Cruel Crown: A Dark Romance (Sekten Book 2)

by C. Lymari

  When Bastian got the message that Damian was here, I was already changed. I waited in the living room while Bastian went to greet the pale fucker.

  A few seconds later, both of them came in. While I was in jeans and a T-shirt, Bas and Damian wore suits.

  I stayed seated mostly because I was afraid that if I got up, I would kill Damian. The only person allowed to make Daphne’s life hell from now on was me.

  “I see you still dress like a commoner,” Damian said snidely with his accent sounding smooth like venom.

  “Suit, jeans, freeballing, I can kill a man ten different ways in a heartbeat.”

  Bastian snorted while Damian glared.

  He opened the button on his jacket, then sat down.

  “There’s a lot I still don’t understand about what happened in Colombia after I left.”

  It wasn’t accusatory, but he was asking to see if I said something different than what he was told. According to Bastian, he took care of loose ends, and his loose ends and mine tied together.

  “We got attacked, the rival soldiers probably found the Estacado girl, and when Sergio didn’t find her, he tried to blame me. We fought, and I killed him. In the jungle, I found Bastian, who I thought had gone away.” I felt Bastian glare at me but ignored him. “I got us a ride out.”

  “Interesting,” he mused.

  He didn’t intimidate me, but I knew I had to play by his rules—for now. Spreading my arms on the sofa, I spoke again.

  “So, what do I have to do to get in? And will Daphne be an issue again? Because she’s a petty fucking bitch, and I thought the Sekt was above that.”

  His demeanor went icy at the mention of her name. There was some bad blood between them, and I would find out why.

  “She won’t be an issue, or do you want her to be one?”

  He pierced me with his dark eyes full of hate, testing to see what I would say or do.

  “As long as she stays out of my way, we won’t have any issues. Alive, dead, she’s of no importance to me.”

  He seemed to think my answer over. “I thought you had a history. My apologies.”

  Damian wasn’t sorry for shit, and I knew he was just fishing. I smiled at him. “I met her as Yorovich’s whore, and she tried to seduce me to get her way. When that didn’t work, she became enraged. Whores, right?”

  Damian didn’t say more, but there was a tiny tilt to his lips. Arrogant bastard.

  “Well, should we get down to business?”

  “Please, I’ve been still for too long. I’m getting twitchy.”

  “Very well.” Damian got up and fixed the button on the lapel of his jacket. “I want Morozov’s head. You have five days.”

  He then turned around to walk away but stopped to face Bastian.

  “I can’t wait to see her face when she finds out it was you who betrayed her.” It sounded a lot like glee in Damian’s voice. I took a deep breath so I could keep calm.

  “I’m loyal to the Sekt, not to her,” Bastian said with a cruel smile.

  “Get him up to speed. See you at headquarters…maybe.”

  Yeah, if I lived because if I failed to kill Morozov, I would die, and I bet that’s why Bas was staying with me.

  As soon as I heard the doors close, I opened my mouth to speak.

  “What—fuck,” I yelped when Bas threw a knife by my shoulder. He had his fingers to his lips, telling me to shut up. I removed the blade from where it stabbed the sofa while Bas looked through the couch as he retraced Damian’s steps.

  “You can’t trust your own leader?” I asked when he walked back.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “No, mate, it’s not. If I fail, you have to kill me, don’t you?”

  “Try not to fail. I’d hate to kill such a pretty face.”

  I flicked him off. “Do you make it a habit to check for bugs anytime the pale demon is around?”

  “You have any weaknesses, G, I suggest you keep those tight. Damian would love to watch your face as he rips out the heart of the thing you love the most.”

  My eyes cut to his.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Love is a weakness, and Damian has a cure.”

  A flicker of hope bloomed in my chest, but I put it away for now.

  “So why does he want Yoro dead. Why now?”

  Bastian held up a finger. He came back a little later with a manila folder. He sat across from me and opened the files, showing me pictures and account numbers.

  “Son of a bitch,” I murmured.

