Chapter 23 #2
“While I love seeing you naked with my cum leaking out of you, I didn’t crash your meeting to just fuck the sass out of you like this.” He handed me a stack of clothes he must have snagged as he finished with the cloth between my thighs. “Get dressed, or we will get nothing done.”
I sighed, throwing on the pair of shorts and shirt he provided me, chuckling when I noticed that the shirt was one of his old ones that he accidentally left here one night after sneaking in.
“Why did you come here today? Other than me pushing you to claim me for real in front of them.”
“News.” His dry response startled me. The reluctance in his tone was unwelcome since he hardly ever refused to share what he found with me…at least when it directly affected us. Or you, you mean. “News and a plan—”
“You figured out a way, I assume." I cut him off, threading my fingers through his and not so subtly yanking him down so I could lie on top of him. “So…what is it? I know you wouldn’t deign to come here unless you planned to fill me in.”
“I would say that I already filled you up quite well. So well, in fact, that you created a mess all over your floor. And sheets.”
I sent him an unimpressed stare as a sly grin flashed across his face before he sobered and pulled me closer to him.
“Da, Lenochka. I have a plan. One that terrifies me, but also one that will prevent you from leaving my side. So, we all will win.” Hesitating, he played with my hair, running his calloused fingers through it as he sighed.
“You will step into your family names, both of them, before the first game. Accept your birthrights, your title as an Ellsworth, your kingdom as an Antonov. Become so entangled with the blood running through your veins that The Guilda has no choice but to step aside or fear a fate worse than death if they decide to come for your head.”
Accept my birthright. My titles and names.
The Ellsworth Heir. The Antonov Princess.
A past I ran from since the tender age of six, only to find solace in a man whose last name demanded slightly more fear than both of mine.
“Become the woman who I know you can be. The one you were born to be. It’s time, Printsessa…
” he continued, dropping a quick kiss to my head.
“For the world to stand in fear of what happens if they attempt to take you from me.”
“Always so dramatic, Aleksandr…” Tracing patterns on his chest, I thought about all the eyes that would fall on me once I accepted the title as a true Ellsworth heir and the ones cementing in the brutality of the Russian Bratva. Bloodlines and fear. “How do you know this will work?”
The pieces he hinted at falling into place as the outcome of accepting my true last name crystallised in my head. “Because then the Ellsworth seat in London will fall to me. Immunity. And the Antonovs will see me as a bargaining chip, a way to add more power if they decid—”
“Da, immunity will be demanded from every seat within the London, Greek, and Russian chapters once you fully embrace your name. Even The Guilda head would not dare to ensnare you again.”
“How much time do I have? How long until this hand will be forced and I won’t be able to control the story that will come out from this?” I mused, thinking about how we had yet to hear about trial three or the first game.
“The third trial…my hands have been tied. I don’t know much more than what I already told you, and what I do know is irrelevant and of no help to you—or them.
But the Game…” He trailed off, his hands suddenly gripping me tightly, as if he was subconsciously afraid I was about to be forced from his side. In a more permanent way…
“Game One will be held in three weeks’ time, after the culmination of the successful completion of Trial Three.
The location hasn’t been decided, but whispers within The Guilda have all but confirmed that they invited every chapter head to attend.
All the remaining initiates will compete together, forced to create a bloodbath for however many spots they decide to open up.
They’re saying history will be made during the first game, history that will draw out even the most hidden of names. ”
Names of families long forgotten, he meant. Of families that went into hiding after the massacre of the Vesper and Wriedt lines. Names of shadows and hounds, of roses and vipers. “They’re setting the stage for something worse than the revenge some of those names will demand upon their return.”
A grim look flattened his features, followed by a subtle nod.
One that sent chills down my arms as I recalled the last underground war the Guilda bothered themselves with.
The death of my family. The result of the London Outfits being too strong and resilient in the face of a man who believed he should be the one ruling on top.
A man whose son had dug himself deep inside my soul.
“Da.” I nodded at his brusque reply, already accepting that I would do what must be done. “Lenochka…”
“I’ll do it. Accept my bloodlines. Call in the favours still owed to me by both sides of my family. And if The Guilda wants to run the streets red with blood, then they’ll soon learn what happens when you betray the names of the founding families who have kept their precious little society hidden.”
Suffocating silence filled the room after my decision. The only sounds heard were the beating of our hearts and the quiet sighs of our breaths. I traced the lines of scars branded onto Aleks’ hands, the whirls of roses and snakes.
A memory of a boy with dark navy eyes flooded my brain.
Of another white-haired boy running in the woods, followed by a golden-eyed child cast in shadows and scars.
I knew that even then, all those years ago, fate had played her best hand, tangling threads so deeply between us that we never had a true chance to escape.
One last memory floated across my mind as my body relaxed into sleep, my eyes drifting closed. A memory of little girls and their mum, of the one and only time the last Ellsworth Queen bowed to her fate.
“Come, daughter, your sins demand a sacrifice. Take the flame and accept the fate of your line.”
Wrong, my mind screamed at me, refusing to see my mum down on her knees.
Domus Veritatis.
House of Truths, a chilling whisper rasped in my head.
As if she knew what my mind continued to scream at me, she turned, connecting eyes identical to mine with me. She inquired with me to see. Nodding to her hands, signing the words: Watch, wait. For one day, you will reign.
Strong arms pulling me into a solid chest, broke the memory’s—nightmare’s—hold on me, as a deep voice echoed in my ears. It was a reminder that I would not suffer the same fate as those before me.
“Come back, Lenochka. Please, please…” The dark voice trailed off as a sharp breath escaped my lungs.
“Just please always come back to me, my love.”