Black Wings: A Dark Romance
Page 23
It was a hot day, and I was absently flicking through the mail for the bar—now that I was Erin’s bar supervisor, I had to deal with paperwork and mail—when an official looking letter caught my eye. It was addressed to Ms Cara Westenra.
The bar was quiet, so I darted into the back room and tore open the envelope. I frowned as I saw the law firm logo on the top of the crisp, white sheet of paper inside. I pulled the single sheet free, and my eyes flew to the printed writing.
Dear Ms Westenra,
We write to notify you of the dissolution of Westenra Olympus Holdings. We have received instruction from the current CEO—your stepson Mr Adonis Olympus, that we are to close down all infrastructure, holdings, properties, and any further assets pertaining to Westenra Olympus Holdings with immediate effect.
Mr Olympus has also instructed us to deposit the profits from the sale of all of the above into a single bank account which is to be held in your name only. He relinquishes all rights to the money. Preferring; instead that it be given to you, as sole benefactor, and as his father’s widow.
We write to request that you contact us as soon as possible to provide us with your account details, so that we may pay the estimated 687 million dollars from the proposed dissolution into your account.
Regards,
Eleanor Travis
Chief Associate
I staggered, and almost fell. If there hadn’t been a chair behind me, then I would have landed on the floor.
With her usual impeccable timing, Erin chose that exact moment to walk in. She took one look at my ashen face, and the letter in my hand.
“Oh, no you don’t, missy. Has that son of a bitch contacted you?” She reached for the letter, but I crumpled it into my hand. Holding it against my body like a child holds a cherished toy.
“Erin,” I whispered. “I know that you won’t get it, but I have to go away for a couple of days. Please try to understand?”
She shook her head angrily. “If he’s threatened you, Cara.”
I almost smiled. It was tough, getting used to hearing her call me by the name my father gave me. “He’s trying to give me almost seven hundred million dollars,” I whispered.
It was Erin’s turn to need the seat. Her mouth had dropped open to create a surprised “O.”
“Sweet Lord, that’s a fortune. Where do you have to go to sign for it? I can come with you, Cara. You don’t have to face him alone.”
I shook my head, and laughed a little. “I’m going to tell him that I don’t want it.”
Her eyes became so wide, I thought her eyeballs might fall out of the sockets. “Are you actually being serious?”
“I don’t want his money,” I said honestly.
No, you want him, my treacherous mind whispered.
“Well if you want justice, then we have to go to the police. He’s trying to buy you off, Cara.” Erin spoke with sincerity.
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think so.”
“Why else would he offer you that much money?”
“Because he’s sorry,” I said.
Erin frowned. “That’s the most expensive apology I ever heard of.”
I gave her a pleading look. “A couple of days?”
She swept me into a hug. “Are you going to be okay?”
I don’t know.
“Yes,” I said, with much more confidence than I felt.
She released me from the hug. “I’m going to worry myself stupid until you get back.”
“Thank you.” I smiled, and kissed her on the cheek. Then I went to pack.
* * *
On the flight, I had briefly wondered if he would live at his father’s house now. It was a house fit for the man who ruled all of demon-kind, after all. But I dismissed the idea. Intuition told me that he would still be at his own house.
As I walked along the strangely familiar gravel path, toward the door, I felt the stirrings of a panic attack. I wondered for the millionth time, what the hell I was doing coming here.
The lamb is choosing to go back to the lion’s den.
I raised my hand to knock at the front door. But before my hand could even graze the wood, the door was pulled open by Esther. I froze, not sure what to do. The power had shifted between this woman and me. I was in control now, but she still intimidated me.
“I’m happy to see you, Ms Westenra. He’s in his office. I think he will be very glad to see you.”
I pushed past the woman who had been a part of my torment all those months ago. Walking slowly up the stairs, I was reminded of the day I escaped—a memory that I tried to push out of my mind—and when I got to the top, I found my feet naturally taking me toward “my” room; until I caught myself, and headed to his office.
I stood in front of his door, and took three deep breaths to calm the storm which raged within me; before tapping twice against the wood.
“Come in.”