  “Yeah, that’s why,” he replied. “Three years ago, you went to Yoro’s house because you thought one of your agents had gone rogue when in reality, he was one of ours. He was undercover because Daphne had reported to Damian that she thought Yoro was trying to cut him out. Now she can’t do anything to him. Like I said, contracts are sacred. I think that’s why she went with you, in hopes you would kill him. That way, her hands would be clean and Yorovich dead.”

  Something that felt a lot like failure spread through my chest.

  “That didn’t happen, but you came into the picture, and so did White.”

  My eyes cut to his again. “The dead senator?”

  “Yeah.” He licked his lips before continuing. “A few years ago, Rivera’s old boss, one of White’s associates and Damian opened up a temporary human trafficking ring with a live auction. Call it a test drive. It was successful in the way that they were able to pull one off in New York.”

  I spoke without thinking. “Your girlfriend.”

  He looked out the windows, pretending like they were fascinating. “I was a dumbass kid with a hero complex. I had money, all the resources, and yet I couldn’t save her. I stood in the shadows and watched as they killed her off in front of the camera. As they took turns with her, used and abused her, I watched her mouth bleed, their cum and her blood leak down her thighs even after the light had left her eyes. If I had revealed myself, I would have been dead too.”

  “What stopped you?”

  “Daphne.” He said her name softly and delicately. “She told me running in there would get me killed. She talked me down, and when that didn’t work, she gave me a sedative that kept me lucid but immobile. She forced me to watch all of it. Said I would need the rage if I wanted my revenge.” He turned his gaze from the window and looked at me more seriously than he had ever before. “I don’t remember how many times she broke me, but when she was done with me, she put me back together stronger than before.”

  For the first time in days, I wondered what she was doing, and if she felt any regret at all for what she had done to me. When Bastian cleared his throat and spoke again, he pulled me out of my thoughts.

  “As I was saying, they had one test drive and three in Chicago, but here, they had some complications, and they brought the whole thing down, and it was decided that it was too hot to keep doing it here.”

  “Then?” I leaned forward, greedy to get all the information I could.

  “Sinestre happened.”

  Out of all the things I expected, that was not it.

  “All those women, and kids, someone else was running the shop, and Damian was cut off. It’s why Daphne didn’t get punished, why you lost your job—”

  “I didn’t lose my job. I quit.”

  Bastian smirked at me and shook his head. He took a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket, and when I asked for one, he put his hand up to give him a second. He threw a baggie full of weed and a rolling paper at me.

  “Fuck, my lighter,” I cursed mostly to myself. In all the chaos, I had lost the ballerina lighter. Next thing I knew, a lighter hit my cheek hard. “Fuck.”

  Bas shrugged and kept talking as I rolled.

  “After your boss told you to stay out of it because Damian threatened both the CIA and MI6 for Daphne’s release, we left it.” He leaned forward, ashed his cigarette, and took another drag. “The reason the Sekt is feared is that they are always one step ahead of everyone. Anyone who Damian deems im
portant, we keep tabs on. Before the Colombia meeting, various Sekt members were asked to keep an eye on the players who would be at the meeting.” Bas grinned at me. “Have you ever felt like you were being watched, Gideon?”

  He was fucking with me, but his words did make my blood run cold for a second.

  “Get. To. The. Point.” I bit back.

  “I was sent to follow Julian, Rivera’s son. It’s no secret they want Chicago, but Giovanny Estacado and his sons are ruthless. So, I did my duty, I came, mostly got laid, but imagine my surprise when I saw him meet with Yorovich.”

  “They were supplying Sinestre?” I hushed the words out.

  “Oh no, it goes much bigger than this. I investigated more, and it just not in Chicago. It’s in Texas, New York, and your old director didn’t budge because of the Sekt—he was in on it, opening the borders to transfer the product. Your old agent probably figured it out, and they turned him into a pet. Did you know Daphne found him and gave him the only mercy she could?”

  “No,” I breathed. “She never told me shit.”

  That’s when he said something that shocked me.

