Chapter Eight #4
As far as I was concerned, this conversation had done all it needed to.
Q had made it abundantly clear we were family, and now I never wanted to speak to the bastard ever again.
“Any last words, Vic?” I raised my eyes.
Victor leaned over the desk, deliberating.
Neither of us saw Ily bolt from her spot on the couch and fly across the room.
“Help! Please help! My name is Ilyana Sharma. My father is a cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London. Please tell Krish I’m—”
Victor backhanded her.
She switched from flying toward the phone to flying backward.
She landed flat on her back, gasping for air, winded and wide-eyed.
The golden carpet cradled her as she squirmed and choked, her hands clawing at the thick strands.
I shot to my feet and dashed to her side, completely forgetting Q until he seethed, “I’m coming for you, Ilyana. I vow I’ll find you, and I’ll fucking kill my brother for what he’s done to you.”
The line went dead.
I tossed the phone away.
With slightly trembling hands, I gathered Ily into my arms and stood with a grunt.
She still struggled for breath; I spoke over her bird-like gasps.
“I’ll transfer the rest of his money to you in the morning.
I don’t want a single penny of what’s his.
But...a million of that is hers. I promised it to her the night we met, and I intend to pay my debts, especially seeing as I’ll be claiming every shred of her soul. ”
Victor slowly picked up the phone from the floor and tapped it against his thigh. “You’re honourable. I like that in a friend. Consider your request granted.”
“Good.”
“That...” He raised an eyebrow. “That was an interesting conversation.”
“Are you satisfied?” I cocked my head, hoisting Ily a little higher in my arms. “Satisfied I have nowhere else to go and nowhere else I’d rather be?”
For the longest moment, he studied me, studied Ily in my arms, then the strangest, softest affection appeared in his navy stare. “You know, Henri...I’m also well acquainted with loneliness. It’s a curse, you see. A curse for those who recognise the world for what it truly is.”
I scowled. “How do others see the world?”
“They see it as their God-given right to find a mate, have a litter of children, shackle themselves with a house, a mortgage, a pet, and a lifelong tax bill. For those who don’t want that or don’t fit into that pre-programmed mould, we’re forever on the outskirts...alone.”
Ily gagged and then sucked in her first proper breath.
I rocked her without thinking, tenderness as fierce as my lust. “So that’s why you made your own world? On this island?”
“Exactly.” Coming toward us, Victor pressed a doting kiss on Ily’s cheek before cupping mine.
“I like you, Henri. Despite our rocky beginning, I do believe you’re finally seeing the light.
And for the first time in decades, I see myself in another.
All my other guests? They’re a temporary fix to the loneliness that can still haunt...
even in this paradise. You remind me of myself when I was your age.
You remind me that I don’t have children to leave my utopia to.
You remind me that there is more to life than fun and fucking. ”
Stepping back, he shrugged almost self-consciously. “I’m glad I didn’t have to kill you.”
I half-smiled, Ily growing heavy in my arms. “Yeah, me too.”
“You’re still not home free.” He waggled a finger in my face.
“It will take years for me to fully trust you, but...you just chose me over your own flesh and blood. And I can’t help but be swayed by that.
And so...” He padded back to his desk and locked the phone away.
“Keep being who you truly are, Henri Mercer. Share all your parts, not just the dark and disturbing. Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Allow yourself to be happy. And perhaps...one day, that lifetime membership you’ve fought so hard to earn might turn into something far, far more. ”
I stilled. “What does that mean?”
He sighed and simply said, “I’m in need of an heir, aren’t I? Eventually.”
Ily coughed on a breath; I stumbled back. The punch of acceptance from a man who’d been seconds away from shooting me made me feel as if I’d been the one winded.
Not sure how to reply, the weight of the past few sleepless nights, the exhaustion of decades of pretend, the pain of losing everything and gaining a very different future chose that moment to choke me.
“D-Do you trust me enough to allow me to spend the rest of the day with my jewel? Alone...in my room?”
He flipped open his laptop and nodded distractedly.
“You have full reign of my home, mon ami. You know there’s no escape...
by scrambler or by brother. You’re locked here by your choice.
” He looked up and smiled. “I will no longer demand anything of you, and you are free to do as you please. The matter of the funds can be taken care of another day.”
I nodded my thanks.
And without another word, I carried Ily down the stairs, entered my room, kicked my door closed, and laid her exquisitely gently on the bed.