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CHAPTER12
Elena
Iwatch through the side window of the car as Kane’s bodyguard puts our bags in the boot. Kane is sitting next to me, his arm bent up to his face, his index finger pressed against his mouth as he contemplates something. Probably the shit with his parents at breakfast. Anthony and Charlotte Fraser are the worst humans I’ve ever had the misfortune of meeting. His father is as much of a dick as his mum.
No wonder he grew up to be a psychopath with a penchant for murder.
The silence inside the car is heavy and uncomfortable. I can feel him brooding from where I’m sitting.
“Are you okay?” I ask him, unable to stand it any longer.
“I’m contemplating the ways I can kill my parents and get away with it,” he says, not looking at me.
I don’t think he’s joking.
“Are they always like that?”
“That’s just a small sample of their behaviour.”
“You can’t choose your family,” I mutter. I wouldn’t have chosen my father either. The man is colder than a block of ice.
I’m not sure what possesses me to do it, but I reach out and take his other hand, the one he’s not propped on. His gaze finds mine, searching, uncertain.
“Don’t let them get under your skin,” I tell him. He stares at our joined hands for a moment before he squeezes back, acknowledging my show of comfort.
“Easier said than done. They are both infuriating.”
“It’s too bad we can’t drop them, and my father along with them, off a cliff.”
His attention goes back to the window. “As tempting as that is, it would cause more problems than it would solve. My parents have a long reach and a lot of support in our organisation. They led most of our men through a golden age of prosperity. All the lieutenants and soldiers under my father’s rule have become rich. It makes their loyalty run deep. They will follow me, when my time comes, but they would not support a hostile takeover. All I can do is bide my time. Your father also has a secure position, one that cannot be easily unsettled. Unfortunately, that means our parents are here to stay.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Bummer.” His lips twitch. I like this side of him, the one that isn’t plotting murder and chaos. It’s easy to get swept up in this world, to lose sight of who you really are while you’re committing atrocities in the name of something bigger than you. I’m not sure if that’s what happened to Kane or if he was born broken and this was just the perfect life for him. “Do you ever think about walking away from this shit?” My gaze goes back to the window as the bodyguard continues to load up the car. This is our reality. Dodging bullets, having someone on our heels every moment of the day to protect us. Kane could be killed at any moment by his enemies. I could be murdered just for being his wife.
“And do what?” He sounds amused. “A regular nine to five?”
“You mean to say you don’t do that already?” I raise a challenging brow at him. The Frasers have a number of legal businesses that they use as fronts for their more illegal stuff, just as my father does. It’s the only way to avoid prison time. Wear the suit, become the businessman rather than the crook to the world.
But their bread and butter, their money-making schemes, are all rooted in the criminal underworld.
He gives me a slight lift of his lips. “I think we both know the business I’m in, Elena, and it’s not a nine to five.”
No. It’s the killing kind.
I stop asking questions, not sure I want the answers. I know exactly the type of man Kane is. I don’t need to question that or dig underneath the surface of his darkness.
“Have I scared you?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve seen things, Kane. I know the world isn’t rainbows and unicorns.”
Our conversation is interrupted as the bodyguard climbs in the front seat, closing the driver’s side door.
He starts the car up and pulls out of the car park, leaving the wedding venue in our rear-view mirror. I’m not sure how I feel about it, whether I should feel anything, but as we drive out of London and into the Essex countryside, where Kane’s home is, tightness clogs my throat. Nervous energy tingles through me. This is where we start our life together. There are no buffers here. At the wedding, I had family to lean on, friends to hide with. Here, it’s just Kane and me.
I see the car before I register what is happening. It hits us like a wrecking ball, the car sliding sideways across the tarmac as the other vehicle slams into my side. I jolt in my seat, my back snapping forwards then back with the force of the collision. All I can hear is the scream of metal and the shriek of rubber as it tries to find purchase against the ground.
We’re shunted into a parked car at the side of the road so hard it rattles my brain, but it brings us to a stop.
For a moment there’s silence.
