He stepped closer, until our breath mingled, his seething and predatory, mine sharp with control.
“You’re still green, boy. Still chasing shadows and trying to fuck your way through power.” He pressed a finger to my chest. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking your title protects you fromme. I built this empire from blood and ruin. I’ll bury you in it if I have to.”
“I already knew this is what you would do. Always rash, always shedding blood.. Putting us on the radar of every fucking police station in the Los Angeles area. You have no idea what you are doing old man. You’re a senile son of a bitch.”
His gaze faltered as he realized I wasn’t affected. At least not in the way he wanted me to be.
“You dare disrespect me?” He seethed.
“I've heard that Stephanie Winters was alive for a while now. All rumors because she’s never been spotted. So I went hunting for her until I found facts.”
“Facts?” he asked, like the word offended him.
“Yes, I suppose you got proof of her existence from this slutyoufucked. Or did you just take her word for it?”
He looked unnerved as I continued. I sat at the edge of my desk and pulled out the envelope Leon, my right-hand man, had given me. “Ohhh, Grandfather. You can’t go through life fucking sluts for information. Don’t you know they lie as soon as you promise them their life back.” I threw the insult back in his face and watched him clench his jaw. Maybe his teeth would shatter, I thought.
“I on the other hand, did do my due diligence. See you work smarter in these situations, Grandfather. Keep yourself hidden until you're ready to strike.”
“Ozan said…”
“Ozan, Ozan, Ozan…” I cut him off. “Ozan isn’t the only trusting man around here. I have a few waiting and willing to bleed for me.”
I grabbed my lighter and pulled out the slim vanilla-tasting cigar from my pocket. Lighting it, I sucked in the smoke and then let it linger in the air as I slowly puffed it out.
“The slut had no reason to lie,” he murmured as he opened the envelope, I handed him.
“Did you at least ask her where she was. A location, a home address, a phone number? Anything?”
Slowly, he pulled out the photographs Leon had taken for me. One showed a woman stepping out of a black SUV in the rain, her profile obscured by a hood, but the curve of her jaw andthe tilt of her chin were unmistakable to me. To another, they would not have known who she was.
Another showed her at the docks, shadowed by crates and container stacks, her back turned, blurred but familiar. A couple more were distant shots of a figure speeding off on a motorcycle. No plates, no face, just the shape of her legs gripping the bike like second nature. And the last, too close for comfort, was her walking into a a builidng we thought had been buried years ago.
“Does that look like Stephanie Winters to you?” I gave him nothing concrete. Nothing definitive. Just enough to make him doubt it all.
“The woman knew her name.”
“Well, you were given misinformation because nothing is set in stone yet. We’ve been lied to before, or don’t you recall?”
I took another puff and watched my grandfather throw the photos on the couch. Furious, he pointed a finger at me. He had that deep-seated hatred pouring out of his words.
“If you are lying to me, I will kill her, and then I will cut off your balls and bury them with her, where you left them.”
I puffed on the cigar once again. Giving him the impression that I didn’t give a fuck, but deep inside I knew he’d do it. He’d keep his word.
“I’ll be back soon, Caleb. Don’t think that because you have this office, you run things. You’re just a pretty face for the cameras. In the end, I’m still the Boss.” He turned to leave, but my words held him back.
“Sending Ozan won’t help; she’ll just go deeper into hiding.”
He turned his head slightly, speaking over his shoulder.
“The order has been given, and I know he will find her. Something you couldn’t do. But don’t worry. When he does, I’ll make sure you hear her screams before I slit her throat.”
The room turned to ice. And still… I didn’t move. Because reacting meant he’d won.
I flung the item closest to me against the wall as the door slammed shut behind him. I hated him more than he knew. Ever since he forced me to execute the one person who was closest to me. I held no remorse for that kill, he should have known better, but my anger was with me. I was angry at myself for allowing myself to be manipulated by my family. Emir did what he did as a lesson to not trust anyone who wasn’t blood. But although I still didn’t fully trust my Duchess, he would not touch one hair on her head. I’d give my life before he took hers.
That was a promise I silently made to her. As much as she thought I was the enemy, I was only here to protect her. The only way she’d survive was to stand by my side and be my Queen. All she had to do was give in.
