Page 15 of Heartless Prince

4

Elias

I tossedmy phone aside with a frown and zipped up my pants despite the aching in my groin. Tatum had stopped replying to me, and I was too fucking frustrated to come. Having her right there at my fingertips telling me how she liked danger had worked for a few minutes, but it wasn’t enough.

It was never enough.

I was sick of playing games. Sick of waiting. I wanted to have her right here in front of me. Wanted to press my hands into her soft skin, gripping her so tight she cried out. Wanted to bite those plump pink lips, make her scream into my mouth. Wanted to fuck her tight little pussy so hard she wouldn’t be able to walk for a week.

I wanted to own her.

Right fucking now.

I knew there was a protocol in our society, and I’d been patiently sticking to it for a long time, as crazy as it drove me. Now I was officially done with it. I wasn’t supposed to contact Tatum at all before the time was right, but I couldn’t help myself anymore. Not when she was so close last night, shivering only yards away from me behind that stone as she watched the proceedings.

I had to admit, it bothered me that she’d been there. I already knew she wanted to be involved with us, but when she sneaked into the Tomb party like that, it showed me that she wasn’t scared of us.

I wanted her to be scared of us. I wanted her to be terrified when I finally took her. I wanted real tears, real anguish. Real pain. Not this fake bullshit where she pretended to be frightened but secretly wanted it the whole time.

No, I wanted her on her knees, stark fear in her eyes, begging and pleading.

I took a cold shower to ease the aching in my loins, then headed downstairs to my father’s study. One of them, anyway. He had identical ones in every house we owned and used, even the vacation homes. He spent most of his time in Fairfield or out at the Lodge in the northwest of Connecticut, but for the last few weeks he’d been here with me at our New Marwick property, keeping an eye on me to make sure I didn’t do anything unwise. He knew how impatient I was getting after being kept from my prize for so long.

He was standing by a roaring fire, lazy white curls of smoke drifting up from a Cuban cigar held in one hand. When I entered, he turned to look at me. “What is it?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What do you think? I want to know about Tatum. When is she arriving?”

He pressed his lips into a thin line as I spoke. “How many times have we discussed this?” he asked.

“Not enough, obviously, because I still don’t have a straight answer.”

“It’s still being set up. As I told you last time we discussed this matter, it needs to look normal. The transfer of the money, that is. It can’t be done in one lump sum, or else we risk drawing the wrong kind of attention from certain people. The last thing we need is the US Attorney’s office breathing down our neck over financial irregularities, and you know they’re always watching us and waiting for us to slip up. So we’re carefully laundering it through her father’s business, and when the last dollar is in, she’ll be ours.”

I folded my arms. “I know all that, but I still want a date. I’ve waited a year and a half for this, and my patience is seriously wearing thin.”

He held a palm up. “Fine. Three weeks. She’s being watched at all times, just to make sure she doesn’t get any funny ideas or try to leave.”

“Good. That wasn’t so fucking hard, was it?” I said.

A bored expression appeared on his face. “Don’t you have some study to do now?”

That was his way of dismissing me. It wasn’t like I actually had to study to get through grad school. I did it when I needed to, because I wanted to know all the necessary shit, but there was no way I needed to put my head down and work my ass off like other people did.

Being born into a family like mine ensured my success and set it in solid stone without me having to lift a finger if I didn’t feel like it. Entering a brotherhood like Crown and Dagger made it even easier. We were the nation’s dirty little secret, running and controlling things across the nation that most people couldn’t even dream of. There was nothing that didn’t come to us if we decided we wanted it.

We owned most of the buildings at Roden, as well as more than half the land within several miles of it. The local police were in our pocket, along with the mayor. People who knew of our existence feared us, only speaking about us in hushed tones (aside from the odd vocal conspiracy nut who no one gave a fuck about listening to anyway), and they also desperately wished to be us.

We had everything, after all.

Even the lowest-level members were given enormous monetary gifts, flashy sports cars, dream jobs upon graduation, and access to multiple luxury mansions on private properties and islands if the need ever arose. They had all the connections they’d ever need, and they would never be down on their luck. The society would always see to that.

It only got better from there. The second level, where I was now, brought untold pleasures that the average man could only ever fantasize about. It taught me what I liked, helped me uncover all the things some deep, dark part of me had always craved. I didn’t want innocent girls who liked tender kisses and gentle lovemaking on their backs in romantic candlelight. I wanted it dirtier, darker, sicker. I wanted to hurt them. I wanted them begging, crying, screaming. I wanted to give them exactly what they deserved.

The society showed me there wasn’t anything wrong with me. I was just a man with needs, like all the other men who made it that far. They all got what they wanted, too. Any woman they desired could be theirs, because every woman had a price.

Tatum’s was lower than expected. I guess she and her pathetic little family were desperate enough that they’d sign her life away for even the most paltry of sums. Or perhaps—and I hoped this was the case—she felt such crushing guilt over her past that she knew she wasn’t worth the full million we would’ve been willing to offer if she’d bothered trying to negotiate. She was worth nothing, and I couldn’t wait to show her that. I couldn’t wait to ruin her.

I hated knowing she’d actually signed up for this, though. I didn’t want her consent for any of the things I planned on doing to her. But I suppose in the end, it was easy enough to pretend I didn’t have it. That was the closest I’d ever get.

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