Chapter Twenty
S lade
I watched her being dragged away from me to go plan a wedding with that monstrosity, and didn’t know how to feel about it. I had to stop myself, because I was tempted to make her stay. There was a time when I would’ve done anything to hold her, kiss her, and love her. I was so angry with her but I also couldn’t stand the thought of her marrying him. There was a part of me that knew she belonged with me, but I tried to ignore it.
Are you taking her away from me? That question rang through my head. I would never admit it out loud, but her accusing me of doing something so cruel hurt. I wasn’t the cold hearted bastard she said I was. I cared what my daughter felt and thought about, and Raven was a part of that. It would crush her if I went down that road. If I really wanted to hurt her, I would do it. I would take Julianna from her in a heartbeat. Even though the thought of having full custody of my daughter sounded great, I knew that Raven was doing what she could. I also knew that if I took Julianna away from her, Raven would cease to exist. She would give up completely. She was already teetering the edge of life and death, I couldn’t add that to her pain. I wouldn’t do that no matter how much I wanted to.
I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to remember why Elijah and I were here in the first place. The journal.
I had convinced Lewis to let us in after I bolted out the window earlier this morning. I needed that journal to find out what really happened, not to mention Lewis let it slip that the King and his minion would be gone for a few days on a trip back to the States. It was the perfect opportunity to infiltrate my plan. I needed to hang around here as much as possible. That meant playing nice with the guards and staff of the estate. Not that I had a problem with any of them, but the King had made it known I was banned from the premises. He didn’t like me because I was a threat to him. I was a threat to what he stood for, the illegal drug trafficking ring he managed, and most of all, his daughter.
Raven was loyal to me. Even after all these years apart, she still quivered underneath my touch. She still yearned for me. She continued to stay loyal even after all the lies, betrayal, and hurt both of us did to each other.
As if that wasn’t a huge red flag to anyone with a fucking brain.
Elijah whistled, “Lewis, my man. I’m gonna need you to let us in here all the time. I need to be on a first name basis with that fine specimen.”
I shook my head. “You’re a dumbass.”
He glared at me and then grinned at Lewis. “Don’t listen to him. I’m just saying it like it is, and I’m not the only one who is all wide-eyed and tongue-tied. Mr. Scary Pants over here is all tongue tied when it comes to a certain black haired vixen.”
I rolled my eyes and looked at Lewis. “Can you get us into her room or not? I’d like to keep my promise to Julianna.”
“I can sneak you into Raven’s room, but getting into the King’s quarters even when he isn’t here is more of a challenge. It would be best to do that at night, when most of our guards are sleeping.” He grinned, “I can, however, give you a tour of the estate in case you don’t remember your way around.”
We had our differences, but he always came in clutch. I knew he was still pissed at me for “leaving” but he didn’t know the whole truth. He didn’t know what the King did, and he didn’t know what Raven did to keep me from Julianna. The memories elicited by those thoughts reignite my anger for her. How dare she!
I would get my revenge on Raven, but my first step had to be the King. I had to get answers. There were too many holes in the story.
"How long do you think they’ll be gone?” It sounded like Raven had no say in the wedding at all. Lars had everything figured out, probably down to what shoe she wore.
“Knowing Anna, all day. She’s more into this than Raven is.” Not surprised. If Raven had it her way she’d walk down the aisle in a black dress.
“Then let’s go. I need to get something from there.”
I started off towards where I remember her room to be when Elijah cleared his throat. “How do we know he’s truly on our side? You’re a good dude Lewis, but I don’t want anyone screwing us over and we all know how loyal you are to Raven.”
I turned. He brought up a good point, but he also didn’t know Lewis like I did. His question brought me back to a memory I thought I had locked away...
My fists hit the bag, over and over again. The anger inside of me was brewing to a point of no return. I was going to kill him. I had already decided that it would be my hands that would put the knife in his chest. He was the King, so there would be no coming back from it, but what he did to my parents...I couldn’t even think about it without seeing red.
“Your hands are going to bleed, son.” Lewis, Raven’s butler and chauffeur, had entered the room.
I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything. I kept hitting the bag, ignoring the fact that he was watching me, trying to figure me out. I wasn’t some goddamn puzzle. I was a human being that had emotions and baggage that would fuck me over one day. Oh, but I wished I was a robot. That would’ve made it easier.
I wouldn’t have the same fucking image stuck in my head. Dad tied to a chair, mom tied to one right next to him. Someone in all black torturing them for information.
“What were you sent here to do? It sure as hell wasn’t to commit your loyalty to the crown.”
Dad spit some blood on the ground and grinned. His teeth had blood stains on them, but he didn’t give a fuck. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
The man grunted, pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it directly into mom’s face. Her eyes grew wide and frantic, switching from the man to dad.
“You’re testing my patience. Tell me or I’ll put a bullet in her head.”
