanie Osu, PA All Rights Reserved. No Part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations in a book review. To Sarah. Thanks for joining me on this crazy journey and not thinking I’m an absolute weirdo. Your support means so much. SYNOPSIS In Saint Gabriel City, the rule of the Four Families ends now. They’re bottom-feeding criminals pretending to be the model of the American dream. They suck the City dry to serve themselves and the elite class that licks their boots day in and day out. They murdered my parents out of sheer, unbridled greed. And now, they’ve dared to take Zach from me. With my boys, my family, and the Shadows by my side, I’ll finish this fight. No more dancing around the corporate boardroom—we’ve come to destroy the Families, and we’ll give it everything we’ve got. And we’ll continue to run the halls of Holywell Academy while we do it. Peter Hargraves, Andrea Ferrero, and James Spencer—I’m fucking coming for you, and your sons will be by my side to the bitter end. This is a New Adult, college-age dark academy romance. It is the third and final book in the trilogy and ends with a HEA. It is also a Why Choose romance, which means our heroine has multiple love interests, and she will not have to choose between them. As always, this series is for readers age 18+ and contains a ton of foul language, very steamy scenes, and violent themes. If you’ve read Storm the Gates (A Knight’s Revenge Book 1) and Seize the Castle (A Knight’s Revenge Book 2) and want to see how Jolie and the boys get to their happy ending, jump in! A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR Hey team! Nothing new to report here. If you’ve read Storm the Gates (Book 1) and Seize the Castle (Book 2), you’re in the right place. Same content warnings apply as the previous books—gun violence, murder, mayhem, and some gore. There is a brief depiction of an attempted sexual assault of a side character. We also have spicy group sex stuff (!!), and many, many uses of the F-bomb and other swears. We’re doing it, guys. We’re taking down the Families and riding off into the sunset. A little pain, a lot of love, and a big dose of adventure lie between us and our happily ever after. Thanks for coming on this journey with me, Jolie, and her boys. - Elizabeth PS: I know I haven’t given you guys a new playlist since Book 1, but if you need an emo theme song for this one, just throw on “A Love Like War” by All Time Low on repeat. PROLOGUE ZACH - AGE 12 I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in the basement of Ferrero Tower, but it felt like several days had passed. I ran my gaze around the dull cement walls of my surroundings for the millionth time since I’d been shoved into this little room. I hadn’t known Ferrero Tower had a dungeon in its basement, but I wasn’t surprised. I was learning a whole lot of terrible stuff about my Family since I’d been forced to watch my mom commit murder while my best friend lay bleeding and dying on the floor in front of us. With nothing else to do but wait, I counted the cracks in the wall again and then the metal bars of the door. I was bored, but being bored was better than being beaten. I was sure Ramon and his Enforcer buddies had run off to tell my mom I hadn’t learned my lesson yet, but they would definitely be back. Or maybe they were still pissed I’d bitten Rogers’ finger off, but screw that guy. He’d deserved it for letting a twelve-year-old kid get the drop on him. Probably because I’d been thinking about my visitors right then, the clank of the lock sounded, and the hinges creaked as the door began to open, announcing the arrival of whomever had come down here to torment me now. Expecting Ramon or his team of assholes, I got a little jolt of surprise as my mom waltzed through the door, her shiny black high heels clacking loudly against the smooth, bare floor. “Oh, my sweet baby,” she said with a little scandalized gasp. She hustled over to where I sat on the floor, my back propped against the cold wall because I’d refused to take even a little comfort in that joke of a cot they kept in here. “What have they done to you, Zachary?” “What you ordered them to do, Mom,” I said dully. She crouched in front of me, the slit in her skirt only just allowing her the movement. I gave her a blank stare as she caressed my face, taking in my puffy, swollen eye and the cut on my forehead. My face throbbed, my body ached, and I was