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His feet moved away from me, and I heard his office door close.
Anton was gone.
Chapter 9
Anton
It wasn’t supposed to be like this… feel like this… Yesterday should have been a moment of triumph; of vindication. The cleansing of my disgrace and reclaiming of my honor. Not this miasma of shame and self-disgust. Not the churning bitter bile of remorse and self-contempt that ate at me. Six years I waited to confront her, punish her for the offense against my clan and me, to humiliate her the way she humiliated me.
Six long years…
My eyes wandered back to William. Stiff-backed, he sat in a chair next to the couch I occupied. I sat at the same spot as that first time Grace’s lips made me touch heaven. Over the years, William’s role with me alternated from the hero who saved my life, to a father figure and big brother, to a business partner and right-hand man. But through all that, he always remained my one and only friend. Arms crossed over his chest, his hard stare made me feel small, alien in my own office.
The condemnation in his eyes cut deep.
The silence hung heavy between us, like a living, breathing entity. I shifted, finding it difficult to hold his gaze. I felt like a child facing a disappointed parent.
A long, drawn-out sigh pushed through William’s nose.
“When you set out to punish Grace, I thought you intended some mild humiliation like you did at Sade and to spend the next few months fucking her. I could accept that. But what you did last night—”
“Will never happen again,” I interrupted, my eyes cast down.
I didn’t care much what humans thought of me. But William was different. His opinion meant a lot to me.
“It better not.”
My eyes snapped to his at the sharpness of his tone. The coldness of his stare, his lips set in a grim line, gave me chills. I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat, but my mouth was too dry.
“I realize Braxians have their own set of rules and that your contract gives you certainrights,” William said, “but I’m human. I cannot accept a woman being treated this way, least of all by someone I call a friend.”
“I already told you, it won’t happen again.” His words irritated me, mostly because they echoed my own thoughts. I wanted him to stop. Without thinking, I blurted out, “I merely followed Braxian rules.”
My argument rang hollow to my own ears. Shoulders sagging, I shut my eyes, unwilling to see the disapproval on his face.
“By Braxian rules, you should be dead.”
My blood ran cold.
William continued without mercy. “Your father followed his conscience rather than the rules. Learn from him. Some things you do cannot be undone. They will haunt you for the rest of your life. Think long and hard what kind of man you want looking back at you in the mirror.”
Rising from the couch, he leveled me with a hard stare. “Braxian honor isn’t everything, Anton.”
He headed for the door with heavy steps and closed the door behind him.
Honor…
Humans had no real understanding of honor, at least not the way Braxians did. A man without honor was nothing, no one, not fit to live. As a half-breed, upholding my honor was a matter of survival. Unless they were females, most half-breeds were killed at birth or terminated during pregnancy so they wouldn’t taint the bloodline.
On Braxia, women were always welcomed, whatever their species. As they were considered inferior beings, the purity of their blood was irrelevant. They lived to entertain the men. Being pureblood only meant they received the honor of birthing the next generation of Braxians.
My father’s decision to spare my life stained our clan’s honor and lowered our status. Every day, growing up, I dreaded the moment he would give in to the clan’s pressure and smother me to cleanse our bloodline of my tainted presence. I needed to work harder, be smarter and make myself indispensable to justify the mercy my father had shown me. But I was small and weak compared to the purebloods. When I wasn’t working, I would hide or dodge bullies like Gerwin determined to kill me for bragging rights. However, what I lacked in strength, I more than made up for in business savvy.
I hustled and bustled, scraping every credit possible until I could open a strip club on Braxia, exclusively featuring human females. For all their bluster, Braxians craved the delicate elegance and beauty of human women. Most Braxians never had the opportunity or means to travel off-world to seek them out, so I brought them home instead. I saw a need and catered to it. In no time, I opened a second club, then a third before expanding with new locations off-world. My clubs provided work, income, and status for my clan. While they still despised me for being a half-breed, they no longer wanted to see me harmed – I benefited them too much.
It took nearly ten years of relentless wheeling and dealing before I garnered enough credibility to grovel before the elders’ council. I needed them to invest in my Hive Network venture. Even at the time of the signing on Jeruna, some of the elder clans hesitated to enter into business with a mutt. That day should have been my consecration, my redemption. With that deal, I was going to build the greatest entertainment empire anyone had ever seen. We would no longer be a lesser clan. The wealth generated by the Hive would increase our clan’s status. I could still see the pride in my father’s eyes when the contract was signed.
I was no longer the shameful bastard of the clan leader. I was the hero that would turn the tide for our struggling clan and lift us to the top of the Braxian elite. A decade of hard work followed by a mere hour of celebration before my descent into hell because of three stupid girls. The contract already being signed, and therefore binding, was the only reason I still lived. The elders couldn’t retract themselves, and my clan needed to meet the revenue commitments of the contract. They didn’t have my business knowledge and connections to see it through.
