Page 38 of His Beloved Princess
Brothers
Bastian
Iwatched Peter enter the VIP lounge, his eyes narrowed and his posture tense. He knew something wasn't right. My bodyguards didn't stop following him; they were right behind his back, and he didn’t like it. He tried to appear calm in the presence of Aston, a six-foot-eight-inch-tall, two-hundred-seventy-pound-heavy monster, but his face revealed some concerns.
Well, I would be worried, too, if that beast blocked my way out.
"Why did you summon me, brother?" Peter asked solemnly, hiding his hands in his pants pockets. I knew he was teasing me with his antics. It was his coping mechanism. Or maybe he really had no idea why he was here.
"Because you slept with my princess," I replied in a low voice, gulping down the remaining whiskey and standing. In a millisecond, Peter's expression changed; his eyes widened, and all the blood disappeared from his face. He was as pale as a sheet of paper and out of words. I caught him completely by surprise.
"Yeah, she told me about your little," I paused momentarily, staring into his shocked face, "adventure." I came closer to him, expecting some clever response, joke, or anything from him, but he was quiet. I was momentarily afraid that he had stopped breathing as well.
"Do you want to tell me about it, too?" I inquired, tilting my head slightly. I knew how to scare the shit out of him. My face was an emotionless mask, and I acted calm when, in reality, I was furious with his lack of cooperation.
He should've told me some stupid story about their night together, or maybe he should've tried to deny it. Yet nothing helpful came out of his mouth. The only thing that popped into my mind to explain his hesitation was that he didn't know how much I knew. This raised questions, and red flags were screaming at me, alerting me that he was hiding the truth.
"Why?" He lifted his eyebrows, moving slowly to the right, putting more distance between us, but he only almost bumped into another bodyguard. "You know how it feels to fuck her, Bast. You don't need me to describe it."
It felt like a bomb exploded inside of me. One thing was that he slept with her, but another was his disrespect. It wasn't something I would tolerate.
Not now, not ever.
One look at Aston was enough for him to grab Peter's neck and push him to his knees. Another guy stood on his other side, holding his shoulder so he couldn't move. He didn't have a chance against them, yet he was grinning like an idiot.
"Do you think it's funny?" I asked in a sweet voice, crouching at his eye level. He was an arrogant bastard. This wasn't his first time in a situation like this. He worked for the Russian mafia, and his experience was excessive. Yet, in my opinion, he still didn't understand that he could end up seriously hurt. I wasn't fooling around. If he touched my girl without her permission, I would break him in half.
"Don't play friendly, brother." He shook his head, his fake grin disappearing. "We both know that you'll put me in the hospital no matter what I say."
"A hospital is still better than a cemetery," Andreas remarked, raising his glass. I ignored his clever comment, even when I agreed with him. I'd rather pay attention to my little brother.
"Did you rape her?" I burst out, trembling in fury, unable to control my temper any longer. This game took too long. I needed an answer.
Much to my surprise, Peter looked like lightning had hit him. His eyes almost fell out of their sockets; he opened and closed his mouth a few times in a row without any sound coming out, and he was drifting his gaze between Andreas and me like we'd just fallen from the moon.
"Are you nuts?" he whined eventually, blinking in confusion. My question stunned him, but my instinct told me this wasn't a completely honest reaction. Even if he was shocked that I suspected him of doing something so outrageous, he was well aware of my knowledge about his extracurricular activities. He knew that I wouldn't have asked this because of some rumors. He was on the thinnest ice, and it could break with one wrong word.
"It's a yes or no question, Pete," Andreas said, coming closer. Usually, he was the one who needed to be stopped from beating the living daylights out of our half-brother. But this time, he was the middle man—the voice of reason. How bizarre this situation was.
"No!" Peter shouted, glaring at us. "I didn't rape Electra or any other woman ever!"
"Are you sure you didn't drug her and that she was unaware of what was happening?" Andreas continued, ignoring my groaning. I wanted to tear my hair out and scratch my skin until the bones were visible only from hearing about this. I prayed that Pete wouldn't answer yes, not because of him, but because of her. I couldn't imagine that she could’ve gone through all of this alone.
"Can we talk like normal people?" Peter asked instead of answering, earning a hard stare from me. "Please?"
"Let him go," Andreas ordered my bodyguards, but they ignored his commands. They knew who the boss was, and I smirked. But I nodded when Andreas gave me a pointed look with an annoyed grimace.
"Thank you," Pete mumbled, standing and adjusting his jacket back in its place. "Now," he started, taking a deep breath, "I'll tell you everything, but promise me that you'll let me finish before you kill me."
"He's not going to murder you." Andreas rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. He hated being the referee. Being involved in arguing was much more fun for him—a typical lawyer.
"He pretty much looks like he is," Peter objected, flashing me a glance.
With a deadly expression, I sat on the red velvet bench behind the table, motioning for him to join me. Slowly, he came and plopped down, watching every move of the security guys who were standing behind him.
"Talk!" I barked, taking the drink from the waitress, who looked worried. My men kicked everyone out from the lounge, and then there were seven half-naked beautiful girls leaning against the bar, waiting for commands. I didn't want an audience for this conversation, yet Denise didn't send them away until I almost yelled at her. I felt like she wanted to somehow protect Peter from my wrath. Ever since they met for the first time, she had a soft spot for him.
"I went to the bar that night to pick up a girl for my client," Pete spoke, staring at his hands in his lap, and I inhaled a sharp breath. I hated this story already. "Electra was there with her friend; I'm sure she was on the hunt."
