Reign of a King: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Kingdom Duet Book 1)

by Rina Kent

  “She does look like her, though,” Levi mutters.

  “Silence,” Jonathan orders, and just like that, everyone turns quiet.

  He has the power to make anyone listen, even if they don’t like him or his decisions.

  “Aiden.” His attention falls on his son. “When I told you to stay away from Elsa, what did you do?”

  “That’s different —”

  “Answer my question,” he cuts him off. “What. Did. You. Do?”

  “I married her.”

  Levi laughs under his breath but stops when Jonathan’s deadly attention shifts to him. “And you. Did you hear a word I said about staying away from Lord Clifford’s daughter?”

  “Nope.” Levi takes Astrid’s hand in his and kisses her knuckles. “I made her my world.”

  “Fascinating.” The tone Jonathan speaks with suggests he finds this anything but ‘fascinating’. “Now, you two expect me to listen to you. Do you know what I call that? Hypocrisy.”

  Aiden releases a mocking sound, but he doesn’t say anything, and I’m guessing it’s due to the way Elsa is discretely holding his hand on her lap.

  After that, the meal goes peacefully — mostly. I keep to my space as Levi goes on about his upcoming game, and then he gets into a teasing argument with Aiden, who quit football after school.

  Aiden merely tells him that he’s the one wasting his time, considering a career playing football is short-lived.

  I focus on my plate and only answer when either Astrid or Elsa asks me a question, which I guess is their polite way to include me in the conversation.

  Jonathan rarely speaks, if ever. He just listens. Like the first days I came to live here.

  After that, I made it a habit that we talk. Whether it’s about the business column he loves too much, or politics. It doesn’t matter that we clash a lot and it ends up in an argument. I don’t like eating my food in silence. It’s a habit I’ve been trying to get out of at any cost.

  Jonathan motions at my plate across the table. My cheeks heat. God, I can’t believe he caught on that I wasn’t actually eating.

  I force down a few spoonfuls, then pretend I’m not affected by the way Aiden avoids me all night. Levi does throw some remarks my way, but soon retreats with a scold from Jonathan or a touch from Astrid.

  By the time dinner is over, I excuse myself, pretending I spilt water on my suit trousers.

  A huge breath heaves out of me when I’m inside my room. I slump on the bed and hold my head between my hands.

  It wasn’t as disastrous as I expected it to be, so that says something.

  I think.

  No idea how many family dinners I can handle in the future, though. The girls are kind and welcoming, but I can’t say the same about their husbands. Especially Aiden. He’s out for my life

  A knock sounds on the door and I straighten up. “Who is it?”

  Elsa opens the door, followed by Astrid, who asks, “Can we come in?”

  “Yeah, sure.” I stand and lead them to the small sitting area in my room. The few times Layla came here, she said I have a princess’s room fit for ‘daddy kink’, at which I proceeded to hit her with a pillow.

  The three of us sit down, Elsa and Astrid next to each other while I’m on the chair opposite them.

  When neither of them speak, I slice through the silence, “Is everything all right?”

  “Absolutely.” Elsa clears her throat. “We just wanted to see if you’re okay.”

  “I am.”

  “Levi doesn’t hate you, you know,” Astrid blurts. “He’s merely curious about you.”

  “As for Aiden…” Elsa trails off. “When he was younger, he was taken by my parents as a ‘fuck you’ to Jonathan, and when he returned, his mother was dead. He was wounded deeply by that, and seeing you brings that wound to the surface. Give him time and I promise he’ll get used to you.”

  Aiden was taken by Ethan and his wife? That must be why Alicia called me and told me her son was missing.

  Hold on. Is this why Jonathan can’t stand Ethan? Because he kidnapped Aiden?

  Instead of voicing those questions out loud, potentially making me look like a creep, I plaster on a smile. “Time is all I have.”

  “Thank you.” Elsa relaxes in her seat. “I knew you’d understand.”

  “So different from Jonathan,” Astrid mutters.

