50. Caden
Caden
Selene Blackwater crossed her legs, her posture straight as she glanced between me and Sebastian. “Caden, I see you’ve been keeping my daughter busy these last few days,” she said tightly.
I shared a look with Sebastian. “What do you want, Selene?”
A smirk formed. “I thought it would be appropriate to iron out the wrinkles of the alliance before the wedding, don’t you?”
“Is that what you’re expecting?” Sebastian pretty much vibrated in his chair, his desk the only thing separating them. “An alliance?”
“Well of course.” Her smile grew. “Why would I have gone through so much trouble, otherwise?”
She didn’t seem bothered about our masks, sitting in Sebastian’s office like a queen before her court. She’d brought two guards with her, and I eyed them while Sebastian ran the meeting. Neither were Renley, and I was actually glad.
I didn’t know if I’d be able to control myself.
“So let me get this straight,” Sebastian continued, his rage barely contained. “You want Caden to marry your daughter, allow her to take the Ackworth name, and use our reputation to prop up your non-existent empire?”
“A reputation you stole,” Selene shot back, her tone sharpening.
“Please,” I grunted. “Your father was an old has-been cunt long before we even started making powder.”
Selene’s expression hardened, but she kept her composure with visible effort. “My family’s name was the foundation of the entire drug trade in this country. You stand on his legacy.”
“Is that what you believe?” he said before changing to French. “She’s delusional.”
“She’s fucking stupid,” I added in the same language.
“It doesn’t matter what I believe, because this is what’s going to happen,” she said, her voice straining a fraction. “You will marry my Vivienne. She will take your name. And with that name, she, along with my guidance, will reclaim what is rightfully ours.”
“Rightfully yours?”
“My birthright,” she snapped, glaring at Sebastian. “Everything that was taken from me when my father died. I want it back. All of it. That includes the cocaine trade.”
“We won’t be handing anything over to you,” Sebastian said coldly, “regardless of whether you force Caden to marry Vivienne.”
Annoyance darkened her eyes, and I smiled beneath my mask at her crack in composure.
“You won’t have much choice,” she said, reaching up to adjust the dead animal she had draped around her shoulders. “Because not only do I have enough evidence of your father’s indiscretions to bury the Ackworth name forever, but I also hold something far more personal over you.”
“And what could that possibly be?” Sebastian asked.
Selene smiled at him, entirely unfazed before turning to me. “The same reason I know you won’t harm me right now.” She let the silence stretch for a beat. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave her unharmed … Mostly.”
A heavy pressure slammed into my chest.
“If you so much as touch her,” I growled. “I will personally make sure every last member of your bloodline dies screaming.”
Selene didn’t flinch—if anything, her smile widened—because I’d just confirmed that Aeris meant something.
Shit.
“You should have thought of that before you took my daughter,” she said carefully, lifting her hand as her men reached for their weapons. “I’m going to assume she’s still alive? Because you don’t have such a reputation for being stupid.”
At my silence, she continued.
“Good. Now, she will remain unharmed, but know this—you may like Aeris warming your bed, but her life will always be mine.”
Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction.
“This wedding will happen. Vivienne will become an Ackworth, and you will treat her with the respect and loyalty she deserves as your wife.” Selene stood, looking every inch the expensive socialite in her dark-purple dress and fur coat. “Or dear Aeris will pay the price for your temper.”
“Be very careful who you threaten, Selene,” Sebastian warned.
Selene’s smile turned predatory. “I’m simply securing my family’s future. I expect Vivienne to be returned to me today and an engagement announcement within the week. Don’t disappoint me, gentlemen.”
With that she swept out of the office, her men following after her. The moment they were gone, Sebastian slammed his fist onto the table, the sharp crack echoing through the room. “Fucking bitch.”
Cold fury settled deep in my bones, my mind focused on Aeris.
Pulling out my phone, I immediately called her. My heart thundered, banging against my ribs so hard it ached.
When she didn’t answer, I sent her a text.
Me:
Ring me. Now.
My phone creaked with how tight I held it, waiting for those ticks to turn green.
When they didn’t, I called Raj.
The line rang once. Twice. Three times.
“Pick up,” I muttered under my breath. “Pick up … fuck!”
A cold weight settled low in my stomach when voicemail kicked in.
Raj knew to always answer his phone unless there was trouble, and even then he was trained to deal with everything swiftly.
Switching to Aeris’s phone tracker, I found her last position at Portobello Road Market.
But that was fifteen minutes ago before it lost signal.
My pulse kicked harder.
Trying to keep my breathing steady, I opened my contacts and video-called Langdon. “I need you to head to Atlantis,” I said, already moving while Sebastian barked orders on his own phone.
Langdon frowned, propping his phone up against something. “Why Atlantis?” he signed.
“Selene knows about Vivienne, so we need to split up.” My pulse roared in my ears, every worst-case scenario flashing through my mind in rapid, brutal succession. “I need to find Aeris.”