I didn’t know what I’d thought would happen while I was shadowing Kaleb. I had somewhat expected the illegal activities, the drugs, the odd company he kept. I didn’t expect that it would feel so natural. As I thought about it I could have laughed, but what if it was in my blood. After everything I’d been through - my entire life - had been reason enough for me to be a spineless shut-in scared of everything that moved. That wasn’t me though.
I was independent and strong, maybe that had more to do with my DNA than I had realized.
Sunset had long passed in Philadelphia as I watched from the car. People milled about the Varela property talking and drinking, hugging and air-kissing. I hated this aspect of high society. It seemed like there were new faces coming and going for hours. Not just at the Varela estate but up and down the street, apparently everyone’s social lives were in full swing… on a Wednesday night. There was no doubt that I was in the posh end of Philly.
Every now and then, I caught a glimpse through the window of Ana in a ridiculously girly dress. It was beautiful, but I almost laughed out loud at the soft pink ruffles. I knew without a second thought that Ana, my Ana, hadn’t chosen that outfit. It hugged her chest but let out at the waist. Whilst it wasn’t my taste I still wanted to stride in there and rip it off her.
But I would’ve wanted to do that regardless. She could’ve been wearing a brown sack for all I cared and I still would’ve found her irresistible.
Fuck. And there I was sitting alone in my car, in the dark, rocking a semi.
The front door opened and I sank just a little bit lower in my seat. I watched as she made small talk with a blond guy on the porch steps. Jealousy rose up inside of me. Was this the guy? Her ‘betrothed’? The word felt sour on my tongue.
The guy had no idea that I was prepared to kill him in an instant. Especially if she planned to go through with this bogus wedding. I almost snorted with laughter at the thought. I would have no problem taking the life of anyone who tried taking away my Ana.
No one else was getting my angel!
The blonde guy hopped in the red convertible parked on the drive. It roared to life, she made her way back inside and he drove off. I stayed low in the car, my baseball cap pulled down low over my face so, in the darkness, no one would be able to tell who I was. For tonight I was just another rich pricks’ chauffeur, paid to park here and wait on them.
I longed to get out of the car to stretch my legs a number of times, but I resisted temptation. I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself, or to the big black SUV I was sitting in. I wished I was able to get closer to her. What if something happened to her? I would never be able to forgive myself. I wanted to swoop in and whisk her away. Away from that house, away from the family, and more importantly, away from that fucker…
Out of the corner of my vision, I saw something glinting in the low light. Just for a second and then it was gone, so when I turned and looked, there didn’t seem to be anything there. Squinting in the darkness, I made out a shape in the front seat of another car, parked on the quiet street a few yards back.
As I watched, it became apparent that there was another man, sitting and watching the property. I supposed he could’ve been eyeing any property on the street, but my gut said otherwise. Every now and again, he lifted a small pair of binoculars to his eyes. Way to be obvious, buddy...
If I wasn’t very much mistaken, there was someone else staking out the Varela mansion. As I sat there, torn between watching for signs of Ana and watching the other stakeout, I contemplated who it could be. The Varelas didn’t have many enemies, to my knowledge. Despite playing a big role in Philadelphia's organized crime syndicate, they weren’t at war with any of the other families at the minute.
Perhaps they were on the lookout for a guest? I strained my neck and looked at the reg, not an out of state car. Maybe he was there for the Varelas…
Surely, he couldn’t have been there for Ana. Either way, I didn’t like it.
I made a mental note of the make, model and plate number of the car and filed it away for later. But it’s presence weighed heavy on my mind. I couldn’t stop wondering if they were there for Ana. Call it paranoia, call it being cautious - I didn’t care. I just knew what my gut told me, and it was telling me to keep a close eye on the fucker.
If the car was there again tomorrow, I’d have to do something about it. And I’d have to try and find a way to let Ana know. She’d go nuts if she knew I was still in Philly, but if I got caught in the crossfire of Ana’s safety and Ana’s fury. I’d always choose to protect her, and I hoped that she knew that. If there was a potential threat unknown to her, I wanted her to be prepared for anything.
Nevertheless, I would be here when she needed me, whether she knew it or not. I couldn’t leave her here alone.
Before it grew too late, I dialled Drex’s mobile. It had been a couple of days since I’d last talked to him and I needed to check in on them back in Boston. In the past decade, we’d barely ever had the opportunity to take time away from work. In the past two weeks, Finch had left and I’d taken a brief hiatus. That only left Zedd and Drex…
Safe to say, I’d been worried about what I’d eventually be going back to.
While Finch had been pulling a disappearing act, my younger brothers had looked to me for guidance. I knew the business better than Finch, that was for sure. I could talk circles around him, and all this had really made me realize that maybe Zedd and Drex were right.
Maybe it should’ve been me in charge.
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be the man behind the curtain any longer.
Of course, nothing official had been decided. After all this, there needed to be some serious discussion. But now there were too many unknown factors. So, instead of giving an answer, I preferred to just call and check in every few days - make sure they hadn’t fired everyone or had the office burned down.