  “Word.” Elsa exchanges a look with her sister-in-law and they both shake their heads.

  “He gives you trouble?” I ask.

  “Did you hear him earlier?” Astrid winces. “He hates me because Mum caused the accident that killed James King, Jonathan’s brother. He doesn’t care that the accident also took her life.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  A sad smile grazes her lips as she stares at the inside of her forearm where there’s a sun, moon, and start tattoo, the star coloured in black. “I’m better now, I think. But Jonathan still sees me as the reason his brother died. He never stops reminding Levi of how my mum killed his father.”

  “Or Aiden of the fact that Alicia died because of my dad.” Elsa lowers her eyes.

  “Wait. Go back. Jonathan thinks my sister died because of Ethan?”

  “Well, remember when I told you that Aiden was taken by my parents? Alicia died in a car accident on her way to go find him.”

  Oh.

  I didn’t know that.

  This, however, explains the aggressiveness Jonathan doesn’t hesitate to display whenever Ethan is around, despite his generally emotionless façade.

  “Can I ask you something, Aurora?” Astrid’s voice is low, hesitant.

  “Sure.”

  “Why…why are you with him?”

  “Yes.” Elsa leans over. “He’s scary in a dictator kind of way.”

  “And he doesn’t know how to feel,” Astrid adds.

  “He dislikes everything that’s not his work.”

  “And his legacy.”

  “I get the chills every time he’s in the room.”

  “I told Levi the other day that I age ten years every time we have a family dinner with him.”

  “Oh my God. Me, too!”

  My lips part at their exchange. Jonathan is sure as shit winning the most feared person of the year award.

  Their attention falls back on me, eyes expectant, waiting for me to answer their question. They must’ve wondered this for some time now.

  I could choose not to answer them, but I like them. Jonathan is an idiot to not appreciate having them to tame his offspring. So I go with the truth. “I don’t really have a choice but to be with him.”

  “How do you cope?” Astrid asks.

  “I’m not scared of him, I guess.”

  “You’re not?” Elsa nearly yells.

  “No, not really.” I mean, he does frighten me sometimes, but it’s not enough to erase everything else about him. Perhaps it’s the intimacy factor, or that I just know there’s more to Jonathan than he projects to the world.

  His page isn’t half-written or blank. It’s simply encrypted, and no one has dared to crack the code due to the wires surrounding it.

  “You’re the first person I’ve ever met who’s said that.” Astrid’s eyes fill with awe. “Well, Levi isn’t scared of him either, but he’s a King. He doesn’t count.”

  “Aiden doesn’t count either,” Elsa agrees. “They have their own exclusive code of communication that no one else is privy to.”

  My heart warms at the way Astrid and Elsa talk about their husbands. I can feel their love for them, and despite the other two’s aggressiveness — or passive-aggressiveness — towards me, I could sense how much they care about their wives’ wellbeing.

  As Jonathan said, they didn’t really care about his opinion when they decided to pursue these women.

  I’m glad they didn’t. It must’ve taken a lot to go against a harsh man as Jonathan but their efforts are so worth it.

  Elsa, Astrid, and I talk about art since Astrid is studying drawing an
d Elsa is into architecture. Considering I’m a designer, too, I give them pointers about some useful classes I took back at uni.

  They’re fun to talk to, and soon enough, none of us are cautious or awkward around each other.

  I don’t know how long we spend in my room. But it’s long enough that Levi and Aiden come searching for them.

  I make plans to meet Elsa and Astrid for lunch next week, and soon after, they all leave.

  I change into my pyjamas and slide under the covers. After checking my emails and texting Layla for a bit, I’m ready to sleep.

  Today exhausted the hell out of me. First, work. Then, Alicia’s message. Ending the day with dinner.

  The door opens and I know who it is before even seeing him. He’s the only one who barges in uninvited.

  His woodsy scent conquers my space before his presence comes into view. My muscles tighten like every time he’s in my vicinity. It always feels like I need to be prepared for him.

