by C. Lymari
“That,” Paco said as he pointed his finger at my woman, “fucking whore killed my cousin, and you didn’t do shit.”
Damian didn’t bother to look at Daphne. I, on the other hand, had to remain impassive even though I was imagining snapping his neck.
Daphne took a step forward, and I was about to reach for her and pull her back, but she hissed, “No.”
“If you want to take your anger out on anyone, take it out on me,” she said with a tilt of her chin.
Damian glared at her, annoyed that she was getting in his way. He wanted to fight Paco, he wanted a duel, and if Paco decided to fight Daphne, there was a chance she could get seriously hurt.
That thought alone made my chest constrict and ache.
Paco smiled. “I will, bitch, but right after I kill him.” He turned to Damian, who, upon hearing the impending challenge, smiled.
“Do you want my throne?” He put the hands in the pocket of his trousers and stepped forward. “Do you think you can be a better leader than me?”
Paco scoffed. The arrogance on him was about to be his downfall. He was blinded by greed and revenge. He couldn’t see the trap he had walked into.
“For one, I wouldn’t let that bitch get away with killing one of our own. Your love for her blinds you.”
Damian’s eyes slid from Paco’s to Daphne. Both of them looked at each other, and love was the furthest thing between both of them.
“She’s under my care because her father left her to me.”
Daphne flinched. My blood started to boil, a low simmer that if it erupted would force this place to flood.
“Fine, I accept. You kill me, then you not only deserve to be a king, but you get to pick and choose who stays and who goes.”
“Don’t do this. You’re walking into a—”
“Shut the fuck up.” Paco glared at Daphne. He then turned to Damian. “I challenge you to a duel.”
“Catacombs in one hour,” Damian said as he started to walk away. He had the outcome he wanted, but the question was, why?
Everyone else started to walk back inside—some with triumph on their faces, others with dread. Like with all nations, kingdoms, and democracies, the people became scared when the leadership was questioned.
Daphne walked fast, and I followed behind her, everyone too engrossed in their misery to notice we were now together. She descended to her chambers, and I was hot on her heels.
“Talk to me, Petal,” I said as I closed the door.
“Something is happening, and I can’t see what it is.” She threw the first thing she could get her hands on across the room.
“Easy there, love,” I said as I stood behind her and removed her jacket. “It will all be fine. You think I’d let anyone hurt you?”
“I can take care of myself,” she lashed out as she pulled away from me. Then she turned around and looked at me almost like an afterthought. “Thanks for the offer though.”
I grinned at her because—fuck, she was cute as hell.
“What does Damian gain from killing Paco?” She was pacing, and I removed my outside clothes as well.
“One less annoying mouth to feed?”
She gave me a dirty look, then stopped when I started taking off my clothes. I needed a fucking shower.
“You thirsty there, love?” I raised a brow at her. I expected her to glare at me, but instead, she started taking off her clothes.
My dick agreed with that.
“Lie on the bed. I’m going to fuck you,” she said.
You know, for all I cared Damian could lay waste to everyone on that damn duel, I didn’t need to see that.
“Petal, your ribs—I don’t think that is wise.”
She huffed, and I think my heart fucking soared. She didn’t give a fuck about the pain she was in, and I was trying to tell myself I did.
“Fine, you fuck me.” She walked to the bed naked and lay back, spreading her legs. “I’m angry, I’m horny, so come on, I need you.”
I froze.
“What did you say?” I asked in a hoarse voice.
“Stop wasting time,” she said in an exasperated voice. “I’m angry and horny, I just need…” She stopped midsentence, her silver eyes going liquid. “I need you.”
I didn’t have to be told twice. I just pounced, aware that I still had to be careful because she was already in pain.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I groaned.
She took hold of me, and I cursed. “I want you to hurt me. I want for my chest to ache and for every labored pant to burn me because I’d much rather think of this moment than all the other painful ones before it.”
“Bloody hell,” I gasped as I sunk myself in her. “Say it again.”
I fucked her slow, pleading for her to tell me how much she needed me, and not letting her come until she fucking begged for it.
“Why can’t you guys have something fucking normal?” I asked as we made our way to the catacombs. We were cold as fuck since we had just showered. Daphne held on to a torch and I to another one since the tunnel was pitch-black.
“Because normal is overrated.”
I snorted. Wasn’t that the truth?
Daphne stopped right in front of me, sighing before pushing a metal door open. “I hate this fucking place.”
Hell—this place reminded me of hell. The stone was black, and people stood in a circle, all with their torches. The area was illuminated with an orange-and-red glow. In the center was a platform that was dubbed the ring, so the bystanders had to look up and see everything that was being done.
There was enough light here, so I put my torch down, letting the flame die out. Then I wrapped my arms across Daphne’s chest, making sure she was cocooned into me, just in case.
She didn’t lean into me or make me feel like I was needy because that wasn’t the kind of woman she was, and it made me hold her closer. When she didn’t pull away was how I knew that she liked it.
Paco made his way into the pit, jumping in sweats and no shirt. I grimaced because down here, it was cold. I could see my breath when I huffed. He jumped side to side, and I could feel the violent energy in the room.
