Page 60 of Beautiful Chaos

I had Joseph and some of his guys posted at the house watching Harper and a couple of guys here at the office with me for precaution. Not that I thought I had much to worry about, but a threat is a threat no matter where it comes from.

I had to place a call to Luka Rinaldi. Following my father’s passing, Luka assumed a provisional role as the leader of the Whitlock Empire. He was second in command; he was ready to take the position until I found someone permanent. I wasn’t even considering taking over my father’s throne, I wasn’t ready to hand it over either. I didn’t want to live that life of brutality and chaos, I had established a fine name for myself as a ruthless headhunter in the world of legality, but I needed to call in a few orders to take care of these assholes once and for all before they end up doing something stupid.

“So, what’s the plan boss?” Max said looking over the top of his laptop screen raised eyebrows. “We take those pricks down.”

I retrieved my cell phone from my pocket, and he answered after just two rings.

“Hello sir, didn’t think I’d hear from you so soon, is everything okay?” he said in a very professional tone. He was taking his role as seriously as I expected.

Luka was the son of my Father’s former right hand before he passed suddenly nearly two months before my father died. There was some talk about overthrowing me since his hand was already in the honey pot but once I was face to face with him, more like a pistol to face it was clear he didn’t want the damn position any more than I did. He just happened to be close by and respected his father a bit more than I did mine.

Luka and I grew up together before my pissant father murdered my mother. Our mothers were best friends, which naturally brought Luka and me together. However, once Mama was gone, I became more introverted, and the relationships and bonds that were once strong began to weaken and fade away. I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone anymore.

Luka was a trustworthy, upstanding man. As an upstanding as a man-made man could be but when it came to loyalty no question, he was solid, even if it was to a sad sack of shit I called my father.

No one in the family knew what I knew about my father, he and Chester did a thorough job hiding what happened. Outside looking in everyone pitied me. I was the broken boy who couldn’t get over his mother’s sudden death. Little did they know I was just determined to get the fuck away from my murderous bastard of a sperm donor to do better than he ever did in his entire shit hole of a life.

“Luka, how are things?” My voice bursts through the phone. I had already texted him the stills of the video footage before calling him.

“Those stills I sent; do they look familiar?” He started to tell me what I already knew about my family and the Petrov brothers doing business together. I remained silent, hoping to uncover information that had been hidden, anything helpful to give insight as to what dirt they had on my father to blackmail him into giving up valuable property and prominent territory.

In the underworld life territory is everything. If you give into blackmail, it makes you look weak no matter the circumstances and if I knew anything about my father, weakness was unacceptable. I was eager to get to the bottom of it, but not today, today I needed to do whatever it took to eliminate any danger in the threats that were made, at all costs but as quietly as possible.

I provided him with a summary of the events, sharing only the necessary details he needed to complete the task, and then I entrusted it to his care.

I demanded an update first thing in the morning. Until then I wasn’t to be bothered, basically don’t fucking bother me unless someone was dead even then I’d be careful with that decision.

I’d have a gorgeous green-eyed goddess on my arm, I wanted my full attention on her. I desperately wanted this black-tie event to go smoothly for my nephew’s sake but for Harper too.

Chapter 42

HARPER

Never in my entire life have I ever worn so much makeup. My face felt like it weighed an extra ten pounds once Magda and her team were finished. I hated dressing up, wearing dresses, and makeup, and doing my hair in more than a ponytail or a bun

I stood in front of a huge oval mirror, admiring the girl looking back at me as I held up the beautiful designer dress and I didn’t recognize her.

The reflection I saw was of a girl ready to take on the world. The smile she was wearing was something I had forgotten I was even capable of. Don’t get me wrong; I always smiled when I was with Aster or at the bookstore, but the smile that spread across my face at this moment was so genuine and pure that I couldn’t suppress it even if I tried. It was a smile that I felt deep within my soul.

Is this what true happiness feels like?

I turned to lay my dress out over the duvet when my phone started screaming promiscuous girl. The music was deafening in the quiet of the room, startling me. I smiled, knowing precisely who would be on the other end as I walked over to the nightstand, unplugged the charging cord, and answered the call. Our last conversation was a bit unusual, and I felt somewhat guilty for not having checked in with her since then.

“Hey Chica! How’s it going on the other side of the world? You lucky bitch.” I teased into the phone. Anticipating a bit of playful banter in return, I was taken aback by the sound of sniffles and harsh breathing that met me instead.

“Aster what’s wrong?” I all but yelled into the phone. Silence filled the line. My stomach dropped when the only response I got was a deep sob followed by raged and shaky breaths as if she had been crying for some time.

I had to calm myself from the angry pits that were burning deep inside my stomach so that I could be useful to her.

If that bastard hurt her, there would be pain and fury coming his way. “Aster sweetie, what happened? Are you hurt?” I questioned trying to be as calm as my emotions could allow me. I was so heated and ready to climb through the phone to hug her. Aster was the sweetest, most caring person and for someone to hurt her and make her cry like that, he had to have done something awful.

After several minutes of sobs and whimpers, she finally cleared her throat, and in a weak and small voice she explained that Prestyn had left for a meeting, Aster decided she didn’t want to be cooped up in the suite anymore, so she went out taking one of the security details that had been with her since she arrived in London. She went to some shops and some sights that were on her list to visit since she would be leaving soon, and Prestyn had been busy working most of their trip. After a few hours of roaming the beautiful streets of Paris, she stopped at a cute little diner to have some lunch still accompanied by her security, when she walked in and took a seat, she saw Prestyn there with a young and attractive woman. Naturally, she approached the two of them to introduce herself, and when she did Prestyn told the women he didn’t know her. The woman spoke very fluent English not containing even the slightest bit of an accent. She left embarrassed and confused.

When she returned to her suite, which she shared with Prestyne, a hotel staff member informed her that she had received a message from him. The message was that he wouldn’t be back at the hotel for the night, he had made other arrangements. She called him several times until he answered.

He admitted that he had brought several women to London and had separate suites at various hotels to accompany them. He confessed to not actually working, instead, he was dividing his time between her and the other women.

Something she should have expected from an egotistical, rich asshole. I didn’t get a good feeling about him when I first saw him either, Aster was head over heels.

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