He sighed and slumped against the car in defeat. I kept my guard up, Finch could be a sly fox and I couldn’t let him slip my defences. “Anastasia is in danger.”
I scoffed at him, “what the fuck are you saying? You threatening my Ana again, Finch?”
“No! I swear to you. I was here to watch over her, to protect her.”
Scoffing once again in disbelief, I began dragging him away from his car and towards my truck. “And why would I believe you? After everything, you’ve done so far? Give me one damn reason.”
Finch’s mouth is a thin line. Then he said the one thing I never would have expected. “Because… she’s in this mess because of dad.”
That one line shut me up and stunned me to the point that I just opened the passenger side door of my truck and shoved him inside. I stood frozen for a minute trying to regain control over my thoughts.
When I told him to give me a reason to believe him, I didn’t expect a real answer. I definitely had not expected one that would actually make me want to hear him out.
We’d never had much of a good relationship with our parents, but I’d accepted that a long time ago, and since moved on. But I couldn’t imagine how all this, there and then, could have anything to do with our deceased parents. Hell, for all I could remember, our family hadn’t had any connections in Philadelphia.
So...was I mistaken? Or was Finch lying to me?
I wasn’t sure yet but as I hopped in the truck and drove to my hotel, I knew I needed to hear him out. Whatever he had to say, it would be interesting.
I led him to the room and buzzed us in. I still wasn’t happy about him being here, watching over Anastasia without my knowledge. After everything we’d been through, after the way he’d treated Ana… I still felt I couldn’t trust him. But if he’d been here to cause her harm, he would’ve done it by now. He’d had every opportunity, so just maybe he wasn’t a threat.
“Stay put.” I pushed him further into the room.
“Where are you going? Nikolai, we need to talk.”
“I know. I’ll be back for you later. And don’t even think you can weasel your way out of this one. I want answers, Finch.” I slammed the door after exiting. There wasn’t a way to lock him in, so as my only option, I asked reception to call me if they heard from him or saw him leave.
Aside from that, there wasn’t much for me to do except vow that I’d track him down and kick his ass all the way back to Boston if he tried to run away again.
It was almost dusk when I entered the hallway from my bedroom in the Varela household. I wanted a glass of water before I went down to dinner, so I headed down the hall. As I approached Kaleb’s office, I saw that the light was still on and the glass door was ajar. Then, quietly, voices began to filter out towards me.
“Do you really think she’s ready?” Kaleb asked, to which a feminine hum of consideration followed.
“I do… I think if we organised the wedding, she would work with us. She seems dedicated to make this work. Why? What are you thinking?”
My heart skipped a beat. A wedding? Clearly they were talking about me and Marco, but was she being serious? Did they really expect me to marry this guy so soon? And for it to go off without a hitch on my end? Not a chance…
There was a long pause, where the only audible sound was my own breath. “We need this alliance,” Rachel pressed.
“The Bellucci’s could wipe us out without a second thought, I feel nervous about keeping them waiting. The sooner she’s married into them, the sooner our assets are merged. You know this, Kaleb.” I was surprised at Rachel’s insistence on this. I had thought, out of either of them, that it’d be Kaleb pushing for the marriage.
A sour taste built in my mouth at the thought of truly being forced to marry Marco. It seemed so unbelievable that I’d barely considered it as a real option. I’d just figured if I couldn’t get myself out of the situation fast enough, that Nikolai would come true on his bargain. He would always be my knight in shining armor, ready to swoop in and save me whenever I needed him.
I suppressed a sigh of longing. Nikolai. The other night with him had been out of this world, and I’d definitely used the memory in my personal time, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to go back to him.
“It’s not about if she’s ready to be married off,” Kaleb began again suddenly. “It’s about if she’s ready to be trusted. She came back to us out of the blue. She has ties, however tenuous, to that King family in Boston. What if she’s been lying to us this entire time? Using us for her own gain? Or worse, for their own gain?”
