Page 2 of The Kings
Stepping out of the room, the buzz from the grand party downstairs pulls at my senses like gravity. I run my hands through my hair and descend the staircase, my heels clicking on the marble stairs as I take them slowly, my hand trailing down the walnut rail.
The sight that greets me is one of decadence here in my dad’s mansion. My mum died fifteen years ago, so it’s been me and Dad for as long as I can remember, rattling around this huge mansion like the ghosts of Christmas Past. My Dad has never moved on from mum’s death. Always alone. Although, I’m sure he isn’t ‘always alone’ if you get my drift, but no woman has ever made it to breakfast with me on the other side of the table the following morning.
This party is like a who’s who in the English Mafia, as my eyes scan the guests, drinking expensive champagne and talking in groups. Men in sharp tuxedos and women draped in jewels and silk glide across the marble floor of the Entrance Hall from one room to another as they mingle, their laughter joining with the clink of crystal glasses. The chandeliers above cast a golden glow over it all, making the diamonds at the throats of the guests glint as they indulge in the luxury.
Sonot my style.
Give me a wicked hunting knife over a diamond necklace any day, and I’ll show you what to do with it.
But tonight, my family’s power is on full display. It’s in the way the guests speak in hushed tones about deals and turf, in the slight nods that are exchanged more often than pleasantries.There’s an undercurrent of danger beneath the elegance—a coiled snake ready to strike.
I’m almost to the bottom of the stairs when the buzz of my phone, stuffed into my bra for my sexy encounter with the hot stranger, rips through my high. I pull it out and glance at the screen.
An anonymous message flashes across it: “Trust no one. Betrayal comes wearing familiar faces.”
It’s not the first threatening text I’ve ever received, and it won’t be the last. Fuck knows, I’ve had worst said to my face. So, I ignore it and shove my phone back in my bra. They say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but in this nest of vipers, it’s hard to tell the difference. But the Hughes family is one of the strongest in the country, and we play for keeps.
Ruthless, relentless, and always on top.
Hitting the bottom of the stairs, I cross over to my dad’s office near the front door.
I push open the heavy oak door without knocking—a move that could get anyone else killed on a good day. But I’m not anyone else, and the blood in my veins commands as much respect as the man standing in the middle of the office, his tailored black suit impeccable even under the current circumstances. My father, with his cold blue eyes and iron grip on the underworld, doesn’t even look up as I enter.
“Elizabeth,” he acknowledges, his voice void of surprise. He knew I was coming. He asked me to be here.
“Dad,” I reply, standing just inside the room. My eyes fixate on the man kneeling in front of him.
Sweat glistens on his forehead, his suit dishevelled, eyes wild with fear. He pleads for mercy, but I know there’s none to be had.
“Please... I have a family,” he gasps.
Rolling my eyes, I stifle the urge to make a noise of disgust. Pathetic. They always say that, but they didn’t think of their family when they backstabbed my dad, so… I shrug.
“And yet you chose betrayal,” my dad answers coolly.
There’s no more begging as my father raises a silenced gun, steady as he signs another death warrant and pulls the trigger. A soft thump, a flash of movement, and the man collapses, blood blooming underneath his head like a crimson rose to unfurl all over the expensive Aubusson rug.
Tilting my head, I step closer as I study the body. No guilt stirs in my black soul, only fascination and an appreciation for the order of our world—our rules.
“Clean this up,” my father instructs someone in the shadows, not looking at the dead man again. Power clings to him, and I feel it ignite something dark and eager within me.
I want to be just like him. It’s what he is grooming me to be, after all.
“Will there be anything else?” I ask.
“Always be careful, Elizabeth. Trust is a luxury we can’t afford,” he says without emotion, only another piece of advice from the king to his heir.
“Always am,” I throw back over my shoulder as I turn to leave, feeling the weight of his gaze on me as I exit into the corridor.
A shudder slowly creeps over the back of my neck. Does he know what I was doing before I came here? It gives me a massive ick, but it also wouldn’t surprise me. Dad knowseverything. But that’s the game. Using his room to wrap my legs around a total stranger while he railed me so hard, my body exploded in an orgasm around his cock, creaming him until he couldn’t hold on any longer…
I bite my lip and feel my clit twitch. But there’s no time for distractions. I’ve got a legacy to claim, an empire to protect, and, if tonight’s any indication, enemies to crush.
2
RAPHAEL
Leaning against a shadowed column,my gaze lingers on the office door where she disappeared a moment ago. There’s a fucking heat in my veins that’s all about her.
