Scandalous Prince

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “She loved… me,” I whispered, my voice almost completely gone.

  “She loved me too,” he said with a chilling voice. “And she’s gone.”

  “Wait.”

  The door to my office slammed shut.

  I needed to fight, or I was going to die. I couldn’t succumb. I tried to get up and fell back down in the chair, and then I crashed to the floor, as flames licked up the curtains of my office and danced up the ceiling threatening to swallow the room whole.

  I reached for the chair and tried to drag myself across the floor, but it was useless, my body felt paralyzed, my vision was going dark.

  My brain told me to pull myself to the door, but my limbs weren’t responding, and my eyes were so heavy it was painful.

  Smoke filled the room at such a rapid pace that I was suffocating, and I couldn’t even cough. With the combination of not being able to breathe from the drugs and the smoke, I would die before I would feel the first burn.

  She wouldn’t see me like this.

  Nobody was going to save me.

  But at least she was safe.

  At least she was home.

  My eyes burned as I squeezed out a few coughs, gasping for air.

  And then I saw her.

  Of course, I did because I was dying.

  Really truly dying.

  “I’m s-sorry,” I whispered, reaching out to Violet. “Love you…”

  My last thoughts were for God to keep her safe from monsters like Sancto.

  Monsters like me.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Heaven feels like her touch. I imagine Hell feels like the loss of it. —Valerian Petrov

  Violet

  “Something’s wrong,” I murmured as the SUV pulled up to the house. I’d had a bad feeling ever since we landed.

  Sancto ran out of the house.

  He never ran.

  Everything about him screamed purpose and control.

  And right now, he looked—out of his mind, crazed, and just a bit evil as he made his way toward one of the black SUVs.

  “Ash, stop him. I don’t know why, but—” An acrid odor teased my nose as we got out of the SUV, and I sniffed then gagged. “Oh God, that smells like smoke!”

  A gunshot tore the air, and something pinged off our SUV. Sancto stood holding a gun, aiming it at our group, at least the ones already out of the car. I knew that Junior would see what was going on from the driver’s side and do what he usually did, mess people up.

  “It’s too late!” Sancto’s eyes dripped with hatred, shocking me to my core. He’d always been so kind, so gentle. “He should have died! He killed her!”

  I knew what he was talking about.

  Valerian’s mom.

  I held up my hands. “Sancto, think about this, you can’t kill the Petrov boss without consequences.”

  “Hah! You know they were going to vote me to take over from Andrei next? And it would have worked if you hadn’t whored yourself out!”

  I glared. “You know what else is going to work?”

  He waved the gun like he didn’t care.

  “I’m legally his wife, and I’ll fight you to the bitter end for control of this Family. I’m sure it’ll help that I’m his successor according to our marriage contract.” I was lying through my teeth, but I needed to give the others time to take him down as I slowly walked toward him. The smell of smoke was getting worse, and everything in me wanted to race into that mansion to get to the man I loved. But for now, I just needed to stay calm and get to Valerian—if he was still alive. I would not cry. Not now.

  He needed me now.

  He needed his partner, his queen, to be strong.

  I jutted my chin out at Sancto.

  Eyes demented, his hand shook as he pointed the gun right at my forehead. “You’re a lying bitch!”

  The gun aimed at my head one minute; the next, a gunshot rang out, and blood covered my fingers and part of my face as Sancto went down.

  Junior rushed toward me. “You okay?”

  “Nice shot.” Serena grinned like there wasn’t a dead body lying down in front of me. “I mean, you were a little to the left but, we can’t all be perfect.”

  Junior rolled his eyes. “It was perfect, and you’re just mad I got it first.”

  “True,” she grumbled.

  My family was insane!

  Smoke billowed out of the house. “Valerian!” I screamed, and then I ran. He was in there, and he had to be alive. He had to be.

  Ash ran in with me because, of course, Ash would run toward danger. That was how both of us were programmed, Dad’s fault.

  I coughed and turned toward the billowing smoke coming out of the closed office door.

  “Wait!” Ash felt the knob and snatched his hand back with a curse. “Vi, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

  “KICK IT OPEN BEFORE I KILL YOU!” I shrieked.

  “Fuck, you’re insane!” He shoved me behind him, then kicked open the door and jumped back. Black smoke roiled out in waves, quickly filling the hallway. The flames were just getting to the ceiling after climbing up the curtains.

  And my husband was lying lifeless on the floor.

  “Valerian!” I rushed toward him.

  “I’m s-sorry,” he croaked. “Love… you.”

  Ash shoved past me and felt for a pulse. “It’s slow.” He coughed. “But he’s alive.” As some of the others rushed into the room with us carrying fire extinguishers we kept in the SUV, Ash grabbed Valerian by the shoulders and dragged him out of the smoke into the entry hall. “Time to be the doctor you were born to be and save your husband, Vi.”

  I gave him a shaky nod. “Um… umm. Gr-grab one of the med kits from the car, and search the house for where they keep their emergency supplies. Most of the Italian families have them in their training rooms, but I never saw his. You have to hurry; I don’t know how much smoke he’s inhaled he needs oxygen.”