That time I couldn’t hold back my gasp of surprise. My hand covered my mouth as I pushed myself further into the shadows. I’d had no idea Kaleb had been so suspicious of me… this whole time.
“What does she stand to gain but a husband who has wealth of his own?” Rachel countered. “She was taken from us, yes, but she came back to us with nothing. Kaleb, she’s still our daughter.”
Hmph. That’s what she thinks…
“You’re right. I still don’t know if I trust her, but we need this deal, just like we needed it all those years ago. Maybe with some more time…” Kaleb relented, with the resignation of a man who had had this particular conversation a number of times. “Have you contacted the wedding planner, yet?”
As Rachel made a sound of agreement, I decided I wasn’t so thirsty after all. If nothing else, I could wait until dinner tonight. I made my way back to my room, internally seething.
How could this be happening? After everything, I’d been through, why was this happening? I felt like I just really couldn’t catch a break.
They were questioning me, unsure if I was ready. And from the sounds for it, my loyalties as well. Their conversation struck me so hard because once again it just resonated that, at the end of the day, they just wanted to use me for their personal gain. I’d thought we’d been bonding, that we’d started forming a connection. Maybe that was just me growing weak, letting my guard down.
Well… fine! Fuck it.
They had their agenda and I had mine. I had to remember that, keep it fresh in my mind.
I knew I needed to act fast, but how? What could I do when all I had was a letter from nearly twenty years ago and some matching handwriting? I needed a plan.
Everything I’d gone through, these past few weeks had been a flurry of anxiety and regret. Countless times a day I had found myself going over my decision to seek the Varelas out…and then, to risk coming here. I always ended up at the same conclusion; what the fuck had I been thinking? But this was even worse than my uncertainty.
I needed to find a way to stall them for time.
Then I had to remind myself that I was there for a reason, a true purpose. I needed answers, but the more time I spent there the more I had started to think that maybe it was a wasted trip. I feared I wouldn’t like the domino effect my questions would bring, so I had been impatiently biding my time until I could make my subtle escape.
But to hear them talk about whether I was ready to do their bidding, like they hadn’t a care for me as a person? I was their daughter, and they still didn’t trust me. Hearing their suspicions like they cared more about what I was worth to them than what they were forcing me into? Damn…
The whole situation had me in a pretty permanent foul mood. I wanted to spend time with Nikolai, to just see his face, hear his voice. I hoped it wouldn’t be too much longer before I saw him again. That night we fucked in the alley, that was great but like, I wanted more. Needed more. I ached for him.
Any other time and I’d work myself out of my funk physically but not today. Unfortunately it was almost time for dinner and my family were expecting me to dine with them.
When I passed Kaleb’s office, the door was firmly closed and the lights were off. I tested the handle and found it locked, as I had suspected it would be. I hoped that I would find a way in there, in private, sooner or later but I didn’t think I had the time to learn how to pick a lock.
Rosetta was clattering in the kitchen as I made my way down the stairs. I peeked through the doorway of the kitchen before walking across the hallway to the dining room. I had learned that Rosetta did all of the cooking and most of the housework. I’d noticed that she only worked here five days a week, the other two days were usually takeaways or meals out. Rachel and Kaleb hadn’t seemed too keen on cooking. She had been surprisingly easy to talk to, and chatty. She’d told me all about her small apartment in the city, her children were grown and moved out, so it was just her and her husband, Maurizio.
As I walked into the dining room I could’ve groaned immediately at the sight of Kaleb already sitting at the table. He looked up as I approached, the only indication that he’d actually noticed me and then went back to inspecting the rim of his empty wine glass. Rachel came up from behind me with an unopened bottle of wine in her hand.
“I got us a bottle of pinot noir from the cellar, Kaleb. You’ll like it too, Ana,” she said turning towards me. “It goes lovely with tomato-based sauces and, from what I can smell I think Rosetta is making her famous chicken parm.”
