Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
ALEKSANDR
Volkovitch Manor
“No, mother, you can quit your desperate search to find me a wife.” Her hounding failed to stop the twitch of my lips as I watched Cameron try to entertain Mishka. The boy was fascinated with his numerous tattoos. A headache to come.
“Aleksandr, you know you cannot choose a girl who is spoiled goods. We have standards that must be upheld, you as the Volkovitch’s future pakhan, the Iron Crown heir.”
“Mother, enough. You will honour my choice, or both father and you will face the consequences of going against me, the Iron Crown heir that you love to remind me I am so much, this close to my twenty-fifth birthday.”
“Son, the girl is used up and frankly no good for y—”
“Shut. Up.” Anger lined my voice, causing Cameron to furrow his brows as he glanced my way as he hustled, a now crying, Mishka from the room.
“I’ve chosen my choice in a bride. Audrey is the Ellsworth heir.
She meets both the age and the bloodline criteria you gave me.
Accept her, or I won’t be returning home to Moscow for the wedding. ”
“Bu—”
“No! She will be my wife. There’s no one else but her. Will be no one else but her. That is why you introduced us all those years ago, no?”
A sigh left my mother’s lips; I could feel her resignation through the phone as she realised I would not give up my Printsessa so easily. In fact, nothing short of death would separate me from her. Especially now…if what I suspect is true.
“You age me son. If you’re sure, be ready to present her at your official crowning in September. Prepare the girl. And son…”
“Yes, mother?”
“I am happy for you, even if at times it appears like I’m not. I just worry about how that girl’s past and the transgressions she taken part in…will affect you in the years to come.”
“Da, I love her mother. Convince father to get on board or be ready to face the wrath of a man coming into his crown and kingdom.”
“You will have to figure out how to fake the bloodied sheets traditi—”
“It will be done. She’s no stranger to blood.”
She was silent for a beat over the line, no doubt regretting opening the conversation up for my rapidly depraved thoughts.
“Hide the boy until your seat is secure. Be well, my little hunter, and may the stars shine bright on your soul.”
“It’s been a pleasure, mother. See you soon.”
Throwing my phone against the wall, the glass shattered as it struck a mirror, shards raining down onto the floor. My fury felt insurmountable. The pressure of family, born and found, weighed on me as I forced harsh breaths from my lungs.
I knew Lenochka would have to win my mother over, a woman who had always wanted my wife to be the perfect blend of quiet and meek, two things my Printsessa would—could—never be.
A girl with no ambition and no desire to have power herself.
The mould the Bratva accepted with open arms was the exact opposite of Lenochka in every sense and I couldn’t thank fuck enough for that as it had led her to me.
“Bad timing?” An amused voice interrupted my musings. Spinning, I found the man who set all this in motion standing in the entryway to my house, leather jacket draped over an arm, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips.
“You got a light, korol? The silence in town…” Dark circles lined his eyes, such a deep purple they had first appeared black.
Looking closer at him, I noted how dishevelled he appeared.
Something had Kellan vonBermere—Ellsworth, now—running scared.
“It has my demons crawling out of my skin tonight.” Tossing one his way, I pinched the bridge of my nose.
Fatigued, liquid-violet eyes locked onto mine as his tattooed hand grabbed the engraved lighter out of the air.
The ink covering The Guilda’s brand caught the light.
The wilted red rose sitting on a nest of vipers and thorns appeared sinister, the vibrant red meant to be a warning to those who came across him even as the silvery raised skin of scars and old burns glimmered in the dim light of the room.
Of course, the man chose to honour his origins by blending the crests of two vicious families into one.
The crest of the Antonov line, the wilted rose in a bed of vipers, blended with the Ellsworth sigil of that vibrant rose in a nest of thorns whose petals dripped blood of their enemies.
I drilled holes into the side of his face, the other thorn in my side; he would pick now to show his face again. Kellan had always applauded himself for his near impeccable timing, and tonight it seemed like I was the unlucky recipient of it.
“So, she did it.”
He ambled around me, making his way to the basement, yelling for Cameron to join.
