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14
Reece
Rage like I'd never known filled my veins with acid, with the need to destroy and break both of the people who thought to hold Alina to a contract she'd never signed. She'd never agreed to anything, even if the contract was valid. And I sincerely doubted it, given my previous knowledge of her father when he'd been alive. He hadn’t been the best head of state, given his taste in wives, but if he made a decision, he never went to the trouble of hiding it from anyone.
Much like he hadn’t cared about marrying outside royalty and nobility.
Alina's betrothal would have been very public knowledge early on, given the way court gossip spread like wildfire.
Her mother never bothered to move, proving far less intelligent than I would have given her credit for. Gasping when I shoved her out of my way without care for where she might land, she shrieked as she collided with the wall. "Reece!" Alina yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
Turning to look back at her, I barked out an order to Cheval, "Make sure she stays there."
He nodded, wrapping an arm around my Princess's waist and tugging her off the step. Her legs kicked as she shoved at his arm and her desperate shout followed me as I moved further into the plane. Corbin still relaxed in his seat, smirking up at me as he waited for the drama to end. He thought he'd fly off with Alina ready to be his bride, but he couldn't possibly know that I would kill him long before I ever let that happen to her.
"Release her," I ordered, glaring at him from the doorway.
Grinning back at me, he chuckled while Alina's mother brushed herself off and strode into the main cabin of the plane to get comfortable. "Why ever would I do that?" he asked.
"She doesn't want you. Surely that means something. Even to you," I growled.
He shrugged in response, leaning back in his seat and tapping his fingers on his knee. "We can't all be young and handsome, Reece. Men like me have to take what we want, since we don't have beauty to seduce unsuspecting princesses for us." His teeth flashed in his face, and he fiddled with the royal ring on his left hand briefly. "But don't worry. I'll take good care of her."
Crossing the distance between us, I placed a hand on the back of his chair and leaned into his space. His security moved to intervene, but he stopped them with a raised palm. My face curled with a brutal snarl and the urge to pummel him into nothingness. "Reece!" Alina gasped behind me, but I didn't bother to turn back and look at her. Even the amusement of knowing Cheval hadn't been able to restrain my little firecracker wasn't enough to draw me out of the desperate need to make the pest bleed.
"You will release her from whatever bullshit contract the two of you crafted up, or I will become your enemy," I told him, dropping my voice low enough for him to barely hear me. Anything more would have felt too loud in that tiny cabin, with Alina and her mother observing our interaction in silence and nothing but the labored sound of Alina's breathing to distract me.
"I have many enemies," Corbin said.
"Your enemies are the kind born from financial rivalries and offended sensibilities. You have no idea what a man like me would do for the woman he loves. I would go to war. I would burn your Kingdom to the ground, if it meant I could rip her from your bed and bring her back where she belongs. Youwill notleave my country with Alina, and should you seek reparations from Lantis I will offer them aid. I will build them up and use every connection I have to block you out of trade agreements for your unethical business practices." I paused, watching him glance at Alina from the corner of his eye. "You've never had an enemy like me, Corbin."
Alina's mother huffed a laugh, clapping her hands in delight as she moved to her daughter and touched her arm briefly in what should have been a delicate touch. Alina flinched back regardless, clutching at her elbow as if she was pained. Fury built even higher, until it felt like I may never settle and feel calm again.
"Did you do that to her?" I asked Corbin. His eyes snapped to the bruises forming on Alina's elbow and he blanched.
"No. I swear it." He swallowed. "I release her from the contract. No pussy is worth this kind of trouble." Blood sprayed all over my fist the moment it snapped forward and caught him on the nose, but I shook it off and moved to Alina. She met me halfway, jerking out of her mother's grip to hurry and burrow into my chest.
"It may not have turned out how I planned, but you've certainly used all the skills I taught you to your benefit. The Queen of Oshal, Alina! I never could have dreamed of this for you," her mother said, smiling brightly as if she'd been as trapped in the contract as Alina and not the one who committed her daughter to such a horrible agreement in the first place.
"Who did this?" I asked, touching the swollen flesh at Alina’s elbow. She nodded her head to one of the guards at the back of the plane, singling out the man who'd thought to put his hands on my bride. I smiled down at her, before turning back to her mother. "You will leave Oshal immediately and never return. You're not welcome in my Country any longer."
She gaped at me. "You can't do that! She's my daughter. A mother belongs with her daughter."
"We both know you have never been a mother to me," Alina said, holding her head high as she stared her mother down. “All you gave me were lessons and a black gauzy veil before you saw fit to sell me off.” Her arms tightened around me, and I squeezed back in support. "You should return to Lantis and pack whatever you can manage. When Aric learns of what you've done, I have a feeling you'll no longer be welcome there either."
"Alina..." she pleaded, but my Princess turned and moved to the door, eager to be rid of the people who'd tried to trap her in a life she never wanted. I followed, stopping only at the last moment and turning back to speak to Corbin one last time.
"The guard stays. He's under arrest for assaulting a Princess. It is not negotiable," I barked. Corbin sighed, nodding his head and waving a hand as if it was of no consequence to him. Following Alina down the steps, all it took was a single order to my waiting men and they sprang into action. Alina burrowed into my side, watching as they pulled him off the plane and listening to the sounds of her mother and Corbin screaming at one another.
Cheval held the door open for us as we approached the car. Alina shot him a big and brilliant smile, squeezing his arm and giving him a light kiss on the cheek as he bowed us into the vehicle. "Thank you, Cheval. I'm sure you were instrumental in making sure my Reece made it here in time."
I raised an eyebrow as I watched the man who basically helped me run Oshal, the most powerful kingdom in the world, turn bright red. His eyes crinkled into a smile and he gave my future bride, his future Queen, a fatherly pat on the head. "He would have been difficult to live with if we hadn't been able to get you back. I find I quite like Oshal as it is and find war unpalatable."
Alina threw her head back and laughed as she shot me an amused glance over her shoulder. "Crisis averted. I'll be staying with the only man I want to be with even if he is a ruthless, cruel and sadistic King."
"That’s what you love about me," I teased, turning her to the car and watching as she climbed inside.
I moved to follow her but Cheval held me back for a moment. "I'll follow in the other car, Reece. I figure the two of you would like to have a private moment."