  “Forget about Aiden.” Jonathan sits on the edge of the bed. He’s in black cotton trousers and a T-shirt. It’s one of the rare times I’ve seen him in house clothes.

  “What do you mean forget about him?”

  “You’re making plans with Elsa to try to get close to him, aren’t you?”

  Yes and no. I do like Elsa’s company, but I also hope I can approach Aiden in the future. Considering his reaction, let’s make that the distant future.

  “You don’t want me have a good relationship with your son so that we can’t plot against you?”

  “I don’t want you disappointed, because he’s hot-headed.”

  My heart thumps. Shit. How can he move me with such simple words?

  I clear my throat. “You mean like you.”

  “Kind of. It comes with the family name.”

  “If I can handle you, I guess I can handle Aiden, too.”

  “You can handle me?” He stares down his nose at me. “Where did you get that idea from?”

  “Elsa and Astrid think I’m doing it just fine.”

  “Elsa and Astrid are still kids.”

  “They’re not kids. They’re married to your son and nephew.”

  “Who are still kids themselves.”

  “By the way. You don’t have to be a dick towards them. They don’t really like you either.”

  “I don’t care about being liked.”

  “Really?”

  He pauses, throwing me an indecipherable glance, then nods. “Being liked doesn’t get things done. Fear, on the other hand…”

  “This is your family, Jonathan. They’re not supposed to be scared of you.” My voice raises and I realise I’ve let my own anger get in the way. I whisper, “I didn’t mean to yell.”

  He reaches a hand to my hair and I freeze as he strokes it away from my forehead. “Maxim was not your fault, wild one. Tell that to your reflection in the mirror every day and you’ll end up believing it.”

  Fat tears fill my eyes and it takes everything in me not to let them loose as I fall into the gentle but firm way he’s stroking my hair.

  Sometimes, it feels like he can dip his fingers inside me and draw me out. Other times, I can’t decide if it’s his deceptive gentleness that he only uses to get what he wants.

  But at the moment, I choose to drown in the soothing touch he’s offering freely. I might regret it later, but later isn’t right now.

  “Sleep.” He starts to stand up, but I hold his hand, stopping him in his tracks.

  I’m not ready to give up this warmth yet.

  Not tonight.

  He raises a brow. “Or would you rather be spanked for not finishing your dinner?”

  Although the promise turns my legs boneless, that’s not what I’m after. It’s something deeper, and it might slice and hurt me harder than any of his punishments do.

  I pull down the duvet on the empty side of the bed. “Stay.”

  He pauses, but he doesn’t remove his hand from mine. “I do not sleep with others.”

  “Just tonight,” I murmur.

  “Why?”

  “Please, Jonathan.”

  “I’ll only agree if you do something in exchange.”

  The damn tyrant. But he’s caught me in a vulnerable moment where I’d agree to just about anything. “What?”

  “You won’t go to that dinner with Ethan.”

  Why am I not surprised? But since it’s a small price to pay, I nod.

  Jonathan slides under the covers with me and I expect him to keep to his half of the bed. Surprisingly, his arm wraps around my back. I rest my head on his chest, using it as a pillow. His heartbeat is strong and steady like the rest of him.

  I fit in the crook of his body so perfectly, it’s as if this is where I was always supposed to be.

  His fingers stroke my hair like he did earlier and I get lost in his woodsy scent. In the way he smells fresh out of a shower.

  What I don’t tell Jonathan is that I don’t share sleeping space either. I’ve always needed to be by myself to convince myself to sleep and to wake up alone in case I have a bad dream.

  But tonight, I don’t spend half an hour or more tossing and turning and thinking of happy thoughts to help me fight off an impending nightmare.

  I just fall asleep.

  And I know that the simple act of sleeping will never be the same for me again.

  30

  Aurora

  “Morning, mate!”

  “Morning,” I tell Layla as she follows me into my office. I swear she barely spends any time in hers.

  She hates sitting around and always finds things to do outside of the confinements of her four walls. If she’s not with me, she’s doing rounds in the factory or in the conference room.

