11. Ember
Chapter eleven
Ember
I have been trying to get a hold of my sister, since the funeral, and for some reason, her phone is off and has been this whole time. I figured she would want to be here for the reading of the will because she is a greedy little cunt.
Poor Vee, though, has a killer hangover and cannot get out of bed. But she does have that mystery man that she has been sleeping with, taking care of her. So, I keep sending her messages to see how she is feeling and if this Mr. Hottie is actually taking care of my best friend. I look up from my phone and notice Ezra is staring right at me. I can see the hunger in his eyes as he is biting his bottom lip.
Not gonna lie, he is fucking hot in that navy blue suit with his jet black hair tied back in a bun with a few stray hairs hanging down the side of his face. He keeps biting his lip harder to the point I think he might break the skin. I would love to be the one who gets to lick and suck his blood off of his lips. Staring at his lips, I keep wishing I was biting him, causing him to bleed for me. Just being able to be in control of Ezra and dominate him would be hot as fuck.
Ezra and I both look to the doorway as heavy footsteps get closer until Damien Orlov walks in. With his receding gray hairline, Jeffery Dahmer glasses, a beer gut, and gray 70's porn mustache. He thinks he is God's gift to the Earth. I have hated this man since he said that I deserved to be raped by his son because of the way I was dressed.
"Sorry for running late. I had some things to take care of." He says, walking over to sit beside me with a crooked smile.
"Since you have finally arrived, your Highness , can we get this started?" I mock with an attitude lacing my voice, staring at Orlov as I bow my head in an over dramatic gesture. I could hear the snicker from Aspen in the corner trying to hide his amusement.
"Ryker and Emma didn’t want anyone fighting over their will, so they chose to record a video to go through their decisions." Ezra says, staring at me, and then continues. "I know Iris isn't present, but Ryker asked me to inform her she wasn't required to attend this meeting because she isn't included in it."
Ezra casts the video on his laptop to the TV on the bookshelves at the other side of the room. We all turn our chairs to face the TV. I take a look around the room. Onyx is leaning against the wall by the bay windows, Aspen is leaning on the opposite wall of Onyx, Blaze is sitting on the other side of Orlov on the one love seat, Ezra is sitting on the loveseat across from Blaze. Ezra looks over to me, and I nod, letting him know to hit play on the video.
The first thing I see is my Papa’s face pop up on the screen.
My vision gets blurry as tears start streaming down my face, after seeing Papa. We had a good relationship. But there were times when he would act like the Don and not my Papa when talking about things that needed to happen in my personal life.
"Okay, we’re going to just jump right into this. To my malen'kaya zhemchuzhina (little gem) , Ember, I leave all of my possessions, including but not limited to the Mansion, the rentals in downtown Seattle, Chertanov Casino and Hotel in the outskirts of Seattle, the beach house in South Carolina, all of my money. If you would like you can set up a trust fund or an allowance for your sister. You can talk to Aspen about doing that. But that is all up to you because you are my sole inheritor.”
"My dear Ember, you will now be taking my role as the Don. However, I have three requirements. First, you must marry within two years of my death.
Secondly, Onyx, Ezra, Blaze, and Aspen will stay with you as your bodyguards until you marry. They know the ins and outs of how everything is run, having worked for me for many years.
And lastly, if you are not married by the end of the second year of my death, the role of Don will be given to Damien Orlov. If he has died by that time, his oldest son will be given the role."
Then the screen just goes black.
"What the actual fuck." I yell."Why should I have to marry to remain The Don? That can't be right! Is it?" I ask Ezra.
"Well your father came up with this rule after you and your sister were born because he never had a son. Normally, the oldest son would take over like it has been throughout the generations with your family. But since Ryker never had any sons he decided to make this rule so that you would carry on the family name and the Mafia would stay in the Chertanov family name." Ezra explains to me.
I scoff. "Of course, the old man would be fucking me over from the grave. It's my birthright to inherit the family business. He just had to give one last fuck you."
"Well looks like I'm going to have to find someone to marry me within the next two years because I be damned if I let this fat fuck become the Don. He would cause wars with other families and run everything into the ground, especially the Casino and Hotel!" I scream at everyone. “YOU!” I glared at Damien “You forced my father to add you as the next Don, you’ve always had your hands manipulating my father in every faucet that is MY RIGHT to inherit! Didn’t you!” I growled.
"Emb…" Damien Orlov was about to say something out of his fat ass mouth when the doorbell goes off.
"Looks like you were just saved by the bell." Onyx says, making me chuckle.
I walk towards the front door just as my butler, Artemis, is closing it behind him holding a package.
"This is for you, Miss Ember." Artemis says, handing me the small brown box.
"Thanks Arty." I say, taking the box from him .
Arty walks away as I sit the small box on the table in the foyer, and all four men gather around me, but Orlov has disappeared. Maybe he left. I really don't care, I'm just glad he's gone.
Opening the lid to the box, I place it on the table. Once I removed the paper on top, anger boiled in my veins and my heart rate skyrocketed. What I see inside puts me on edge. There, on top of some pink tissue paper is a cell phone, a note and a baggy with some brown string in it. When I pick up the baggy and take a closer look, it isn't string at all; it's hair. The same color hair as Iris. Now in a panic, I pick up the cell phone and turn it over quickly, and there, staring me right in the face, is my sister's cell phone case. The one she got for Christmas, it has a cherry blossom tree on it with flowers floating down the case. My stomach drops as dread coils deep within me. I spot a folded piece of worn paper.
"No, no, no." I breathe out, shaking my head back and forth. Picking up the note and opening it, I read it to myself. TWICE . Making sure I read it correctly as I feel the color drain from my face.