  “She doesn’t know any of this, at least not yet.”

  Oh, Petal, your world is going to be turned upside down, and I’m going to get a front-row seat to watch it. Revenge was delicious.

  Past

  Location: Mediterranean

  She was crying right before my eyes, and all the anger I had inside of me just disappeared. The moment she stepped foot inside of my property, I knew. Crazy how much power one person could have over you.

  Over seven billion people in the world and I hadn’t felt anything toward anybody until I bumped into her. She was unlike anyone I had ever met in my life before—an enigma.

  She was here telling me we could never work. Why she could never be with me, but all I did was hold her tighter to my chest so I could feel the warmth of her body in my arms, the rhythm of her heart against my chest. So I could know that this time she was here for real and not just in my nightmares.

  Daphne was not breaking, not even bending. She was showing me something I suspected long ago. She was human; she had more humanity hidden inside of her than she liked to admit.

  Seven continents, one hundred and ninety-five countries, and she somehow ended up in my arms. She could lie all she wanted, but actions always spoke louder than words.

  I’ll admit it had stung when she kicked me out of her lodge in London, but having her and her sharing some of her secrets, letting me carry the burden of them—well, that shit was a start into forcing my way into her soul permanently.

  Once she had composed herself, she pulled away, and my body got tense. Since the moment I saw her again, I’d wanted her. I was certain I would always want her.

  “I know it isn’t fair for me to ask this of you—”

  I didn’t let her finish that sentence, not when I’d been holding myself back this whole time. I pulled her to me, and I fucking kissed her. I kissed her like she was mine because at the end of the day she was. Her lips were soft and lacked her usual venom, but the forbidden on her end still lingered.

  Her mouth opened greedily, allowing me to take more. She was seeking comfort in me while I wanted everything from her. I bent my head so I could give her more, my arm coming around her tiny waist, pressing her against my body so she could feel how much I wanted her.

  “Let’s go back to my place,” I mumbled against her lips. “I want to feel you all over me.”

  She pulled back, her gray eyes dark with lust, but also alarmed and slightly possessive.

  “We can’t go back to your place. Your friend might be there, and no one can know I was here. If she sees me, I’d have to kill her.”

  Fuck me.

  I didn’t know if I believed in love, but at this moment I knew I claimed her crazy ass as mine. I bit my lip to stop myself from smiling. Jealousy was a good look on her. I’d like it better if she was naked with my cock inside of her though.

  “I wouldn’t want to cause attention to my safe house,” I said lightly, following along. This feeling was new to me, and I was already addicted.

  Daphne guarded me with those silver eyes. “Are you mocking me?”

  She said the words slowly, and again unintentionally giving vulnerability. I took a step toward her, my finger coming under her chin and cautiously tipping it up.

  “I’ll never judge you, Petal. I find your madness beautiful and your chaos entrancing. If I could, I’ll keep you at my side alw—”

  “Stop,” she begged me with wide eyes. I took a deep breath and let it go. She had already made herself vulnerable, and I knew if I asked for more, she would run away and not look back. She had bared a part of her soul to me; I couldn’t ask her to expose her body now, as much as it was killing me not having all of her.

  I removed my shirt and pretended like I didn’t notice she was taking in every inch of me.

  “Here, put this on.” I handed her the shirt. “I’m about to give you the fucking of a lifetime, and I wouldn’t want to get sand in any of my favorite parts.”

  She seemed almost relieved.

  Throwing my shorts on the ground, I fixed them so I could lie on them.

  “Get on your knees, Petal, and suck my dick,” I commanded once she finished putting on my shirt. She glared at me, her shoulders losing some of the tension.

  “In your dreams, handsome,” she teased.

  “Baby, in my dreams, I have you gagging on it,” I told her as I sat on the sand.

  Fuckkk, she was breathtaking. Short with defined, shapely legs, breasts that fit perfectly into my mouth, hair like silk, and the most mesmerizing eyes I’d ever laid eyes on.

  “Fuck me,” I said as I grabbed my hard dick and stroked it. “I want to feel your pussy.”