My soul cried out in response to the sound of his voice.
I pushed open the door, and stepped into his office. The blinds were drawn, and it was dark and gloomy. He was sat behind his desk—half hidden by shadow—and although he was still the most beautiful thing that I’d ever seen, he looked more haunted than ever.
He had dark circles around his eyes, and despite being clean-shaven, and dressed immaculately, he looked wrong. He looked broken. There was a bottle of whiskey and an empty glass on the desk in front of him.
“Cara.” He stood up quickly, and my heart missed a beat.
“Hello, Adonis,” I whispered.
“What are you doing here?” He moved around the desk, and just like that, he was standing in front me.
I held the lawyer’s letter up for him to see. “This.”
“You only needed to call them, you know,” he said sadly.
I shook my head. “I came to tell you that I can’t take it. I don’t want it.”
His blue eyes burned into mine. “But I want you to have it. When Charles killed James, he swallowed up your father’s half of the business. You own half of Westenra Olympus Holdings, by right.”
I smiled serenely. “You’re not my master anymore, Adonis. I don’t have to do what you say. What would you do without the business, anyway?”
He shrugged, and turned to pour himself a drink. He reached across the desk and grabbed a second glass from a drawer—which he filled for me. I took the glass, and sipped at the whiskey.
“I’m thinking of living a simple life, in a beach hut in the Maldives.” He laughed darkly.
I smiled back at him. “I could only imagine you in a five-star hotel in the Maldives. Not a beach hut.”
He suddenly snatched my whiskey from my hand, and placed both glasses on his desk.
“Adonis, what are you doing?” I asked.
He placed his hands gently on both of my cheeks, forcing me to keep eye contact with him. I could see the pain inside his eyes, like a living thing.
He swallowed. “Cara, nothing I could ever do would make amends for the evil you’ve suffered because of me. Take the money. Fuck, donate it to animal shelters if that makes you happy. But be happy. That’s all I want for you.”
His hands against my skin sent electricity coursing through my body. My very core burned with a desire that was so primal, and completely unexplainable. I wanted to cry for how much I needed the man who stood before me.
“I can’t be happy,” I whispered.
“Why?” He asked me, and the pain in his voice was so raw, it brought tears to my eyes.
I took a deep breath. This wasn’t the reason that I’d come here.
Or was it?
The decision I made in the next thirty seconds, would be the defining moment of both of our lives. It was the difference between two centuries of desolation, and a legacy of happiness.
I stepped closer to him. “Because I don’t think I can ever be happy, unless I’m with you.”
He closed his eyes for what felt like eternity. I held my breath, and watched his beautiful
face. Looking for some sign that he felt the same way as I did.
Just as I began to lose hope, he spoke.
“Are you sure?” His voice was rough, and husky.
“I’m sure,” I said without hesitation.
“Be very sure, eighty-eight. Because if we make this promise to each other, right here, and right now, then we will both be bound by it for eternity. We will belong to each other forever. You know what I am, Cara. I don’t train women anymore. We don’t need to, thanks to Emma. But I am the darkness. And I will always be the darkness.”
I leaned up to place a chaste kiss on his lips. “Then I am the light. I am your light, Adonis Olympus. And every now and then, I will join you, and walk with you in the darkness, and my life will be complete. We will keep each other safe for the rest of our lives. Because I love you.”
He crumbled then. Wrapping his strong arms around my waist, he pulled me to him with more violence than he’d ever used when I was his slave.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” he murmured, before he crushed his lips to mine.
I returned the kiss, opening my mouth to allow him to take back possession of me, and I knew that this was what I had been looking for all of my life. Home wasn’t a place, it never had been. Home was him.
And I was finally home.
The End
About the Author
Winter is a lifelong fan of the Dark Romance genre, and in 2018 she decided she needed to try her hand at writing it. The idea for Black Wings quickly formed, and the book became a reality in January 2019. Winter now tentatively describes herself as an author. But mostly she’s a lover of bad boys, and mother of cats!
You can connect with me on:
https://twitter.com/WinterFoxAuthor
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Epilogue
About the Author