Chapter 16
Cedric cannot react fast enough as I grab Damien by the collar, and slam my fist into his face.
“You damn asshole, why, WHY?” My voice is hoarse and rough, and I want to kill him. I want him to pay for what he has done.
He is my best friend, damn it.
Acid rises in my throat as the images I just saw pop up again, and I strike blindly.
Why?
Betrayal courses like a poisonous snake through my veins, and all I see are those images.
“NIC! Damn it, you’re going to kill him,” Ced yells, finally pulling me away from Damien, who slumps onto my couch, dazed and covered in blood.
“No, let me! He… GODDAMN IT, HE FUCKED MY FATHER!”
Dead silence.
Cedric immediately releases me and stares at me, his face ashen.
“What? What did you say?” He looks at me in disbelief, and I run my hand over my face, trying to suppress the rage, the betrayal, the pain, but they cut into me like a sharp knife through my gut and heart.
He… my mother… Phil… goddammit.
“See for yourself.”I nod toward my laptop, then head to the bar. Needing a drink, I don’t bother with a glass and take a long swig straight from the bottle.
Fuck.
“Fuck, damn it, Dam! Why? Who the hell screwed with your head so badly that you did this?” Cedric looks at Damien, who can no longer open his right eye, but the other one starts shedding agonized tears.
Fuck. FUCKING HELL!
“He… I… didn’t want this. I… he caught me off guard when I was totally wasted, I don’t even properly remember half of it. Everything is blurry, and shit, afterward I was disgusted with myself.” His voice breaks, and inside me something breaks too.
I always knew my father was an asshole, but I had no idea just how sick and power-hungry he truly is. Still, I believe Damien and that does not make it any easier to accept.
“Henry got the footage from Richardson. He used it to blackmail your father. Then your father threatened me, saying that if I told the truth… he would send Robins after me. I… fuck.” He breaks off, but a tornado erupts inside me.
“Richardson? You mean the Richardson, the one whose computer I got these files from? The same man who made a deal with my father and was handsomely paid to keep quiet about our king sleeping with men, many men, and silencing them? The very king who called homosexuality sick and disgusting?”
That bastard is dead.
He played a double game, and is responsible for one person’s death, and drove my wife into this madness.
“He… what? Oh fuck, that bastard,” Damien gasps in shock, obviously unaware until this moment that he wasn’t the only one my father fucked.
Ced sinks speechless onto the other chair. “Holy shit, what kind of sick game is this?” he asks, not really expecting an answer.
I don’t have time for this.
I pull my phone out of my pocket again to reach Amelia, but again only voicemail picks up.
“Damn it, she’s not answering,” I curse quietly, and Damien perks up.
“Who? Amelia? Where is she?” He sounds alarmed, only realizing now that she’s not here.
“She wanted to go to Perlington House, get some stuff, and then come here. She doesn’t know about all this shit yet,” I answer, utterly exhausted, but Damien turns pale.
“You have to go there immediately. If her brother finds her… oh fuck, damn it.” He curses, and groans as he sits back down, but I’m wide awake and tense to the point of snapping.
“If who gets his hands on her? What the fuck do you mean?” My eyes narrow to slits, and I walk toward him threateningly, boiling inside and barely able to hold back.
“I… she begged me not to say anything, and I thought once, just once, I could be a good friend. Henry abuses her. He hits her. If he finds her there…” He doesn’t need to say more.
The scars, all her scars come to mind, and I feel ice cold. My heart cramps fiercely because now I’m scared. I feel raw, unfiltered fear.
I’m already in the elevator, Ced beside me, when I turn back to Damien once more.
“Wait here for Lizzy. When she arrives, drive to Perlington House. After that, I don’t want to see you ever again.” He flinches at my words, but I don’t care.
I have only one priority now: Goldilocks.
Never have I reached my bike so quickly. Ced follows silently, too stunned to speak and heavy with worry. We don’t need to say a word.
If he touched her, he’s dead.
I drive to Perlington House crazy fast, and soon after, I am running up the steps and pounding on the door. One of the servants opens it, and I push past him without a word.
“Amelia,” I shout through the entire hall, but of course, there’s no answer.
Fuck.
Where? Where is she?
My throat tightens with fear for my wife, and I’m about to lose it when suddenly a servant rushes over, eyes wide and pale.
“I found her, Your Highness, and called the paramedics. She… I don’t know…”
“Where?” I snap at her because I don’t have time for any unnecessary detail.
Ambulance.
Fuck.
Adrenaline shoots wildly through my veins when she says “Study,” and I run, run for my wife’s life.
“Amelia,” I call once more, skidding to a stop in front of the room, but again no answer.
My heart pounds into my throat, and fuck, no, it stops. I can’t breathe anymore because all the air is forced from my lungs at the sight of her.
“Goldilocks, babe, no.”
Within a second I kneel beside her, but damn it, I don’t know where to touch her. She’s covered in blood, her face completely smashed, but that’s nothing compared to the patch of skin I see where her hoodie has ridden up. It’s already turning dark purple.
“Oh, fucking shit.” Ced’s shocked voice sounds behind me, but I don’t respond. I want to help her, but how? Where?