It had been a busy few days after the party. I had been spending so much time with Kaleb, he was so eager to ‘show me the ropes’. Me? Not so much. Which was why when Rachel demanded that she steal me away for the day, I was actually kind of grateful for the breather. Kaleb relented quickly, he was a man in love and all he seemed to want was to make Rachel happy.
By the time I came down for breakfast, Kaleb was already gone — out of town on business — and Ambrose was getting ready to head out mid-morning for lunch and to watch some sports game with his friends.
I spent the morning in my room, clutching the one thing that I had hidden away since before I got here. Hidden from Nikolai, from Rachel, from everyone.
The night before I left, after I ran away from Finch, I was in my bathroom when Heather found me with urgency. In her shaky hands was an envelope with my name on it. ‘Anastasia’ was scribbled on the front. I’d had no idea that when I read its contents that I’d be set on this warpath. She’d said the letter had been in the mail, and she had come to find me as soon as she’d seen it. I’d never received mail at the King estate as there were few people who knew I lived there.
My throat had caught thinking about the only other person that had found me there, the lawyer. I’d had a bad feeling about the letter straight away. My mind had started racing with the prospects. It could’ve been anyone, one of Anton’s loan sharks looking for payment? Maybe the lawyer with some more unbearable news. I thanked Heather but made her swear that she wouldn’t tell Nikolai, no matter what.
I read the words again, for maybe the hundredth time since that night. The creases in the luxurious paper were softening by the day. I wasn’t sure how much more stress it would withstand.
To my valued associate,
I write to you with my utmost gratitude. The problem has been eliminated and the Verela’s will no longer stand in our way. We are free to move forward as planned. Thank you for the part you played. Please continue to monitor the situation, I’d hate for Anton to cause any complications.
Please feel confident that the favor will be returned, if a
nd when it’s needed. Anything to protect our own. Enclosed is a check for valued services rendered. Send my love to Alessa and the boys.
Sincerely,
Bellucci
It was neatly printed as though from a typewriter, with the exception of a signature. ‘Bellucci’ — which was in an elegant cursive. I ran my fingers over the words of the letter and felt the indents of the keys.
The letter had me completely freaked. This was evidence that someone, Bellucci, had hired Anton to kidnap me. But what was worse, was the hand-scrawled note that had been paperclipped to the letter. The paper looked to have been ripped off of a notepad and the writer had complete disregard for the lines. The handwriting was different, the scrawl fevered and frantic.
“Keep away from the King family or we will come for you and finish the fucking job properly like we should have done the first time around.
Stay away from Nikolai King.”
The pen it was written with made deep, angry lines in the thin paper. The last sentence was underlined several times. I let out a shaky breath. I had to know who sent this letter, and why they wanted me away from Nikolai and his family. The only thing keeping me away was the threat to Nikolai’s own safety. And if Drex or Zedd got hurt? I could never have forgiven myself.
I wondered if I might’ve had a chance today to get into Kaleb’s office and see if there were any older documents - check books, logbooks, diaries or… something, anything that could’ve connected the dots. I was so certain that I would find it if I looked hard enough.
Of course, I couldn’t go rummaging if Rachel was wanting to spend the day with me. My only hope would be tonight or if Kaleb was still away tomorrow. As the office was on the way into town, I wondered if there was a chance I could’ve slipped away under the guise of an errand. I had already checked the library, aside from the armchairs and bookshelves there was a reading table next to a set of drawers. But nothing had come of my search. I had figured, having anything important in the house would have been far too obvious.
My only option, I had to get Rachel out of the house somehow.
I didn’t particularly relish spending a whole day alone in Rachel’s company, but she was nice enough for one half of a crime syndicate. And at least Ambrose was gone for the day. We hadn’t really spoken much at all since I came to live here — I loath to say ‘moved in’ as it really wasn’t the case.
As Rosetta had the day off, I wondered what Rachel’s plans were for lunch. When midday rolled around I headed to the kitchen, walking in to find Rachel stood staring at the open pantry, hands on her hips and sighing. She turned at the sound of my squeaky sneakers on the tiled floor.
“Oh, Anastasia,” She smiled. “How nice that we have a whole day together! Are you hungry? I could make us some lunch?” she added brightly.
I pushed a smile onto my face, making sure to crinkle my eyes as I did. “Yeah, Kaleb’s been keeping me busy.”
“Oh, I know. He doesn’t stop talking about you and all the time he’s getting to spend with you. Are you enjoying yourself, dear? Here with us, I mean?” Immediately alarm bells started ringing in my head. What did she mean by that? Did she suspect me? But her face showed no sign of discontent, so I answered as naturally as possible.
“It’s nice, a little jarring sometimes, but yes,” I said. It wasn’t an outright lie, they weren’t unpleasant to live with — except Ambrose’s attitude problem — but the fact remained, I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be with Nikolai but that just wasn’t an option for the time being.
“That’s good. I suppose it is difficult to get used to such a big change. We’ll all adjust in time though, I’m sure.” She closed the pantry door with a bang. “There’s simply nothing here that I want to eat! How about we go out to eat? Do you like sushi?”
Despite having never had it before and that the thought of eating raw fish wrapped in seaweed made me sick, I nodded. “Great, I know just the place. I’ll drive!”