  She took a step toward me, and I gave her my hand for her to take. When she reached for it, my heart thumped. Slowly she sank into my lap. The scars on her legs brushed against mine, but I didn’t care about any of that. Her skin might not be soft and smooth, but it was still perfect. Her skin told the story she tried so hard to hide. I rubbed her thighs, feeling all the scars along the way curving up to her ass and waist.

  Her hand ran over my hair and I looked up at her. Her silver eyes looked confused and angry. She grabbed my face between her hands and kissed my lips angrily. My hold on her waist became tighter, wanting to mark her. She hated the way she felt about me, hated that I had seen her like this today. I opened my mouth to give her my tongue, but she bit my lips hard until the taste of my blood coated my tongue.

  I gripped her hair and pulled her back, her eyes glaring at me. “You want to play, baby?” I asked as I licked my lips.

  Her eyes flashed, and I felt her pussy dampen my lap even more. I brought my mouth to her neck and kissed over her throat, leaving a faint line of blood.

  Daphne then pulled back from my hold, trying to take control of the situation. Without warning, I lifted her hips and slammed into her. She let out a soft moan as I penetrated her, her hands coming to my shoulders so she could have something to balance herself on. She might have been on top, but I was showing her who was fucking whom. She only allowed it for a moment when she pushed my chest until I was lying on the sand.

  Our gazes locked, and everything we would never say passed between us in one glance. She broke the contact first and gave me the softest of the kisses. She then kissed down my neck as her hips moved slowly on my dick.

  “I love your tattoos,” she mumbled against my chest. “They tell your story, something so raw and sharp, you can’t help but touch and admire the beauty of the cut.”

  My chest heaved because no one had ever made a comment about them. All my tattoos had meaning. My kills, my life, trying to hide from the world in plain sight. I didn’t answer with words; instead, I fucked her harder. I felt the way her pussy got tighter and wetter. Her hands and lips roamed all over my body as I played with her hair. She kissed the scales on the dragon I had on my chest, a
nd then she pushed off me.

  “Baby, I swear to God—”

  Yeah, my coherent thoughts left me. Her lips came down the ridges of my six-pack, her nails lightly scratching. My hand went to her hair so I could see her face, the way her eyelashes fanned my skin. All of it was driving me out of my damn skin.

  Fuck, she was something else. She grabbed my dick and leisurely stroked it while she smirked at me.

  “Petal, either you put me in your fuck—”

  Heaven—this was heaven. The cavern of her mouth was wet, hot, and fuck; she was sucking me off like a damn vacuum.

  “Petal…” I warned, knowing I was close. “Stop.”

  She didn’t. She took me deeper to the back of her throat, her hand massaging my balls, and she sucked harder, her teeth scraping lightly against me.

  “Fuck,” I snarled because I wanted to come in her pussy. My hands went to her hair, pulling it down against me, and as I heard her gag and gasp for air, I fucked her face hard as if in punishment.

  My woman? Well, that crazy bitch swallowed every last drop. She pulled back, the loud pop of her lips releasing my dick echoing in symphony with the ocean waves. She leaned back and looked like a goddess. Her hair shining against the moon, her pale skin like snow—a beautiful mirage that hid a damaged soul.

  She stared at me like she couldn’t believe she had also lost her precious control. I sat up and kissed her, tasting myself of her lips. I slammed her back down where I had been.

  “We are not leaving this beach until you’re crying because your pussy is fucking sore,” I said as I spread her legs and inserted two fingers, finding her soaking wet. My beautiful petal let go. Her hips met the ministrations of my fingers. In and out, scissoring them until I pressed my thumb to her clit, and she mewled. She was more than ready to come, but I was going to make her wait.

  “Gideon,” she pleaded with me, and it was enough to get me ready for her again. I pressed down on her tummy with one hand and then hooked my fingers and touched her G-spot. Daphne bucked under me, and I smiled when she glared at me, full of fire.

  “I swear to God if you don’t make me—”