  I swear I lost years off my life in the minutes it took for Junior to bring me one of the med kits we always traveled with. I pulled out the small O2 tank and covered his mouth and nose with the mask then tested his oxygen levels.

  My hands shook as I checked his eyes; they were dilated, was he poisoned by something?

  Junior left me and joined Tank, Annie, Izzy, and King, where they were hopefully able to put out the fire. Then Ash was back with another med kit, a larger one that looked like it belonged in an emergency room. Without waiting for instructions, he tore open the IV.

  “Vi,” he barked. “What next? We need to know what next?”

  Abruptly my sense of calm kicked into gear. “I-I think he should be responding. His oxygen levels are still in the nineties, so he didn’t get too much smoke. I think he’s going to recover. He wasn’t in there long enough to pass out from lack of oxygen. There’s something else! I glanced toward the door where the smoke drifting out had slowed and now looked more grayish white. “Look at his desk, see if there’s anything he touched, a syringe, anything that can help me figure out what’s in his system.”

  I searched Valerian’s arms for any puncture wounds, then his neck, behind his ears, but nothing was there. His pulse was strong, but it was slow.

  Maybe not poison; maybe drugged.

  Drugged. That was it. If Sancto wanted him alive enough to die in the fire or pass out, he wouldn’t kill him with poison first.

  Ash ran back with a small glass. “This was on his desk; it smells like whiskey but—”

  I took the glass from him and sniffed inside. Something was off, and if my guess was correct, he either dumped in a shit ton of sleeping meds or added a cocktail a true doctor would give…

  “Nikolai,” I murmured.

  Growing up, we had all seen way too much, but something that had stuck with me was seeing Nikolai in action, and he’d pulled off some strange medical miracles without blinking an eye. One of which was to kill a man while he remained alive.

  Ash stared at me. “Nikolai?”

&n
bsp; “Don’t you see? It’s a particular expertise of Nikolai’s, drugging—” I grabbed Ash’s arm and tugged. “It’s something Sancto would have had access to. He flew in Nikolai’s plane— Ash! Call Nikolai now. I think this is his drug, it’s his own special concoction. He calls it JR88. It paralyzes you but makes it possible to feel everything; too much of it causes shallow breathing, hallucinations, and you can even pass out from it. If I’m right, he should know what counteracts it because right now, the only thing we can do is hope his body processes it.”

  Ash was already on his cell before she finished speaking, and within minutes Nikolai was on his way. He stayed on the line with Ash holding the phone on speaker as Nikolai told me what I needed to do.

  “Adrenaline,” he said calmly as though the love of my life wasn’t dying in front of me. “A good old fashion shot to the heart should do it.”

  I glanced up at the others who were surrounding us.

  Every face paled. Heads shook as if to say, “not it.”

  “What?” I snapped. “You guys can shoot a guy in the head, but when it comes to stabbing them with a needle, you pass out?”

  Junior shuddered. “I hate needles.”

  “I can’t even give blood,” Ash reminded me.

  I rolled my eyes. “Good thing you have an almost doctor on your hands then.” I reached for the adrenaline and told my hands to stop shaking; I didn’t like Nikolai saying it “should” work. I clenched my teeth. It had to work because shooting someone with adrenaline wasn’t exactly safe.

  Especially if they were healthy.

  He could easily have a heart attack and die.

  “Damn it, you better come back to me, Valerian Petrov. I love you.” I added a quick prayer under my breath, pulled the cap off the needle, then jabbed it directly into Valerian’s chest. And pushed down the plunger.

  He immediately sucked in a breath and started coughing. “The fuck is that?” He rasped. He squinted like he was having trouble focusing. “Is that a needle?” Then he sagged, his head lolling to the side.

  “I think he passed out,” King said from his quiet spot in the corner. He’d helped everyone as much as possible and was actually the one who was starting the process of cleaning out Valerian’s office like he couldn’t stand to watch his brother lying there lifeless. “He also hates needles. I think it’s a family trait.”

  Seconds later, Valerian woke up, after I’d removed the needle and the trauma that went along with it.

  “Is this real?” His voice was hoarse, and he still spoke a bit slowly.

  “It’s real.” My eyes filled with tears as I pulled him into my arms; I couldn’t stop shaking as I held him tight. “I’m sorry we were late.”

  Everyone burst out laughing just as Nikolai made his way into the house with about a dozen associates.

  I was too focused on Valerian to even care how pissed everyone looked as they searched the house and moved toward the office.

  Servants and staff, some of whom I recognized, appeared as if out of thin air. Where had they been when Valerian was attacked?

  “Clean up,” Nikolai barked. “And once the boss is up and walking, we find any more traitors and shoot them on sight, no excuses. And spread the word to his ‘staff.’ He will spill as much blood as he needs to, don’t make me torture it out of any of you.”

  A chill swept over the room as Valerian slowly moved out of my arms and to his feet. I wanted to pull him back down then slap him for thinking he could just get up and walk after nearly dying.

  “Valer—”

  Ash nudged me. “He’s the boss. He needs to show strength, let him go.”

  I wanted to cover him with my freaking body like a shield.