“Don’t tell him, honey. I’ll be okay, just take care of Slade!” Before dad could even say a word, a scream erupted from his mouth as the man put a bullet in mom’s head.
“No!!!” A scream of pure agony erupted from his mouth.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be joining her real soon.” The man chuckled and grabbed a piece of dad’s hair to tilt his head back. The gun went to the tip of his throat.
“I’m going to ask one more time, why are you here?” The man’s voice grated as he spoke, sounding like nails on a fucking chalkboard.
Dad smiled as if he was ready to give up, “To give the rightful King his throne.” With that he spit in the man’s face, and the trigger went off. A loud bang rang through the room, rattling the walls.
Both of my parents were sitting in a pool of their own blood, with their heads completely unrecognizable. The man pulled off his mask and turned to the others standing in the room. It was the King. He murdered my parents. The King paced the floor, not knowing what to think of this new information.
“Are they saying there is someone else who is supposed to be ruling this country? Someone better fit than me? What the fuck were they talking about?” He was raving, hands going into his hair, trying to figure out what cryptic message my parents revealed.
Jumping back to where I was, hitting the bag, letting my knuckles and hands bleed until I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. I had tried my best to figure out what they meant, but I couldn’t figure it out either. I did know one thing out of all of this, the King murdered my parents to get information. He felt threatened, and got rid of them so he could what? Stop someone from taking his Kingdom?
My heart ached in my chest, my parents were gone because of the King. They raised me, loved me, and gave me a good life. They supported every decision and wanted me to be happy. They were good people, and he murdered them in cold fucking blood. A wave of emotions swirled inside of me. I wanted to grieve, to get revenge, to break something. There was a huge part of me that felt guilt at not being able to help them. I should’ve helped them. Why didn’t I? How could I sit there and listen to their screams?
I was a teenager; what help could I have given them? Then I remembered something. Dad’s eyes met mine, and they somehow told me not to interfere. To let it play out. Why? What was he wanting me to know?
As my hands kept moving, I wondered who they were talking about. We moved here because dad wanted to work for the King, but it made me wonder if that was all a ploy to hide why we were truly there in the first place.
What were they up to? Was it worth risking their life? Was it worth leaving their son behind? I was so angry with them and yet so sad that they were gone. My emotions were raging, and I didn’t know how to cope with the bullshit.
“Want to tell me what’s going on, son?” Lewis piped in once again and I didn’t know how to answer him. He worked for the King and Queen, but he was only loyal to Raven and the Queen. His brown eyes always showed some type of defiance towards the King when he talked, as if he didn’t respect him. When it came to the Queen or Raven though, he had their back through and through.
I stopped and tried to catch my breath. “How well did you know my parents?”
I thought he was going to say something, but he was quiet. Too quiet.
“Well enough.” He hid his emotions with a mask so I couldn’t read what he was thinking.
“They made me leave my home to come here and work for the royal family. They never told me why we had to pick up and leave so fast, and I’m assuming you know more than you’re letting on.”
He pursed his lips, his kind brown eyes showing signs of regret. “What are you hiding? What were they hiding from me?”
“I can’t give you the answers you desire, yet, but I can tell you that they were here for you. No one else. The rest, well, I’m sure you will find out on your own soon enough.”
He placed a piece of paper down on the white plastic table near him, gave me a pointed look, and walked out of the room.
Sweat dripped down my face, and I wondered if I should open up a can of worms by reading that paper. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest. I had a feeling that the small piece of paper was going to change my life somehow. It had already changed drastically in the last year; seeing my parents murdered before my eyes, Raven’s pregnancy.
My shoulders rose and fell with my ragged breaths as I wiped the sweat away with my towel. I gravitated towards the paper, my fingers itching to reach out and touch it. The small gym was quiet, not a soul in here except for myself. The lights were dimmed, not super bright but not dark either.
I picked up the paper and sucked in a ragged breath. I could read what was on it and everything would be fine. Raven and I were going to have a baby together, I would eventually take her away from this place and we would be a family. I just had to get her out from under her father’s grasp.
As my eyes read over the few short lines on the paper and the DNA samples at the bottom, my heart dropped.
I was right. This insignificant paper would indeed change my life forever.
Lewis had my back that day. I think initially, he was trying to find a roundabout way of telling me the truth without telling me so he wouldn’t be compromised. What I found out that day changed everything. Lars had no idea I knew the truth and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible, because if Raven found out, her whole viewpoint on everything would change. I would eventually lose her...for good. I didn’t know how to feel about that.
My eyes drifted from the ground to Lewis’s confused ones. “He has our back, trust me on this.”
While he was a man of very few words, he had always looked out for the three of us. Raven, Julianna and myself would always be in good hands as long as he was around.
I only hoped he would still be on my side even after he learned what I had planned. I was going to take Lars down for good, even if that meant hurting Raven in the process.