Chapter 49
BLADE
The last sentence of my speech is finally here. “Thank you so much for the opportunity and I promise to lead with strength, honor, and a commitment to the group.”
As the crowd erupts into cheers, I nod appreciatively, letting the noise wash over me. With a final wave, I step off the stage, feeling the weight of my new role settling onto my shoulders. This is the beginning of a new era.
I navigate through the crowd, and the roar of their voices fade into a distant hum, replaced by the buzz of my thoughts. I shouldn’t be freaking out in my mind right now, but I am, anyone would be. Officially being sworn in as president of a multi-billion dollar crime syndicate is a lot for even the toughest of men. Hundreds of lives are now in my hands.
I need to find Amelia, she’s the only one who can calm me down and silence my screaming thoughts.
What if I fail?
What if I make bad business moves and we go broke?
What if I mess up and can’t offer Amelia the life she deserves?
An elite member stops me to talk about what he has planned for his sector of the organization in the upcoming months—gambling—but I hardly pay attention to his mouthy speech. “I think we need to hire more bookies, the number of customers who owe us is getting out of control.”
I feel a tap on my shoulder. Thank fucking God. I already know it’s Amelia because she’s the only one here who would interrupt me talking like this.
“We’ll have to pick this up later,” I say to the member, offering a brief but respectful nod. Turning around, I embrace Amelia in a hug. She melts into me, and it immediately soothes the tension that has been building.
“Congratulations,” she whispers into my ear.
I pull back slightly, meeting her gaze. “This is a congratulations to us , not just me. You’re my other half.”
Her eyes soften with a smile, but then she bites her lip, a hint of unease crossing her face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. I can tell when something is off with her in 0.2 seconds.
“I just had the weirdest conversation with someone.”
“Do I need to hurt them?” I look towards the crowd. “Who was it?”
“That part I’m not telling, but I will share what they said.”
“Okay?” I tense up. Who knows what one of these idiots could be rambling off to her?
“She congratulated me and asked when the honeymoon was. I politely let her know that I’m not married. She looked at my necklace and said ‘Honey, you’re wearing your wedding necklace right now, who are you fooling?’. I asked her what that meant, I’d never heard of a wedding necklace before. She told me it was like a wedding ring, but a necklace. Which makes sense, but…” Her breathing increases with each sentence. “Are we freaking married?!”
I look her dead in the eyes, feeling a bit nervous about how she might react. “Yes.”
“Oh my God!” she whisper-yells, trying not to draw attention. “It all makes sense. The hospital listing me as your wife. I even remember that one time a while ago you called me your wife in front of Mr. Adams, I thought you were trying to intimidate him or something.” She puts her hand over her head. “Since when?”
“You signed the license at your dad’s office when you signed those other contracts.”
“My dad knew?” She looks down at her necklace. “Did everyone who saw me wear this know? Frankie…”
“Frankie didn’t know.” I shake my head. “I told you, Frankie just came around the summer before the first semester started. She doesn’t know anything about… anything, really.”
“I can’t believe this.” She turns on her heel and starts walking off, leaving a hole in my heart that’s quickly filling with dread.
“Amelia…” Her name leaves my mouth like a plea.
She stops in her tracks and turns around to face me. “Follow me.”
And like a lovesick puppy, I do.
We weave through the crowd, a couple of them giving us congratulations, and make it to a guest room. The same room we were in a couple of months back at the Christmas ball.
She shuts the door and points to the floor in front of her. I furrow my brows until I realize she wants me to get on my knees. Hey, if she’s wanting some kind of reverse domination scene, I’m into it.
I drop to my knees. My head comes right to her tits, god damn, it’s going to take a lot not to be distracted this whole time.
“You’re not doing it right. That’s not how you’re supposed to kneel.”
“Well, how am I supposed to? Since you’re such an expert at kneeling for me, why don’t you show me?” I smirk up at her.
“You’ve never seen the movies? You’re supposed to propose on one knee.”
My eyebrows shoot straight up, so high they feel like they could leap off my forehead. The smirk immediately falls from my face, replaced by my mouth hanging open and my eyes widening in shock. “You want me to propose to you?”
“Like that’s such a big request when we’re already married. You do not get to deprive me of the proposal experience.”
My pupils dilate, and I’m sure the irises are swallowed by the expanding blackness as I look up at her.
“Amelia…” I breathe out. What do I even say? There are no words that can sum up how I feel about her. None of them feel powerful enough, deep enough.
