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Now, he worked from a box, too paranoid to even look through a simple pane of glass in fear somebody would shoot him through it. I couldn’t blame him really, not with the parasite I had planted into his mind. The little seed grew and bloomed as each day passed and I relished in the knowledge I was the one to put it there.
Luigi Black was now half the man he used to be. Being the king sat heavily on his shoulders and the toll was more than beginning to show. He used to be so handsome, so full of life that even with the darkness behind those complexities of his, people couldn’t help but be drawn to the danger that exuded from him and all that he promised.
That, and the dark, dark color of his eyes, were pretty much the only thing we had in common. We both carried an air of intimidation, and that was without even trying.
No, he’d seemed to have lost that air to him.
I took joy in the fact that I was the reason for his deeply troubled state even if he didn’t know it yet. The past seven years had been fun watching him crumble. If I could mess up a deal, or make him look stupid, I’d take the opportunity in a heartbeat. I’d done everything in my power to screw with him, torment him like a predator does their prey. Being the mastermind behind his deteriorating state, was a power unlike anything I would have felt if I had just outright killed him.
My father ran an aged hand through his dark, shoulder-length curls and huffed, like that alone was a great chore. “You heard me, child. I can’t take risks with your life. You may not be my heir, but you are my daughter. I have to keep you safe, no matter the cost.”
“I’m your only child. That in itself makes me your heir.” I gritted my jaw and set my shoulders as they rose. Not that he would have noticed. Nobody ever would, I was the master at self-control. I inhaled a deep breath and centered myself, refusing to allow my anger to show. It had taken years of training to lock away all of my emotions.
In the face of the man, I was an absolute statue.
The devastated turmoil that festered under my lolling, calm composure, was a weapon and nobody saw it coming until it was too fucking late.
The ache that bit beneath my skin, was fuel for the fire that burned in my chest.
“Don’t start this again, Alessia. You know that no man would respect a woman in power.” The way he says my name in Italian used to warm my heart, but now, I felt nothing. “You taking over? It’s a fool’s notion. That isn’t the way of our world.”
What he meant to say was this wasn’t the way of our family.
I knew it was the way of many others.
Women held power and men downright respected them for it in this new age that was forever evolving. The men in this house though were stuck in the dark ages.
“You don’t gain respect, you take it. They would bow to me because I’d make them bow. You only refuse me the empire because you think I will undo all of the rotten shit you have bled into it over the years. You’re afraid. Afraid that I will take your ruins and build a kingdom with its remains. Don’t try to fool me, Father. I know exactly how you see me, exactly who and what you are. You’re a simple beast in human flesh. I may be the princess, but we both know to you, I’m nothing more than a whore up for rent.”
He sighed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed while he swallowed thickly, untamed anger crinkled the corners of his unchecked eyes. A single moment passed, and then the mask cracked and his fury burned, trained directly onto me. “Who the fuck have I sold you to, Alex? Tell me. To whom have I gifted your fucking cunt?” Venom spewed and if I was a lesser woman, I would have recoiled at this brazen temper. Instead, I just smirked knowing I had gotten a rise out of him. “Child, I grow deeply fucking tired of your shit. This conversation is over. You will be protected and that, my dear, is my choice to make. You have no say in the matter. When will you stop seeing me as the monster? Have I not loved you how every father should love their child?”
No, he hadn’t. But that didn’t mean anything either, because, in his world, that was exactly how he loved me. Just like a father should. “I have assigned you two guards and that is the end of it. They are to never leave your side. Not talk, touch, or even address you but they are most definitely to give their life for you.” He looked over into the corner and I followed his line of sight with an indifferent expression on my face.
Two men stood sentinel with god-awful, theatrical masks over their faces, concealing their identity. “The masks are for security. They need to remain unidentifiable if they’re to truly protect you. No use in this vengeful pain in my ass that has been haunting me for years using them to get to you. Or me for that matter. No, this way, nobody will know and if they do happen to get killed, I’ll just replace them. The world, our enemies, would be none the wiser.”
I narrowed my eyes at that statement, anger boiling at how he explained away a human life with such ease. Especially when I knew who stood beyond those masks.
Luigi was possessive, obsessive even by nature, even more so when he had something to lose. So it didn’t surprise me that he had resorted to such measures, it did however surprise me that he had the foresight to hide the identity of my security detail.
He’d become unhinged, as bad as every rival family that had threatened to take me right out from under him.
Threats against my life weren’t new.
Many slept with crosses hanging above their beds at night, mine was upside down and allowed entry to the demons that wanted to drain my soul. That was one thing my father could never protect me from. One thing I knew he never wanted to protect me from. Fear built character, it built strength. I was lucky I was born with it. Fear? It never touched the edges of my psyche.
I glared at both men in irritation. The masks covering their faces were white and triangled at the chin, which pointed into deep frowns and I found the irony in what may have been hidden behind them.
If anything, it should have been reversed.
We all hid our sorrows, but nobody attempted to hide the false smiles they wore as armor.
One stood taller than the other. His body was well-defined and I could tell that under that suit, he’d have the physique girls would go to war for.
The other was shorter.
But not by much and stockier, with wider shoulders. He was dressed in a suit as well, dark blue in contrast to the other man’s brooding black. “You think they could save me?” I scoffed with a delicate whisper and a quirk of my brow, turning back around to face Luigi.
“They’re my best. I’d trust you to nobody else. With all of this shit that has been going on over the last seven years, it’s just getting worse, Alex. I just can’t seem to stop the things I’ve been clinging to so tightly from falling through my hands.” There’s an edge to his tone. A weary lint of agony coils into something raw and rough as he speaks. “Someone is out to get me, Child. Don’t you understand that? Feel the importance of it? They are out to get us all. After the deal tanked with the Polish, we’re now indebted to the Russians for looking for a cheap outlet. Not only for our disloyalty in wanting to venture out into the Polish’s homemade shit that knocks people out fucking cold on their asses, but for trying to contract two deals with two different families. They’re breaking our balls over the shipments. Prices are through the roof and I’m struggling to make sure everyone keeps making a profit when they rise every quarter. That’s been going on for years. The first domino to send us toward the gates of Hell,” he huffed while I just sat there cold, staring at him like I’d rather be anywhere else in the world, and I would. “Don’t even get me started on the hits the Scotts put out on my men. I can’t send anyone across the pond to broker a deal without them being sent back to me in pieces.” The longer he seemed to talk, the more tension rippled through his tone and puffed from his nostrils like an angry bull. It’s like a steady race but with his vocals, they started slow before speeding up with hysteria. “Now with the attempt to blow up one of the drug supply houses, I have to up our security. I’m going to have to head out to the location and do recon. I’ll be gone a while and I need to know you’re looked after.” He didn’t look at me, instead stared off into space when he added weakly, “It’s just getting worse.” Like he was the only one in the room.
