Princess of Darkness (The Dark Prince #3)

by Autumn Winchester

  “Jason began to have prostitutes, mostly enslaved ones, take care of every need he could think of. It was about that time that Ivan was trying to talk him down from his depths of hell he was slowly running himself into.

  "That is also about the time that Emma came into the picture, just a year younger than you are now, in fact,” he added, his eyes dimming as he remembered how strong willed she had been all those years ago.

  “I was there, as Jason was my cousin, that day Ivan came by, intending to make amends and move forward. What I heard that night changed life for everyone.

  “Jason was the one that killed his own father, thinking he would be able to get away with keeping women and children, as slaves in his home, lending them out to his men.

  “Ivan didn’t agree one bit, and they came to blows over it. After a few punches and threats, he left without a second thought, knowing that Meads was not making the correct choice.

  “Gabriel and John, my brothers, were torn on what to do. Tony Shapiro wasn’t thrilled with any of our choices, but we each went our own way. He wanted us each to be in the mob family in any way we could, as he was dragged in against his will, and that was where he’d be until he’d die, even killing our mother to make sure we did.

  “Gabriel left, knowing he could find work being a doctor just about anywhere, catering to other needs with forged documentations that were as close as possible too real. He stayed away as far as he could.

  “John, although he did leave, didn’t go far. He planned his own thing, staying with Jason to help him rule. No one knew it until he wanted them too, though. My half-brother was never one to be trusted.”

  “And you?” Summer asked as Sebastian stopped talking.

  “Me,” he said, looking down at his folded hands on the table. “I went to Ivan, pledging my allegiance. I wanted to help in any way I could, knowing that I wouldn’t have lived without the Marcel protection. At least not well enough on my own.

  “I knew Kayla, as she was a friend of a friend. Saving her when she was taken, proved to Ivan that I would protect him. He taught me a lot about keeping myself safe, along with Kayla, and in turn Chase.

  “That poor boy,” he swallowed. “He would have died, but I took bullets for him many times. I even treated him as a nephew, for the most part.

  “At least until he grew older. He didn’t leave the house as often but learned how to run the Mafia Family as well as I could, if it ever came to that.

  "When I came across Emma again, she was with child, with you. I only happened to run into her while she was at the Marcel house that day. She was bruised, badly, and as Kayla begged Emma to stay, to not go back, I saw what most people didn’t, or wouldn’t.

  “Emma was hardly a woman yet, but I knew she needed an out, and that Marcel’s wouldn’t be able to do anything with Jason nearby. He was protective of his girls, no matter if they were a slave in his house or not.

  “I got to know her, and I fell in love. She was an amazing woman. A heart of gold that loved more than one girl ever should, even with the life she was dealt.

  “It was impossible to not love her. I have no idea if she ever could return my feelings, and now that time has passed. I offered her a way out, but she declined shortly before you were born. I wish I would have just made her leave, but she loved Jason for some reason. He was always good with his filthy words,” his voice turned dark for a moment, but he shook out of it before moving onward.

  “When you were nine, Jason called me, saying he needed a slave to be out of his house because she was causing issues with his ‘sons’, who weren't really his in the first place.

  “I jumped at the chance, knowing there were a few slaves in his household, and you too, that needed out before the bodies were found miles away. Plus, I knew that Marcel wanted you out, to give you a chance at a normal life. I would have taken you either way, and he never had to bribe me.

  “You were so small, not able to protect yourself. So I took you after a few meetings with him, trying to convince him that I wanted you for my own purposes, and not a demand from Ivan. I took Chase with me to prove a point.

  “I told Jason I was going to take you, and soon I would take Chase, and raise the two of you as the most feared people in the world. I did plan to do that, but not to that extent. I would raise you as a Princess should be, while Chase would be still trained for what he needed.

  "But a man, who is now long dead, told Jason of my plans and took you away in the dead of night to someone else. Then you know the rest from the letter I gave you,” he ended.

  And now, here she was.

  Summer wasn’t sure what to say. It did make more sense to who this man was, and he was her uncle by blood. But yet, she could see that he still loved her mother, and wanted to be a father to her. Would she ever be in a place that he could do just that?

  Chapter 7

  "Are you sure this will work?” Chase asked with a heavy heart. It felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. He tried everything he could to get out of doing it this way. He didn’t want to die in any way, shape or form, fake or otherwise.

  “Positive,” Gabriel stated, pushing over his box of ‘toys’ that Ryder had insisted on. “Everything in there will get you out of this town safely, and as far away as you can get. You will be gone before emergency personnel will be able to reach the scene if all goes well.”

  “G-man is the best,” Ryder drawled in a lazy manner. He wasn’t the least bit concerned about this, acting like it was another normal day at the office. “He works for only himself, so I know we can trust him. His documents are always spot on and never looked at twice if they come into the hands of the police.”