“Mmm, whatever it is it smells great.” I nodded, taking a seat opposite Kaleb. Kaleb sat at the head, Rachel at the opposite end, leaving Ambrose and I to stare bloody murder at each other all throughout dinner. During mealtimes, he usually tried his hardest to ignore me. Most of the time I had extended him the same courtesy.
Or rather, he ignored me all the time until he deigned to insult me or question something I was doing. I had no ill will towards him, I mostly just wished he would shut the hell up.
We chatted politely for a few minutes, despite everything I had heard them say just an hour before, but then Ambrose joined in and my part in the conversation ceased. Fortunately, Rosetta came in only a minute later, pushing a trolley full of plates. Rachel had been right. The plates Rosetta placed in front of me were laden with food — a larger portion than I thought any of us would manage.
The flattened and tenderised chicken breast was smothered in rich homemade marinara sauce, topped with mozzarella, sundried tomato and parmesan. It smelled great, as I’d come to expect from anything Rosetta whipped up. The steamed seasonal vegetables, vibrant greens and oranges, sat by a small serving of hand-cut fries.
“Looks amazing Rosetta, thank you,” Kaleb said as Rosetta placed his plate down in front of him. She smiled in thanks and patted his shoulder before moving on.
“You four enjoy now, can I get you anything else before you eat?” she asked, looking around the four of us. When no one said anything, she bid her goodbyes, wishing us a lovely evening. Her cheery disposition and the delicious-looking food didn’t stop my mood from being sour.
“Good night, Rosetta,” Rachel called from the other end of the table, as Rosetta retreated out and into the hallway again with a polite wave of acknowledgement.
I barely controlled my urge to roll my eyes. It was petty but I couldn’t look Kaleb or Rachel in the eye for the rest of the night. I barely spoke a word as their conversation flowed around bites of food. An occasional nod or one-word replay was about all I could manage.
I couldn’t believe they’d been questioning me, my abilities to take over for Kaleb. Here, I’d thought that I’d been doing a good job.
What were they going to do if I didn’t rise to their standards? It’s not like they could take back the arrangement between them and the Bellucci’s. Hmph. That put a small triumphant smirk on my face the rest of the night.
They were too far gone, they couldn’t back out now. They had no choice, despite their opinions.
“Look, Finch, it’s been nearly two days. You can’t put this off any longer. You need to start talking or get the fuck out.” I delivered the ultimatum with my arms crossed over my chest. He’d stalled for time, and I was sick of it. He needed to tell me what he knew, or he needed to stop trying to interfere.
Finch looked around the hotel room awkwardly, as if he were looking for another exit.
“Our dad was the one that hired Anton,” his confession burst out of him.
I shook my head, confused by the statement. He must have known that sounded insane, so he started to explain at the same time as I asked; “What? Back up, why? And how the fuck would you even know that?”
This vague accusation wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping for but at least it was a start. But my mind boggled, I had so many questions and not enough information. I needed the whole story before I jumped to any conclusions.
“Alright, geez. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.” He held his hands up placatingly.
“The Varela and Bellucci families drew up Anastasia’s arranged marriage long before she was even born. Marco himself was only a few months old. The families had a feud going on dating back generations and the idea had been to put an end to it by coming together. It had all started over something stupid, land rights I think.”
I nodded for him to continue. I’d heard about the feud, so I vaguely knew what he was talking about.
“For things to change, something had to give. But from the start it had all a front. The Bellucci family didn’t want the alliance, they just wanted to buy time so that they could wipe the Varelas out and take over their base.” I could’ve groaned out of sheer frustration with a family that I hadn’t even met. Worst of all, Ana had no idea about any of this.
Everything was beginning to make sense. I still had no idea how Finch could possibly have known about all of this, but since he clearly wasn’t finished, I let him continue.
“Cassio Bellucci rang a friend for a favour. Our father. Cassio brought him in to hire Anton and arrange the kidnapping… it couldn’t have been traced back to him.” He sighed, his shoulders slumping. I knew how he felt. Our parents hadn’t been the best but this… it made me feel sick with guilt. To know that we were directly related to this man, a man that stole a child away from her family?