“Great,” I repeated as I followed her out to the garage.
Lunch was disgusting. The restaurant was lovely, the service great but the food was practically inedible. To me anyway, it turned out I had assumed correctly all these years - I really did not like sushi. But that didn’t stop me from shoving a few pieces down my throat when Rachel was looking. As soon as she turned away, I dropped them on the floor or slipped them into the napkin laid neatly on my lap.
After lunch, Rachel insisted we stop at the bar next door. She ordered a bottle of white wine and a plate of french fries. As they arrived, I couldn’t help but dive in. By then I assumed Rachel knew that I hadn’t been impressed by the sushi, she laughed but left me to eat in peace.
We finished a whole bottle of wine and then she ordered a second. By the time we’d made it halfway through, I was starting to reach my limit but I’d been enjoying myself. There had been no pressure for us to talk but we had, about everything. She had asked me countless questions, using our time alone to fill in the gaps from all the years we had spent apart. She expressed heartache at my misfortune and relief at my small number of joys.
She played the part of the doting mother well. It was just a shame I wasn’t the perfect daughter anymore. I thought that maybe it was a timing issue, but maybe it was my heart learning to be resilient. After everything we’d been through...
Rachel called us a cab claiming that she’d have someone come get her car. At home, I fell onto the sofa almost immediately. Rachel sprawled out next to me, kicking off her heels and making herself comfortable.
I was exhausted and I’d barely done anything all day. I’d never been a good drinker, that was why I didn’t make it a habit.
Much later that evening, Rachel and I were watching a movie in the living room when the front door banged open and then slammed closed again. I jumped up in my seat, immediately alert and looked into the darkened hallway from my seat.
Ugh. It was just Ambrose.
“It’s you.” His slurred words are barely discernible as he looks down at me bleary-eyed.
Rude. But it seems we have the same reaction to each other, even if mine is markedly more subtle.
Ambrose stumbled into the living room and fell into an armchair. Rachel looked up at him, startled from where she was drifting off to sleep on the couch. “Ambrose?” She asked, drowsily. “Is that you?”
He didn’t respond as his eyelids fluttered closed. She rushed to his side. “He’s fine, just drunk.”
She makes a vague humming noise, a mixture of agreement and disappointment. “I’ll make us some coffee.”
Rachel left the room, sleepiness swaying her steps a little. Which left me alone with a struggling-to-be-conscious Ambrose. I rolled my eyes as I resumed watching the movie. I didn’t bother pausing it for Rachel, she had been asleep for most of it anyway.
“Why are you even here?” Ambrose mumbled. Considering there was no one else in the room, I automatically assumed his words were directed at me.
“I’m watching a movie.” I didn’t bother looking away from the television. I knew that wasn’t the answer he wanted. I knew I was being obtuse. I didn’t care. He wanted to poke me, wanted a reaction so that I was the bad guy. I wasn’t going to give it to him, certainly not that easily anyway.
“You crawl out of the woodwork just to sit and watch a movie with mummy dearest? Let me guess, you just want to get to know us, for us all to be one big happy family.” He sneered, snorting at the chance that I could actually be here to genuinely get to know my birth parents.
I didn’t answer. I knew nothing would satisfy his jealousy. I was a threat to him and everything he’d grown up believing he deserved. Instead of being glad to have a family member return to the fold after a kidnapping, he hated me without even giving me a chance.
But anyway, family time? That was not what I was here for. Not at all. I didn’t need another family. From my experience, they only set out to hurt you anyway. I’d seen it multiple times. While Rachel and Kaleb certainly seemed like
nice enough people the more time I spent with them, I hadn’t come here looking to adopt new parents.
Ambrose was just an obnoxious prick from all that I’d seen. Being jealous and bitter wouldn’t get him anywhere.
Rachel was still clattering away in the kitchen when Ambrose spoke again. “You would leave this house if you knew what was good for you. You’d leave and never return.”
I looked over at him, keeping my face impassive, and saw that he was glaring at me through slitted eyelids, head tipped back on the armchair. When I still didn’t answer, he snorted and turned his face away. By the time Rachel came back with the coffee, he was snoring.
“Oh…” Rachel placed a steaming cup of coffee with cream down on the side table beside me. “I thought he would still be awake,” she said sadly. Sitting down and sipping from her own mug, she looked at me.
“I did hope that the two of you would bond. That you would be close allies. But I see now that that was never going to happen. I really am sorry about him.” She finished on a disappointed sigh.
I didn’t know what to say except that I felt bad for her. She was a nice woman; she probably didn’t deserve how either Ambrose or I were treating her. She had one child who wasn’t ready to accept her true family and another child that was revolting against his only sister.
Ambrose had made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with me. That he resented me for returning. But I wonder if she realized the true extent of his hatred towards me. Did either of us?
I snuck out of the house to avoid Rachel’s scrutiny. She had been driving me mad all afternoon. She was definitely excited for my date with Marco. I had to bite my tongue numerous times to stop myself from snapping at her that maybe she should be the one to date him.
Lord knew I didn’t want to!
Be My Queen (The Crown Duet Book 2) Page 4