Goldilocks, damn it, why didn’t you say anything?
“I… I don’t know where to touch her, Ced, fuck, damn it, I don’t know how to help her.
” Every word comes out broken, and fuck, I’m about to cry.
I see her chest rise and fall, but very irregularly, and the claws of fear dig deeper and deeper.
The pressure on my chest becomes unbearable, and I feel like I’m suffocating.
“You’re not dying on me here, do you hear me?” I whisper hoarsely and carefully take her hand to feel her pulse, weak, but there.
Fuck.
Gently, I stroke her forehead, her little hand tight in mine.
He almost beat her to death. He tortured her all the time. Her body is completely bruised.
Someone taps me on the shoulder, but I just brush the hand away.
“Fuck off. I have to…” My voice breaks, and desperation overwhelms me like a huge tsunami.
“Come on, babe, open your eyes. Please.” I never beg. Never. But right here, right now, I would worship the devil if it meant saving her.
“The paramedics are here, Nic. You have to let them through, come on.” Ced’s voice reaches my ear, and I slowly turn to him, seeing the paramedics standing with a stretcher beside him.
Shit, damn it.
“Please… I don’t know where to touch her… she… he… she has bruises everywhere. Please…” I beg like a little child, but I don’t care. They have to help my wife.
Ced gently pats my shoulder, and I rise heavily, not wanting to leave her alone, but I know the paramedics have to do their work. Dizzy, I stand there watching them carefully examine Amelia as she whimpers again, and I clench my hands into fists to stop myself from punching them.
They have to help her, not cause her more pain.
“Nnii… ccooo… llasss.”
Fuck.
I roughly shove one of the men aside and immediately reach her side.
“I’m here, Goldilocks. I’m here.” I gently stroke her curls, press my lips carefully to her forehead, and breathe in her scent. She has one eye open, and I see her trying to focus, to snap back to reality, but she can’t quite manage it.
“Your Majesty, you need to move aside a bit so we can take her to the hospital.”
“Sir, please, you’re in the way.”
“Nn… no. D… oon’t go,” Amelia pants, reaching out her hand toward me, and my head slowly turns to the gentleman—polite, yes, but soon very dead if he doesn’t shut his mouth right now.
I know my gaze is lethal because he practically recoils.
He can shove his polite, sympathetic reminder that I’m “in the way” somewhere else.
I’m not in the way at all. She is my wife. And she needs me.
“I’m not going anywhere, Goldilocks. I’m right here,” I let the guy know, and he nods with pressed lips.
“Then let’s go. We need to get her to the CT scan urgently, since I can’t estimate how severe the internal injuries are.”
At those words, my stomach cramps painfully, and I clench my teeth hard.
She will not die. Not here. Not today.
“I’m coming with you.”
No arguments. Try to talk back and I’ll unleash all my pent-up rage right here, right now in this room. NO ONE will separate me from my wife.
“Go and inform Lizzy and Damien. And call Eric. He should keep an eye on the press in case anything leaks. No one must find out where she’s being taken. Understood?”
Ced just nods, lips pressed into a thin line, and I move together with the paramedics.
Amelia’s hand remains tightly clasped in mine, even though she has drifted off again.
My phone rings, and I recognize the ringtone.
I ignore it. My father will have the pleasure of having a long conversation with me later.
The ride to the hospital feels endless, but at least they’ve given Amelia something for the pain, and she’s sleeping deeply. She’s hooked up to the monitor now; everything else will soon be revealed by the CT scan.
I don’t let her go for a single moment—much less take my eyes off her. Inside my head, chaos reigns. My thoughts swirl uncontrollably as my brain scrambles to process the flood of revelations crashing over me. And I still don’t know everything.
When we stop in front of the hospital, the paramedic’s voice sounds again.
“We’re taking her to the CT scan now, then to the private wing, Your Highness. You can wait for her in her room there.” Slowly I lift my gaze, a dangerous promise in it, but this time he doesn’t back down.
“You can’t come to the examination, no matter how much you threaten me,” he tells me curtly, and I swallow hard.
I need to know she’s okay. I don’t want to leave her alone. Everything in me revolts at the thought of losing sight of Amelia even for a second.
“I want to be informed immediately when the results come in. Immediately. And make sure my sister and my best friend come to me,” I reply harshly, avoiding any thought of Damien.
My gaze sweeps over Amelia again, and everything tightens painfully. The pressure on my chest grows once more. My fear for her still takes up too much space, almost bringing me to my knees, but deep inside, I feel something simmering and boiling. Hate. So much hate.
“Nicolas?” Amelia suddenly whispers, and I lean toward her, gently squeezing her hand.
“I’m here, Goldilocks,” I murmur, kissing her gently on her split lip.
“He…” She hesitates, swallows hard, and a tear runs down her cheek as she closes her eyes in shame. And that sight tears me apart.
Fuck, damn it.
“Shhh, babe. Not now. Rest, okay? I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. You’ll be examined soon, and then we’ll see,” I say, stroking her hair nonstop, and she nods, tears silently streaming down her cheeks.
Oh, I’m going to kill them all. I will kill every single one who dares come near her in the future.
And that bastard of a brother? He’s the first to go.