Ugh.
But it all made sense to me. It seemed like such a coincidence that I’d found Ana, but it wasn’t. For as long as I could remember, my father had been loaning money to Anton, even with his terrible track record. It was almost unimaginable that I’d fallen for her...
“How would you even know about any of this?” I asked, shaking my head again.
“Because I was there. I was in Dad’s office when Bellucci came to him. Remember when I got mono and had to stay off school?” Finch asked. I nodded, he’d been sick for weeks… But he’d just been a kid.
“He wanted Dad to keep a close eye on Anton, to make sure Anton didn’t mess anything up. Back then he was a low life drug addict and a gambler, he would’ve done anything for the money - and he did.” Finch shrugged.
I couldn’t remember Anton at all from back then. Of course, there were the few times I had gone to collect money from him years later. I huffed a laugh at how crazy it all seemed. It was ironic that Dad paid him to do a job, then ended up taking his money back over the years. And then, of course, Anton ended up in debt to Finch and I.
“As well as being there, Dad kept the letter Bellucci sent him with the check for ‘services rendered’. The check was banked, so I don’t have that, obviously, but there’s a matching entry in one of Dad’s old bank books. You know our old man never threw anything away when it was business. Damn… You’d have to torch the office to get rid of it all…” I hated how right he was. I hated how tangled this web was.
Dammit, why couldn’t this just be straight-forward? Or maybe… Maybe it was. Maybe we could side with them and, instead of a marriage alliance, help them wipe out the Varelas… I would definitely have to see what Ana wanted, either way, killing her betrothed was one thing, but wiping out her birth family? That was something else entirely.
“And so, why were you watching the house?” Everything he’d said so far still didn’t explain why Ana left me or why he was staking out the Varela household.
“I figured,” he looked around again, deeply uncomfortable. Letting out a deep sigh, he continue
d, “I figured Ana might be in danger. If I could protect her, then I thought you might forgive me for what I did.” He looked down and away, shame flushing his tan cheeks.
Of course. There was the true Finch. My self-serving brother. It wouldn’t do any good now to be angry with him. I’d have to save that for later. Now though, I needed more answers. Answers I had a feeling he could’ve given me.
“Does any of this have anything to do with why Ana left?” I asked, certain that if I pulled the right thread, this whole ridiculous tapestry would come unravelled.
A muscle flickered in Finch’s jaw and instantly, I knew he was holding back something big.
What had he done? I inwardly fumed.
“I may have sent her an anonymous death threat attached to the letter that Bellucci sent dad regarding Anton…” My rage spiked but I shoved it down, once again, balling my hands into fists at my sides. “You what?”
“I—” He began, but I cut him off.
“I can’t believe you, Finch. What the fuck possessed you to do something so stupid?!” I said, my voice rising in volume. I couldn’t even comprehend his words, while his thought process was beyond ill repute. “Why would you do that?”
“I was pissed off. You’d seen me and Ana fighting, then you saw me hit her and you threw me out. I was… angry… I thought if I could get rid of her, scare her away, then I could protect you from getting involved in any of this.” His jaw clenched as his own anger showed through.
I was beyond caring by that point. I didn’t care if he thought he’d been protecting me, because as far as this went it hadn’t had to be this way. If he hadn't sent that threat then who knew, maybe Ana wouldn’t have ever come back to Philadelphia.
What. The. Fuck.
“I can’t believe you would do something so fucking idiotic, Finch!”
He opened his mouth to defend himself but clearly realised there was nothing he could say that would make this situation better, and closed it again.
I knew I needed to formulate a way to tell Ana this but first, I needed to calm down. I wouldn’t do it over the phone, this was too big. It wasn’t the kind of thing people should hear in a text or a phone call, it was a face to face conversation that needed to be had.
Be My Queen (The Crown Duet Book 2) Page 7