Despite this, I say, “From the moment I first saw you, my life changed in ways that I never could’ve imagined. You started being my life, my whole world. Since then, you’ve continued being my anchor, my strength and my weakness all in one, my solace, my happiness. Whether you know it or not, your beautiful presence casts a light over everything you touch. You really, truly are an angel on earth. And I’m the lucky one who gets to experience it every day. Marry me, not because of some contract you signed, but because you can’t imagine spending the rest of your life without me, just as I can’t without you.”
Amelia’s eyes shine with unshed tears, and she smiles, a radiant, genuine smile. Fuck, how can one person be so damn beautiful?
She taps her chin, faking like she’s thinking hard for the answer. Throw in some ‘hmmm’s’ and I’m losing my damn patience, starting to get fidgety.
“You’re killing me here.”
I’m tempted to get up and fuck her so hard the only reply she can muster up in her pretty little head is ‘yes’.
“You deserve it.” She looks down at me, placing her hand on the side of my face. “Yes, I will marry you. Well, I will stay married to you.”
I place my hand over hers on my cheek. “I promise, I’ll get you a ring and we can still have the wedding of your dreams.”
“Can we have a small wedding? I don’t wanna be—I don’t like—”
“I know, baby. You don’t like being the center of attention. That’s why you dragged me here to this room instead of asking me to propose out there.”
“I wouldn’t say I dragged you, you came as a willing participant.”
“A very willing participant. I’ll follow you anywhere.” I grab her hand from my face and press a kiss to it before standing back up. “We can have a very small backyard wedding, nothing fancy. And then for the honeymoon… God, I have to stop imagining all the things I’m gonna do to you on that trip. I’m going all out for the honeymoon.”
She laughs. “Deal.”
We seal the proposal with a kiss, but it’s not the usual hungry, needy kiss. It’s soft, slow, gentle. Before we pull away and look into each other’s eyes.
I never knew what love was until I met her, but if I had to describe it, it would be this .
“So, I’m confused. We’ve been married since I signed those contracts from my dad, how did you already know you wanted to get married to me by that point?”
“I knew because the thought of not marrying you filled me with a deep, aching hurt. Like I told you, the day after I made you mine, I was one hundred percent sure. Which is why I even went to your dad’s house that day anyway, the other contracts were just a ruse. And I’m glad I did because if I didn’t catch you there that day, who knows what Harvey would’ve done.”
The door bursts open with a crash, shattering the moment we were sharing. Harvey storms in, his face twisted with rage, and I sigh. He always fucks things up.
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” I mumble under my breath.
And who the fuck let him in.
“There you are, you little shit,” he spits out, his eyes narrowing on Amelia.
Amelia begins to say something, but I raise a finger signaling her to stay quiet. She looks at me, her mouth half-open, then closes it, giving a small nod.
Her responding to his verbal attacks would just give him what he wants—a reaction, to see her hurt and angry. Which he doesn’t deserve. And the more we fuel it, the more he’ll keep doing it every time he needs another adrenaline hit.
Harvey sneers. “See? Pathetic, just like I’ve been saying. Letting him shush you with just a finger. You’re weak. And—”
“She’s not weak. She chooses to let me lead her. Which makes her the one with all the power, that she could revoke at any minute.”
His sneer deepens into a scowl as he faces Amelia again. “You’re delusional if you believe that you have any power. You’re worthless, just like your mother. Now where is she? You’ve been hiding her for long enough.”
My blood boils, but I force myself to stay calm. No reactions. Amelia doesn’t feed into it either, she juts her chin at him without saying a word. Her father really knows how to push buttons. I don’t see how she stayed sane for her entire childhood, especially living with him alone for some of it.
I step forward. “Look, if you want to have a civil conversation without insulting—”
Harvey moves with surprising speed, pulling a gun from his jacket and pointing it directly at me. “I said where is her mother?! The bitch hit me with a piece of wood and took off.”
The guard who let him through with a weapon can consider today his last day on earth. By the time I’m finished with him, he’ll be on his knees, begging me to end his life for allowing Harvey to bring a gun into a party where Amelia is present, putting her life in fucking danger.
Then no guard after him will think to make the same mistake.
I look over at Amelia. Her eyes are widened in fear, but I just can’t help but laugh at the sight of Harvey awkwardly holding the gun. Like he’s never held one in his life. “Harvey, I know you’re stupid, but you’re not that stupid.”