“It’s going to begin,” Daphne said as Damian stepped into the pit. He was wearing joggers, and he was also shirtless. On his back, he had the S in front of some coat of arms, all of it wrapped with a snake.
“It reminds me after this, I’m tattooing you,” Daphne said like it was nothing. When she noticed my stiffy poking her arse, she turned to me and rolled her eyes.
“You can tattoo?” I asked in awe despite the bloodshed that was coming. I knew I was fucked-up; this was nothing.
“It’s a stencil.” She waved it off and looked at the pit once more.
Roman and another guy walked to the center, pulling with them a drawer. He then bent to open it and looked at the room, then at Paco, and lastly Damian.
“Challenger, you get to pick what weapon will be used during this duel. Only the challengee has the right to spare a life.” Roman looked at Paco and nodded his head for him to begin.
“Spare a life?” I whispered in Daphne’s ear.
“Humiliation,” she replied without taking her eyes off the weapons chest.
Paco went to the chest, picking up object after object until he grabbed a sword.
Daphne shook her head like he was dumb. He said, “That one,” and when Damian reached for the matching weapon, he did it with a glee in his eyes.
Roman nodded at both of them and then spoke. “We do not forgive.”
“We do not forget,” Damian and Paco said.
“Crossing us is certain death,” everyone spoke, and I got chills.
Stomps went around the room, along with howls. Roman walked back, and then before he stepped out of the ring, he said, “Let there be blood.”
Paco howled in rage as he moved his sword at Damian. Damian grinned, and with his own sword, he quickly pushed back. The room was full of gasps and metal clanking with the occasional stomp a
nd howl. Paco pushed, and Damian toyed with him. I was amazed because the art of the sword was lost with technology nowadays.
Damian took a move to the side, and Paco used the opportunity to turn around and swing, causing the sword to cut Damian at the side. Blood started to pour, and the wound was superficial, but it looked disgusting.
Paco smiled with triumph, and Damian grabbed his side and smiled. He brought his thumb to his mouth and licked off the blood. He then moved the sword using only his wrist—he had style, and you had to respect that.
The clashing of metal was all that could be heard, and even sparks flared when they grazed against each other. There would be no mercy shown from either of them.
“While I excelled in poisons and human psychology, Damian was an expert in swordplay and a war master.”
Just as she said this, Damian started to attack Paco from all angles as blood dripped down his side. One second they were evenly matched, the next Paco’s sword was in the air, and Damian grabbed it. Time seemed to still, and I saw it in Paco’s eyes…poor bloke knew he was going to fucking die.
Damian crisscrossed the swords into Paco’s chest all the way to the hilt. Paco’s lifeless eyes stared back at him as blood poured from his mouth. Damian smiled as he lowered the body to the ground once Paco’s corpse was almost kneeling. Damian kicked it off the swords, leaving them gleaming with blood.
“Fucking shit,” I murmured.
“It doesn’t compare to how he killed Ivan,” Daphne said.
“Good,” I added. I was sure I would have made Ivan fuck himself before killing him had that been me.
Roman walked back into the pit, took hold of Damian’s hand, and raised it in the air.
Damian smiled, and it was creepy because I didn’t think I’d ever seen the fucker look as happy as he did now. He looked at everyone, starting from the right to the center where Daphne and I were, giving me a smirk that caused Daphne to tense up, and then to the left side where Bastian stood next to Francesca.
He removed his arm from Roman’s grasp and stepped forward.
“My family,” he said. “Now that we are all gathered here, I’d like to tell you a few things.”
Just as he said this, the door to the catacombs opened, and a group of men walked in.
“Fuck,” I cursed, and Daphne growled as we recognized some of the men. Suddenly it all made sense to me, and I felt like I had walked into a trap.
“Yorovich Morozov is no longer with us, and with his departure, I saw an opening to expand our power.”
Daphne pushed back against me as if she wanted to blend into me.
“His men are now my—our men. His kingdom is now ours.” Damian raised his hands as the men stood in a line behind all of us.
“Everything the bratva does is now Sekten.” He took another step, and he smiled like the devil would welcome you to hell. “I think it’s time we stopped living in the shadows, don’t you?”
Some people hooted and cheered; others knew the danger of the things he spoke of.
“I’ve decided to take a more active role,” he went on.
“Fuck,” Daphne hissed.
“I’ll be running in the legislative elections. Can you imagine getting a seat inside this country’s political powerhouse? The things we can do? We’d be unstoppable.”
Cheers erupted in the hall from our new companions. I looked at Francesca, who looked like she and her boyfriend had been crowned king and queen at the dance. Bas was cheering, but I knew it was just a façade.
Roman looked like he was going to be sick, then looked at Daphne and disappeared from the pit. As for my petal, she was almost comatose, looking at Damian without blinking.
“Petal,” I whispered.
“He just declared war on the world,” she said in a monotone voice. “He took Yoro’s throne and merged his filth with our people. The Sekt has hundreds of spies all over the world who he has control over. If he gets his foot into politics, it’s game fucking over to anyone who dares cross him…” She stopped talking and turned to face me. “I’m sorry.”
