Page 42 of Steal a King (Five Kings 2)

Lucas

Iam wrapping up my third meeting when Ella heads back into the room. My heart actually sighs with relief when I see her because I wouldn’t be surprised if she never came back.

Todd Hardy, the guy from the Vegas Herald is spouting some bullshit about an in-depth interview and I can’t get rid of him quickly enough. The fact Dixie arranged this at all has me incensed. I have a PR department for Christ’s sake, the last thing I need is a journalist watching my every move, ready to manufacture random crap about my life and everyone in it.

Feeling irritable, I notice Ella clutching the coffee and smile to myself. She is keeping up the pretense even now, and I have to admire her for that. I fix Todd with an impatient look and growl, “I’m sorry Todd, we will need to reschedule. See Dixie on your way out and ask to book a meeting with Heather Daniels, my PR consultant. She will provide you with everything you need.”

“But…”

“Good day, Todd.”

I stand and he has no choice but to do the same, but I can tell he’s pissed. He’s probably been bragging to anyone who will listen about his scoop as they call it, and yet I couldn’t give a shit. I just need to be with Ella, to make her understand, to protect her and make her safe—from me.

Todd leaves with a fucked off attitude and as the door slams behind him, I turn to Ella.

“Can I expect to be wearing that coffee?”

She looks thoughtful. “You deserve it.”

“I know.”

For a moment she hesitates, probably planning her words carefully, and then she shakes her head and the hurt expression in her eyes kills my soul.

“Why, Lucas?”

I say nothing and just turn to the window and look out over Vegas. It’s a view I’ve seen a million times and even to me it will never get old. I love it here. I thrive on living here, and yet it’s also my own personal hell.

“Ella, you think my life is easy, that I have freedom—I don’t.”

She perches on the edge of the table and looks at me with interest. “Go on.”

I look into her beautiful eyes and see something in them that settles my soul. It’s a feeling of contentment, of familiarity that I haven’t felt for some time. It’s more than sex with Ella, it’s her spirit that captivates me and something deep inside me that tells me to hang on tight and never let go. But how can I, how can I put her in danger just to satisfy my own selfish needs?

“You may think I have it all, maybe I did once, but that changed in the most violent of ways.”

I’m still in two minds whether to tell her at all, but now I’ve started, I feel a strange desire to talk about something only Adam has heard before.

“My parents weren’t my biological ones. I won’t go into the reason I ended up with them, it’s something I still can’t deal with even after all this time.”

My chest heaves because the one nightmare that still haunts me is something I choose not to think about. If I did, I’m not sure I would survive past the day. Some memories are so painful, so bitter, they cut you on every shard that escapes from the impenetrable box you lock them in. Their very existence is like a poison that seeps into your sub conscious and molds your soul. My own personal hell is kept well hidden in a box I am tempted never to open and revisit the time when life changed for me forever.

Some memories are easier to deal with and so I take a deep breath and say sadly, “My father was the Casino King, my mother his queen. They ruled Vegas, and everything I have inherited was their vision. When they adopted me, they gave me everything. Maybe it’s because they couldn’t have children of their own, but I was loved and adored and molded into their idea of the perfect son.”

I smile because I have genuine love for my parents that has never dimmed and Ella’s expression is hopeful and her eyes filled with compassion because she knows I’m about to destroy this perfect image with my next sentences.

“I was sent away to the best schools, and I had everything, love, money and a life many can only dream about. When I graduated, I was brought into the company and started on the bottom rung of the ladder to earn my position as the rightful prince to rule by my father’s side. It was an exciting time, and I loved it. The power, the responsibility, the fact I was trusted and my opinion mattered. I loved working with my father and never thought it would be any different.”

Ella must see the pain enter my eyes and she shifts and heads around the table and to my surprise, sits on my lap and wraps her arm around my shoulders, leaning her head on it and whispering, “It’s ok, Lucas, you don’t have to open an old wound if it causes too much pain. I understand things haven’t been easy for you, you owe me nothing.”

My heart almost bursts at this sudden show of kindness. Familiarity that only comes between two people who were made to be together. It’s as if Ella is an extension of me—the better part of me and my hand tightens around her waist and I know I need to make her understand.

“We were happy and I have no reason to doubt that, even now. My father was a good man, ruthless but fair and well respected by just about everyone. Then it all changed one weekend.”

My heart thumps as that day comes back to haunt me, and I feel a sharp pain where any feeling used to live inside me.

“I was working late and had a visit. The cops came and were escorted in by security. As soon as I saw their faces, I knew it was bad, and they quickly told me my parents had been involved in an accident and it wasn’t good. Mom was in theater. She had lost both her legs in the accident and they were battling to save her life. Dad was awake but suffered internal injuries that were life threatening.”

“I’m so sorry, Lucas.” Ella presses her lips to my neck and tightens her hold and it gives me strength to finish the story.

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