Page 64 of Cruel Crown

I had a plan that would allow me to kill two birds with one stone. Maybe Daphne and I had entered another game. There still wasn’t full disclosure, but for now, I think we needed that.

You couldn’t put two monsters together and expect them to play nice right away; it wasn’t in our nature. We ultimately had secrets to try and protect each other.

The office was big in a tower. A huge luxurious desk that looked like it was ancient adorned the room along with tokens of Damian’s various kills. Stuffed bears, mountain lions, wolves.

I would have felt sympathy for the asshole. To feel emasculated like he had must have been a bitch. To know he was getting raped and not be able to do a thing fucked him up good. All of that ceased because all I kept hearing was Daphne’s voice.“He knew what Ivan was doing to me, but he didn’t care.”

When Damian walked into the office, I was sitting down on a chair looking outside the window with a cigarette on my lips.

“Can I help you?” he said, sounding displeased. He went to sit behind his desk as he pierced me with those dark eyes, waiting to see what I would say. I wasn’t stupid; I knew he wanted something from me. He wanted to use me against Daphne, but instead, I would turn the tables against him.

I smiled at him. “I believe we can help each other.”

Before I left MI6, I made sure to take out as much insurance as I could. All the information I had stored, guaranteeing my life, I was about to give to him. I mean, at the end of the day I was Sekten now, wasn’t I? I wasn’t alone anymore.

I had enough incriminating information that could destroy the world. I didn’t give a fuck about that, and when I told Damian what I was giving him and what I wanted in return, he gave me a smile.

Maybe I was playing into a trap, but I could deal with the fallout when it came.

***

That was the thing about not having feelings—you didn’t care when you sold your soul to the devil. At the end of the day, I got what I wanted, and that was all that mattered.

Since enough time had passed, I went in search of Daphne, knowing she would get pissed at what I was about to tell her. I grinned. I liked fighting with her, and I loved making up with her even more.

I got off on the push and pull. The way she could kill me if she wanted but getting a thrill at the fact that she wouldn’t—she couldn’t.

When I made it to her room, I checked her bathroom since she wasn’t in the room. I waited for about thirty minutes before I decided to go search for her.

Grabbing a torch, I went to search in the Amber Room, but there was no sign of anyone in the darkroom.

My next place was the dining room, and when I didn’t find her there, I started to get a little worried. I had to remind myself that she had been taking care of herself for the last twenty-five years without me.

I found Bas sparring with another guy, and when he saw me, he stopped and walked over to me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Have you seen Daphne?”

He didn’t look worried.

“Did you check her room?”

“Yes, and the Amber and dining room,” I replied.

Bas’s face became a little somber, and that right there told me all I needed to know. My gut feeling was rarely wrong.

Fuck. Me.

A woman came in; she was one of the ones that was in bed with Bas the other day.

She came to a halt when she saw me and looked back at Bas.

“He’s with us” was all Bas said.

“I just saw it on one of my chats, Rebeca Estacado hung herself this morning.”

Bas ran a hand through his hair and cursed.

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