  I grab the iced coffee she offers and wince as my aching bottom meets the sofa.

  The tyrant Jonathan spanked me over breakfast so hard, to the point where I’m sore. Well, more than sore. It really hurts, despite the lotion I applied before going out.

  So much for spending our first night together.

  I woke up with his cock nudging against my entrance from behind, then he fucked me raw until I screamed the whole room down.

  When I asked him why he only fucks me from behind, he told me it’s none of my business. When I snapped, he spanked me until tears filled my eyes.

  The brute. The arsehole.

  Needless to say, I’ve been in a black mood ever since.

  Not even Harris’s distasteful snobbishness first thing in the morning could snap me out of this state I’m in.

  “What’s wrong?” Layla leans over, brow furrowing. She’s wearing an oversized long sleeve T-shirt that says, Black is a Philosophy.

  “Nothing.” I take a slurp of the iced coffee, wishing I could somehow pour it on my arse instead.

  “Yeah, right. You look like you witnessed the murder of puppies. Come on, spill. Is it because of Johnny’s brat son?”

  “It’s because of the bastard himself.”

  “What did he do now?” She sighs. “I really hoped not to have to use my karate skills too soon, considering the generous cheque he left for the charity, but I will if I have to.”

  “Remember when you told me that when I threaten his control, he snaps?”

  She nods.

  “Well, he did. I challenged his need to stay in his emotional vault and he took it out on me.”

  She jerks up, rolling up the sleeves of her T-shirt. “I’m going to kick him in the butt.”

  “Lay…”

  “Do you think I was kidding? I meant it when I said he’ll have me to answer to. You’re family, and no one messes with my family. Ride or die, remember?”

  My chest explodes in fireworks at her words, but I say, “Just sit down and help me brainstorm.”

  “Brainstorm ways to cut off his D? I’m game.”

  “You’re such a dork.”

  “Okay, all violent plotting aside, you might be onto something.”

  “What something?”

/>   “He’s reacting, isn’t he? Which means you’re affecting him, BUT if he hurts a hair on your head in any way, I’m serious. I’ll sneak into his palace and assassinate him, ninja style.”

  I chuckle at the way she poses with her hands. “You need help, Lay.”

  “First of all, suck my D. Second of all, you’re the one who needs help. You’re so into Jonathan, you’re hurt by the way he treated you.”

  “I am not.”

  “You are, too. Admit it, you already consider him Daddy.”

  “Lay, stop it. And he’s not my daddy. You’re the one who’s into those.”

  “Umm, mate. I only fantasise about them. You, on the other hand, go all the way in. Pun intended.”

  I hit her shoulder and she laughs, standing to her feet. “Seriously, though. Don’t let him get to you and suck your light, or I’ll go mama bear all over his butt.”

  “Thanks, Lay. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

  “No hugging.” She lifts her hands up in the air and runs away before I can do just that.

  I touch my watch and shake my head, which fills with a thousand scenarios.

  Layla is right about the part where Jonathan is reacting. He didn’t like that I somehow coerced him to share the same bed with me, and his knee-jerk reaction was to punish and slam me back in the place he thinks I belong to. I could either back down or push further — which will cost me his wrath.

  Unlucky for him, I don’t lie down and take people’s anger. Especially the unwarranted kind.

  My phone vibrates. Unknown Number.

  Is this perhaps Ethan? I need to apologise about not being able to take him up on his offer. Though it’d be a nice ‘fuck you’ to Jonathan if I did.

  “Aurora Harper speaking.”

  “Miss Harper. This is Stephan Wayne.”

  My muscles tighten and my hand shakes, causing droplets of my iced coffee to spill on the sofa.

  Air comes in and out of my lungs, but it’s like I don’t breathe. Or, rather, I can’t.

  Will I always react this way whenever Dad’s presence is brought up?

  It’s been eleven years, damn it. Eleven fucking years, so how come it always feels as if it happened only yesterday?