  “I’m still not sure about this,” Chase said, rubbing a hand over his face. He just wanted this to be done and over with. He barely slept the night before, which didn’t help his mood in the slightest. Heck, he hardly had slept since his wife had gone missing.

  “It will all work out,” Gabriel said, not at all offended or in a hurry. It was his perfect personality for the situation.

  “Are the vests in there too?” Ryder asked, making sure, glancing from the closed box to the man.

  “Of course,” Gabriel said, applaud the man would ever think otherwise. “Everything you requested, Rye.”

  He then held out his hand for the other part of the payment that they had agreed on, and Ryder pulled out the white envelope from his coat pocket, handing it over.

  “Thank you, man,” Gabriel said and disappeared out of the door without a second glance. He’d be staying around for a few more hours, but not anywhere near this place.

  “Why can’t I just disappear?” Chase sighed once more. “Just leave and pretend we went through this all?”

  “Not a chance,” Ryder said, standing up to look through the box of things. It looked like everything he wanted was there, along with a few other things. His contact was always awesome at what was needed to get the job done, often going out of his zone to make it easier for his strange requests.

  “We have everything in place and ready for tonight,” he went on. “And if you don’t want your father killing you for real, you better be there.”

  “I don’t want to,” Chase nearly pouted. “But I will be.”

  “Good!” Ryder drawled out. “Now, remember. After tonight, you will be going by a different name, and you have to have a cut. There is money in a bag that will be packed and ready in a getaway car for you and your father, hidden not far from the meetup place tonight. Your ID papers will be added before then. No one but the two of you will know who your new names are, or where you will be going.”

  “Who will be driving us?” Chase asked out.

  “Just you and the Don,” Ryder answered. “No one else will know where you two go, which is for the best. And you will not go looking for Summer.”

  “She’ll know I’m dead before I ever reach the next place,” Chase stated sadly, knowing she would be lost forever then.

  “No. G-man will get word
to her that you are alive,” Ryder was quick to answer, sitting up straighter. “He knows how to get up with Sebastian, and she will know it’s all a ruse.”

  “Are you sure?” Chase asked, not wanting to cause his wife more pain and misery if he could help it. He knew going to her was not a possibility, as she needed to be kept safe until John was dead. And maybe even after that; he wasn’t so sure anymore about a lot of things.

  “Yes, Chase,” Ryder said, tired of repeating himself. “G-man is the only person who can get a hold of you, and he will do so when John is found. You will get to have your revenge when the time comes. I promise.”

  ~oOo~

  That afternoon, Chase spent some time with Clare, who was still on bedrest and would most likely still be after his ‘death.’ He hated having to do this – everything. But it would be worth it. Hopefully.

  “How you holding up?” he asked, sitting on the chair as Clare sat on the loveseat, her feet propped up on the small coffee table, a blanket over her. Her eyes were sunken in from lack of sleep, and her hair a mess.

  “How does it look like I am holding up?” she snapped, but instantly regretted it. “Sorry.” Being pregnant, and pretty much alone without someone's shoulder to cry on was getting on the poor girl’s nerves. Nerves that were already past shot.

  "You don't have to apologize to me," Chase spoke, knowing she was just as upset at the situation as he was. Even though she wasn't up to date on everything like Chase was.

  Clare was worried for her sister, and being pregnant didn’t help. With her emotions more pronounced, she cried at everything and wasn’t the happiest person right now. Asher told her what she needed to know, but even he didn’t know that Summer was completely safe. Chase wasn’t so sure himself.

  How could he not worry about her safety? He didn’t get along with Sebastian as well as he once had, and that alone gave him more than enough to worry about over his wife.

  He wanted to talk to her, see her. Have her back would be the best thing, but it wouldn’t be safe until after John was taken down. And even then, he wasn’t so sure.

  There would always be threats over both of their heads for as long as they lived.

  Maybe, if he took this opportunity, just maybe he could get out of the whole mafia thing. But would he really be able to do that?

  “You seem miles away,” Clare said, her voice quiet as she looked at him.

  “I am,” he said before giving his head a mental shake. “Has Asher said anything on where Summer is?”

  “No,” she snorted. “He won’t tell me much at all on anything right now.”

  “That’s probably best,” Chase smirked, seeing the strong-willed girl frown. “The less you know the better. There are some men out there that are desperate for any little clue.”

  “Be less stressful if I knew,” she grumbled.

  “Be that as it may, you would be more stressed with what is going on, and what will happen,” Chase said sadly.

  “If you say so,” she mumbled, dropping the topic by turning her attention back to the TV that was showing the newest Terminator movie.

