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“He will always be my father. You are nothing more than a murderer.”
Cem’s entire demeanour turned black. “I figured you’d have concerns, Aslan, but I didn’t think you’d be suicidal with them.”
My hands balled. “I’ve run from you my entire life. I’ve spent the last decade believing you were hunting to kill me.” My head pounded as I growled, “I don’t understand why you haven’t. I’m a threat to your empire, aren’t I? I’m the only one who can claim what you’ve created—”
“You are.” His chest puffed up with pride. “I could’ve chosen another. I could’ve adopted or pretended that I’d sired a second son, but...no one could compare to you.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“True. But...I have been learning. I’ve been investigating everything you’ve been up to for the past twenty-four years, and I like what I read. You are loyal and loving, protective and proud. You are right that I did toy with the idea of ending you more than once. After all, you have spent far too many years being brainwashed by that fucking thief Avci, but...I wanted the chance to get to know you. And...if you get to know me, perhaps you will see we are more alike than you think.”
My heart thundered.
I already knew I was too like him, and I’d never even met him. The colours in my brain, the violence in my soul.
I could blame Neri for that.
The moment I mutilated Ethan for her, then sank inside her wet warmth, I couldn’t restrain myself anymore.
She activated a switch in me. A switch that commanded I raze the world for her. A switch I couldn’t turn off.
“I will never be your heir.”
“Then we are at an impasse because now that I know what it would feel like to have you die...I will never kill you.” He reached for my hand again, but I ripped it out of his grasp. The motion cost me, and I gasped for air.
Lowering his arm, he tipped his chin down. “You stayed alive for me, Aslan. You were so close to death. One breath between fading or staying. I accepted that if you died, then my choice had been made. I would accept that you had to die to protect everything I’ve worked so hard to build—”
“You traffic people and ruin families. Your life’s work is nothing to be proud of.”
He paused before nodding. “I agree that some of my business dealings are...underhanded...but I also do good. I am on the board of many charities and donate—”
“As a front. A cover-up for who you truly are.”
His nostrils flared as his eyebrows came down. “I am prepared to give you leeway, Aslan, but don’t judge me before you know me. Don’t be short-sighted. Despite common sense saying I should kill you, I am willing...no, I am desperate to have you return to me. I’ve missed you every day since you were stolen. I’ve hurt people, I will not deny that. I have no qualms about using force for my own end, but I don’t want to have to use that force on you. I don’t want to fight.”
“Then you should never have come after me. Just leave me be. If you can’t kill me, then great. I-I owe you my thanks. I will sign any document you need proving I don’t want your business. I vow I will never attempt to take it. We can just go our separate ways and—”
“I am not a patient man. In my fantasies, you slip into my world as easily as if you were never taken, but I am aware you will need time. I am willing to give you time. In fact, while you fought to survive, I made a vow that if you lived, I would do whatever it took to prove I am your flesh and blood. I don’t want to kill you. I don’t think I ever did. I merely want to love you and give you more power, more wealth, more opportunity than you could ever claim living in a shed in some scientist’s garden.”
“Leave them out of it,” I hissed. “They loved me. They never did anything to hurt me.”
“Are you so sure about that?” Cem raised a manicured eyebrow. “I read an interesting police report from a few years ago. A domestic violence account where Jack Taylor beat you—”
“He thought I’d raped his daughter.”
Just how fucking deep does his reach go?
“Now what would give him that idea?” His dark eyes twinkled. “Did you force yourself upon her?” He held up his hands before I could reply, chuckling. “No judgement from me, of course. However, if you did, I find it surprising how shattered she was when I told her you were dead.”
My heart fisted. Thorns wrapped around it and punctured the useless organ. “You have to let me talk to her.”
He smiled sadly. “That is the one thing I cannot give you.”
“You can’t let her suffer thinking I’m gone. You can’t be that cruel—”
“Cruel?” His narrowed eyes blazed with black fire. “I suffered over twenty years thinking you were dead. I spent the first five years mourning you with a despair that almost broke me. You were taken from me, Aslan. My baby son. My only son. I know how excruciating loss can be, so don’t you dare speak to me of cruelty.”
I breathed hard, doing my best to figure out how to handle him and protect Neri at the same time. Whatever painkillers and antibiotics flowed in my blood scrambled my thoughts and made my skin glisten with sweat. “Look...I told you I’ll stay while I heal. We can even remain in touch if that is what you wish, but...I can’t let her think I’m dead. I won’t let you—”