  Instead, with shaking hands, I helped Valerian stand, he took two steps toward Nikolai. Two other men I didn’t recognize joined them.

  And then I watched my husband take a gun from Nikolai, walk with authority toward three men who were hovering by the door, and shoot each of them in the head, no questions asked.

  “Shit.” Ash hissed next to me.

  Even Junior looked stunned.

  Because this wasn’t Breaker anymore, was it? This was the new Petrov boss. This was Valerian.

  And Valerian Petrov shot first and asked questions later.

  I never thought I would be the type of person who was proud of someone for killing. I was training to be a doctor, my job was to save lives, not take them, but I had a certain respect for Valerian then, for the way he had nearly died then took care of business.

  Protecting his Family.

  Protecting me.

  Whatever the cost.

  He leaned a hand against the wall for support. I was certain he was still dizzy from the drugs, but he stayed upright as he handed the gun back to Nikolai and turned to the remaining men in the room.

  “Cross me, and I kill you. Threaten my Family, and I’ll turn you over to The Doctor.” He nodded toward Nikolai. “Only so I can bring you close to death, revive you, and do it over again, and when you’re close to your last breath, I’ll bring in your family and shoot them while you watch, while I release you and let you live a life without everything you love, while you beg for death. That’s your future if you don’t follow me.”

  One by one, the men approached him, each of them reaching for his left shoulder, they braced arms, and it continued until every man in that hallway pledged their allegiance.

  To the untrained eye, Valerian might appear fine, but I could tell his actions were taking a toll on him. He needed to lie down and not worry about getting stabbed.

  “Go.” Serena shared a look with me. “We’ll help clean up and let the dads know what went down, which probably means we’ll have at least one of them on a plane headed in this direction.” She drew in a long breath. “Most likely, Tex.”

  “Good.” I sighed. “He hasn’t spoken to him since…”

  King shoved off his spot on the wall and left us.

  I wanted to cry.

  This wasn’t the future Valerian should have had.

  But it was ours now. We just needed to pick up the broken pieces.

  Together.

  As husband and wife.

  I took a deep breath, walked over to him, and then pulled him in for a hug. “You need to go lie down,” I whispered for his ears alone. “Doctor’s orders.”

  He clung to me, breathing me in then releasing a dark chuckle. “I’ve always had a doctor-patient fantasy—ouch, I nearly died!”

  I rolled my eyes. “I pinched you, it’s not like I stuck a giant ass needle in your chest to revive you—oh wait, I did do that. Weird, it’s almost like I saved your life.”

  He kissed my forehead. “I hate that we’re even now.”

  I smiled at that. “Nah, it’s kind of perfect, almost like a happily ever after.”

  His eyebrows shot up as we both looked around the entryway at the dead bodies, lingering wisps of smoke and blood. “Well, I can honestly say I’m wrong. Guess happily ever afters aren’t boring after all.”

  “We literally have to step over a dead body to get to the stairs.” I pressed a kiss to his mouth. “Let’s go.”

  “I’d throw you over my shoulder and run if I could.” He wrapped an arm around me as I helped him up the stairs.

  And when we finally made it into the master bedroom, I wanted to cry with the rightness of it.

  “I’m home.” Tears filled my eyes.

  Valerian turned to me, cupping my face with his hands. “You’ll always be home as long as you’re with me.”

  Our mouths met in a harsh kiss, one that was almost painful as he reached for my shirt and jerked me closer.

  I tried breaking away, but he held me tight. For a man who had nearly died, he seemed pretty freaking strong.

  He angled his head, deepening the kiss.

  He tasted like fire and smoke.

  It was perfect.

  Like he was refined by the flames, stronger because of the struggle.

  And he
was mine.

  “You need to sleep,” I whispered against his mouth.

  “I nearly went into a forever sleep, so let me have you. I’ll even lie down and let you take complete advantage.” His smile was so beautiful, I couldn’t say no. “Ah, I can see the excitement in your eyes. Does innocent little Violet want to be… on top?”

  I smacked him and then realized I probably looked crazy with blood and smoke on my skin; I moved away only to have him pin me down again.

  “Blood is blood, I’m giving you my soul, my life, and erasing it right now.”

  He grabbed one of my boobs and pinched a nipple, earning him another slap.

  And then I was slapping, he was pinching, and we somehow ended up on the bed. I tugged away his shirt. “Don’t move.”

  “Wouldn’t dare.” He grinned, putting his arms behind his head as I unbuttoned his pants and tugged them down past his feet.

  How was it possible for him to look so damn sexy? Smelling like smoke but lying there in nothing but golden skin, perfect muscles, and black boxer briefs.

  “No commando today?” I asked, dipping my fingertips inside the band of the briefs.

  He jerked beneath me. “I was trying to be professional, you know, boss and all.”

  “Screw professional.” I winked.

  “Mmm, how about you just screw me?”

  I leaned over him and licked just below his belly button, gazing up at him as a tsunami of heat rushed over my body. With my tongue, I drew small circles, causing his hips to pump into my chest; he was hard beneath me, hot, needy. That made me smile as I locked eyes with him and whispered, “Beg.”