“Stupid would be calling someone stupid who has a gun pointed at you,” he retorts.
“Well, you are stupid. You and I both know that if you shoot me right now, you won’t make it out the front door. There are over twenty-five guards on standby for this event. And I know you’re not ready to lose your life because if you were, you would’ve shot me by now instead of making a big scene of pretending you’re going to shoot me.”
Harvey’s hand trembles as he grips the gun, his biggest weakness. If it weren’t me standing here, and if I didn’t already know he would never pull the trigger, his target would have clocked him as a coward the moment they caught sight of his nervous movements. Which is exactly why he’s a low-level secretary and nothing more.
I eat up the distance between us, pressing my chest directly against the gun’s barrel. “Shoot me. Go ahead. That’s what you came here for, right?”
“Aiden—”
“I got this, angel. Don’t worry.” I turn my attention back to Harvey. “You have two choices before I bring out my own gun, and I will make it out the front door if I use it. Either put your gun down or shoot me. I’m gonna be nice and give you five seconds.”
For a moment, the room falls silent, the tension so thick it’s almost suffocating. Then, with a snarl on his face, Harvey lowers the gun. Now that there’s nothing between us to protect him, his bravado crumbles as fast as his dignity.
I don’t wait. As soon as the gun is lowered and out of shooting range, I drive my knee up into his balls with all the force I can muster. He doubles over, a strangled cry escaping from his lips as he falls to his knees, clutching his junk. That’s what the fuck he gets. The sight makes me smile from the inside out.
“Son of a bitch!” he gasps.
I grab his collar and point to Amelia. “You’re going to apologize to her. Right now.”
“Like hell, I am—”
I send another kick, this time to his stomach. “ Now! ”
He grunts, his gaze shifting to Amelia, who stands a few feet away with her hands clasped over her mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“Apologize for calling her pathetic.”
“I’m sorry for calling you pathetic,” he grinds out through gritted teeth.
“Apologize for calling her weak.”
“I’m sorry for calling you weak.”
“Apologize for taking a gun out in her presence and therefore putting her in danger.”
“I’m sorry for putting you in danger.” He collapses to the floor, gasping for breath after I release him. “You’re going to let him treat your father like this?!” His voice is strained as he coughs, holding his stomach.
“Yes, I am. Because he’s treated me better than you ever have for my entire twenty years of life. He always makes sure I’m okay, mentally and physically. He always puts my wants and needs first, can you believe it? Because you have always put your own fucking needs before mine!”
I’m taken aback. I don’t think I’ve ever really heard Amelia properly cuss before. The only time is when I’m in the middle of pounding her tight cunt and she can’t help but let out a small “fuck”, but I don’t even think she realizes she’s saying it at that point. When I’m buried deep inside—dammit, I have to focus.
“He’s there for me, even when he doesn’t have time to be. Something you never were! You were always busy, and now I know it’s because you were doing secretary work. But he has a way more important job than you and still makes time for me.”
“Okay, I don’t have time to sit here and hear about how he’s Jesus Christ reincarnated apparently.” Harvey’s face twists with bitterness.
Amelia speed-walks to him and delivers a powerful kick to his gut, right in the same spot I did. The force she uses tells me she let all the years of pain and frustration out in that kick. Her pointed high heel digs into his flesh, causing him to howl in agony and fall to the ground.
He starts to get up, seemingly to retaliate against her so I step in his path.
“I think you know better than that.” I bend to his level. “Get out,” I order, mumbling low so Amelia can’t hear the next words. “I got that video you accidentally sent when you emailed me Julie’s contract, and you’re going to pay for it. Don’t ever come near her again.”
He struggles to his feet, each movement slow and labored, wincing with every other step. With a final, venomous glare aimed at both of us, he staggers towards the door. Meanwhile, I quickly text the head guard, instructing him to make sure Harvey is escorted off the property. The door slams shut with a resounding bang, he’s like a little kid throwing a tantrum after being told no.
As silence settles back over, I turn to Amelia and hold out my arms. She steps into me, her body trembling slightly. I wipe away a fresh tear that falls from her face as I hold her. “It’s okay, pretty girl. Don’t cry for him, he doesn’t deserve it.”
She nods. “I know. I just wish he could leave me alone for good. But I don’t want him to die.”
“I’ll figure out something, don’t worry.” I kiss the top of her head. “Your wish is my command. Always.”