  ~oOo~

  With a wildly beating heart, Chase took a stance, legs apart, hands clasped behind his back. Ivan stood just a foot ahead, in the same position, a hard expression in place. He was sure that his heart would beat completely out of his chest.

  Chase had been to many meetings, both with and without the threat of death in the air. This time, many lives would be lost.

  Would Chase be able to play his part in this? Would he be able to play possum? Or would he really die here tonight?

  Both guards and men stood around, ready to draw out their guns at a moment’s notice. Most of them blended into the darkness of the night, hiding the numbers. Chase knew the exact number of men that were here tonight. It was great to have an inside man in cases like this.

  There was a distinctive feeling of betrayal and secrets in the air, causing Chase’s heart to beat faster than normal.

  He always loved a good fight, but this one was different. The air was different as a bone chilling breeze came from the south. This fight he was not looking forward too, even with all the extra precautions that were in place tonight.

  Tonight would not be ending well, he was positive of it. Someone would die that shouldn’t, and Chase’s gut told him from the moment this idea sprouted that it wasn’t a great plan to go by.

  “Marcel,” spat a man that had a round face with a dark beard. He was easily a few inches shorter than any Marcel, but he was built with wide shoulders under his red shirt he wore. His dark eyes were as hard as his stance. His arms were crossed over his chest in a bored manner.

  “Aiello,” Ivan stated with as much distaste as he could muster, almost spitting the name out. “I have word you know where the Princess is.” A big fat lie, but would get the desired effect sooner.

  “Who told you that?” he seethed, shocked, dark eyes widening. “I’d love to have the dear old gal on my land,” he laughed with thoughts of what he would do if he, in fact, did have her. He moved one hand down to grab his package in his pants to prove his point, no longer shocked.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Ivan stated darkly. “I want her back. Now!” His voice carried on the wind around the dock area, causing Aiello’s men to fidget.

  “Too bad, old man,” Aiello laughed. “If I knew, I wouldn’t share with the likes of you, anyway.” He made the motion of looking Ivan up and down, seeming to not be impressed the tiniest bit.

  He then turned around, his back to the Marcel men. They held no power over him with the protection that John promised them. He had his own men keep guard, watching for anything, and there had not been one warning sign from any of them.

  Before he took one step away, he fell forward, a look of devastation on his face as the pain registered before falling to his knees, then face first into the ground. A bullet hit him in the chest, killing him before he could fire back.

  That one silent shot caused enough chaos as the now dead man's men shot back, hitting their targets as the Marcel’s had just enough time to move to cover, returning shots.

  Chase took cover behind a car, using it as a shield, while Ivan ran for shelter under a tin flap that was on the boating dock. Bullets following him the entire way and whizzing by his head more than once. He swore as he felt one bullet gaze through the tips of his crazy hair.

  Chase looked around the edge of the car, firing off a couple of shots, hearing the bullets hit their targets dead on. The feel of his gun in his hands gave him hope that maybe this would end up being better than his gut was telling him.

  His heart was in his chest, his stomach in knots, but his hands were steady with every shot he fired back.

  Bullets sprayed over the entire dock, most missing the targets from the other side of the dock where there were lesser places to hide out.

  Alex and Carter were on top of the building, using sniper rifles, shooting most of the men they could see that were no doubt working for John. They both had a great view of the ground with their night vision goggles on.

  A number of bullets hit the roof of the car, bouncing off. One bullet grazed Chase’s ear, and he couldn’t help but cuss out, shooting another round of shots, not entirely sure if he hit his target or not, still pissed he had been hit. He had never, ever, been hit before.

  Reloading the chamber, he stayed ducked down on the side of the car, hearing bullets hitting the other side along with the windows breaking.

  “I’m out,” Ivan shouted from his spot.

  “Shit!” Chase grunted out, trying, but failing, to duck around the car to see who exactly was left. Another bullet just barely missed his head in the process.

  “Mother fucker!” he hissed. “Son of a bitch!”

  “Down!” Asher’s voice shouted over the Bluetooth speaker that was set up. He shouted hurriedly, seeing something only he could see in the blackness.

  Chase quickly ducked down, covering his head, his gun still in his hand
tightly.

  BOOM! BOOSH!

  The ground shook with a hard surge as the explosive exploded on the other side of the car, rattling everything, including the car that Chase was hiding behind. The car lifted slightly off the ground, coming back down with a clank, blowing the tires.

  WHOOSH!

  White light shattered the blackness of the air, leaving a resounding tone as everything stopped moving, bouncing off the nearby buildings.

  The ringing in his ears blocked out all sounds, Chase’s head filled with nothing but pain and white noise. Could anything else go wrong tonight?

  He didn’t see the man who came up in front of him, aiming the bullet at his head. Ivan’s scream of pain and terror was missed as the hooded man pulled the trigger.