She said the words, got up on her tiptoes, and kissed me. Then she pulled back, and because I knew the crazy bitch, I knew what she was going to do. She had her Glock already up and ready to aim at Damian’s face.
Raising my elbow, I hit her in the back of the neck hard, causing her to whimper in pain. The gun dropped, and before it could hit the floor, Roman picked it up.
“Get. Her. Out,” he gritted out.
Shots were fired, and the sound ricocheted. I turned to see what had happened, and Bas gave me a quick wink as he and a few others fired shots in celebration to Damian’s news. The fucker had caused a distraction.
As people congratulated Damian, Roman and I got Daphne out of there. We didn’t go to her room. Instead, Roman brought me to the lab section, and he kept going through doors, each one taking us higher until we came to another tower. This one was warm, and it was lit.
“This just became her new room. No one is safe anymore.”
“No offense, how is this safer?”
Roman grinned. “All the levels have different bioweapons ready to be activated if someone infiltrates.”
Fuck, these people were fucking crazy. “I like you,” I told him before I shut the door in his face.
When he was gone, I took a chair and sat next to Daphne’s side. I waited a few minutes until she regained consciousness. The moment her eyes opened, they searched the room. Her silver eyes were blazing with all kinds of fire. I got up and caged her to the pillow.
“You don’t do anything on your own anymore,” I said through gritted teeth. “Do you get that?” I brought my hand to her neck, squeezing some fucking sense into her. “Nod if you understand me?”
It took seconds, but she did. I removed my hand, and she massaged her throat. It was red from where I lost control at the thought of her dying minutes ago.
“I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t think it through, I was so angry.”
“I know, babe,” I said as I rubbed my hand on her forehead, and I couldn’t help but kiss her. She kissed me back, and I knew that shit had to go down this way. She smiled at me, and it was the scariest shit I’d ever seen because it was sweet. I was fucking here for it.
“What now?” She looked at me.
With her eyes and trust in me, I felt like I could take over the whole world.
“Well, Petal. We go to war.”
A Few Months Later
Daphne
Location: Maldives
“Come on, Petal,” Gideon said as he rubbed his thumb over my lower lip. “Stop pouting.”
“I am not pouting.” I seethed. The only reason why I wasn’t screaming at him was that I was tired and thirsty. He said we had a job to do today, and I was looking forward to a little bloodshed.
I didn’t even mind being in warm weather. The time at the castle was still fresh in my mind. The things that Damian was doing were like a coldness that kept spreading over my body every time I let it creep in. Failure was a crippling feeling. It was probably the worst of them all. You could deal with betrayal, with heartache, but once you failed, you wondered what was the point in going on if you weren’t going to amount to anything
So, for now, I let the castle, Damian, and Russia stay in the back of my mind. I let fear take place in my heart because I had allowed someone else in—I hated it, but I didn’t know how to stop it.
“You are, and I think it’s cute,” he teased as he forced his thumb in my mouth.
I sucked his thumb and watched as his eyes flared; then I bit it, and he cursed, pulling it out.
“The same amount of force to bite a carrot takes to sever a thumb. Most people’s minds hold them back because of fear—not mine, handsome.” He might be right about my pouting..
We spent yesterday in our villa with the water around us, just sitting down, not doing anything but eating and fucking, and today he brought us hiking. Not legal hiking. He somehow brought military-grade equip
ment without me noticing.
“You’re lucky you suck good dick, Petal, or else I’d never stick my cock inside that mouth.”
I opened said mouth to tell him it was years of practice when he pierced me with a deadly look that had me feeling wet between my legs right away. His whiskey eyes shone with anger, but he still wanted me.
“Say a fucking word I don’t like, Petal, and I’ll fuck your arse, then throw it off the fucking cliff.”
“I’m sorry, handsome.” I rolled my eyes. “My mouth was a virgin until the day you so graciously fucked it.”
He snorted at the sarcasm that dripped from my tongue. Ignoring him, I went to take a seat on the ground while he pulled out a sniper. That intrigued me.
For a moment, I wondered what Bastian was doing. After the castle, he got a call from Julian Jr. His father had been thrown in jail, and now he needed someone he could trust to give him a little help. This was what we had been waiting for. It was sad to let him go, but on the plus side, it kept him away from Cam.
She grew stronger every day, and I knew it was a matter of time before she’d want to see Xander dead.
A seaplane caught my eye and interrupted me from my thoughts. I watched the gold beauty come down on the water like an eagle ready to grab its prey.
“And it’s all set,” Gideon said.
“Great, I was getting bored.”
“Lies, love. When I’m around, you never get bored. Now, come here.” He patted on the rocky spot next to him so that I would be the one looking through the scope. I mean, after making me hike and the attitude he’d been giving me, the least he could do was let me kill.
I made my way toward him. He had put the sniper at an angle so it was facing downward toward the water. I leaned into the scope and noticed he had it pointed to a yacht.
“So, who am I killing?”
“You’ll know when you see it.” He stood behind me, his hand coming to the waistband of my leggings.
“What are you doing?” I asked as his hand slipped inside.
“Find your target,” he said, his voice dropping a few octaves.