His hand repeatedly flicked and twirled the lighter I had tossed to him, absentmindedly, like he was unaware of the tick he’d developed before being exiled from The Cove years ago.
That tattoo stretching across the back of his hand, the seared brand becoming obvious underneath the delicate ink, savage scars meant to prove his place within The Guilda—it all showcased how he overcame blinding pain to secure his spot as The Rose.
“It’s come to my knowledge…” He paused as he turned the lights on and fired up the computer he claimed as his own.
“Before Trial Four, the initiates will have to undergo a blood test.” His eyes were pinned on me, the room silent save for the near-silent footsteps Cameron made while trekking his way down to join.
“Should I be concerned, Aleksandr? Of what a blood test might reveal?”
His voice was glacial. The side of him that even The Guilda feared, making itself known in protection of his half-sister. A girl who now held two of the most powerful unclaimed crowns in the world.
My words sat frozen in my throat, knowing I couldn’t answer his question before Lenochka herself learned what I’d come to suspect over the past week…
or two. Damn, she had taken it all beautifully.
Kellan’s eyes narrowed to slits, taking my silence for what it was, an admission for something I should have protected her from…
but the one thing my damned soul practically demanded I ignore until it was far too late. Fuck the consequences.
“Aleks…no, please, dude. Tell me it’s not true.
” Cameron’s voice was thick with dread. “Please tell me you didn’t…
not again.” Putting the implications of Kellan’s accusation together in rapid time, he yanked at his hair, distress now evident as he anxiously paced back and forth.
I don’t know why I was surprised he had come to the conclusion this fast, seeing through the lines had been part of what his training within The Guilda forced him through.
“King. Please say you did not just damn the Little Queen in the one way both the Ellsworths and Antonovs will be very reluctant to overlook…”
“Cameron, he knows what he’s done, and the man has no remorse. You want her tied to you, yes? Unable to ever escape the goddamned poisoned bite of the Volkovitch name?”
It was Kellan’s biting sneer that had me snapping back to the present.
His strained pose hinted at a beast prowling very close to the surface of his skin.
His knuckles bleached white as his fingers balled into fists, his tattoos rippling along his neck as he gritted his jaw.
There was an evil glint in his eyes, one similar to my Printsessa’s, but carrying much darker depths.
“You’d better be ready for what The Hellhound will demand of her once he finds out. His jealousy will wreak havoc on the Little Queen once the truth gets out…again.”
“Da.” My body began to shut down as I went into planning mode. Events played through my head from each trial and the first game, all the moments where Lenochka surpassed the minds of The Guilda who had tried and failed to best her strength.
“I will always do what I must. She’s always been the centre of my world. Will always be my fucking gravity.”
The words rang true, but a weight was laid upon my soul, telling me I’d fucked up…majorly, and that I wouldn’t like what played out next. Fate had already demanded so much from her in her twenty-one years, and I was only about to add more onto her already overflowing plate.
“While I did want confirmation, Aleks knew…I actually came to discuss the ramifications and events of Game One. And to remind you of why we are all being so merciless in making sure my sister survives the initiation and earns her seat, one The Guilda has no right holding over her head like this.”
Nodding, I walked to the table and sat. Cameron followed me, his arm wrapping around me as he sensed the way my thoughts were beginning to stray.
Kellan brought up the latest media storm that had been circulating in the press, and all at once, we were greeted with evidence that our plan was moving into its next phase.
“The Antonovs have been made aware that their late matriarch was taken out by none other than the hidden Ellsworth heir. It seems her cousin is in staunch support.” Kellan’s voice held pride, happy his sister was finally showing her ruthless and violent side once more.
“In addition.” He chuckled, shaking his head, “It seems that before the game, our Little Queen had time to email a warning to the Ellsworth board, laying claim to her title, her name, and her position amongst the most powerful Fortune 500 conglomerate on the European and American continents…”
Closing his eyes, a full belly laugh left him. “Her only stipulation was that the board honour her polite request to reinstate me among the family and name me her second in command.”
At this, Cameron and I guffawed. Of course, she would make sure her brother was secured, even though Kellan had a net worth in the billions from his ventures alone. Cameron shook his head, his whole body quickly following suit as he began to laugh uncontrollably.