Princess of Darkness (The Dark Prince #3)

by Autumn Winchester

  Ryder was there, making sure that Chase didn’t do anything rash, along with a lawyer he couldn’t remember the name of. It wasn’t a concern at the time, and he just wanted to get on to planning to kill John.

  Shapiro smirked, knowing exactly what the Prince was thinking. He wanted Chase to throw a punch, just to have a reason to take him in.

  The other officer was new and was easily intimidated by the Marcel Prince and the Marcel name. He didn’t know what Chase was capable of, and hopefully, he wouldn’t find out. Chase was tempted to laugh out loud at how he fidgeted and jumped.

  It was Shapiro who destroyed Chase’s office, dumping out every drawer, letting papers and bills litter the floor. Even taking almost every book off the bookshelves, throwing them on the floor without a care. He didn’t even care as he purposely stepped on things, in fact, Chase knew he was doing it on purpose.

  That wasn’t the last thing either. They did the same thing in each bedroom, purposely digging through Summer’s belongings on top of it all.

  “I will find something, and you can be sure I will be back,” Shapiro spat on his way out after making sure no one was left untouched.

  Chase simply flipped him the finger before shutting the door right in his face. His heart beat in his chest in anger. That would be the first person dead on that list.

  "I want pictures taken of the destruction he has caused here and I will be contacting his superiors," Chase spat out the command. “This was entirely uncalled for.”

  Chase had thrown away every piece of clothing that was in Summer’s drawers, already ordering her new things. There was no way he would allow her to wear what that man touched.

  After that little show of fake control, Chase had taken his anger out cursing and cleaning up the mess that fucktwit made.

  Ryder had stayed to help, knowing Chase could, and would, do something that he shouldn’t do yet. He kept quiet, letting the Prince mull things over. When Trent showed up a few hours later, Ryder left to get back to work, the Prince was slightly calmer, but not by much. It was not often that Chase was filled with such rage.

  “Jack is doing well,” Trent stated, just to fill the silence. “Asher should be back soon.”

  Chase ignored the younger, bigger, man.

  “Clare is doing well,” Trent went on, laying a number of papers into a neat pile. “Sarah keeps asking for Summer, though.” She had, daily. Even with being so young, Sarah was worried about her aunt.

  He paused as he looked at his brother. Chase needed to sleep and eat. Even take a shower.

  “Have you slept at all, man?”

  “Would you just shut up?” Chase barked out, not in the mood to talk.

  “Nope,” Trent said, not afraid of the man. “So, have you slept?”

  “Shut up,” Chase seethed, glaring at the man. He had no patience. It didn’t matter if he slept yet or not. Who in the world cared? He surely didn’t.

  “I’ll clean this up, go do something. Run, sleep. Heck, even beat the shit out of my car,” Trent said, his voice commanding but soft. He wasn’t going to let his brother keep all this anger in.

  Before Trent knew what was happening, Chase darted around the desk to him, punching him in the jaw, causing his face to jerk sideways with the amount of pressure from Chase’s fist.

  “Shit!” Trent panted, wisely not returning the punch. He would have any other time. “Go punch the punching bag; that's what it is for!” he shouted, pointing to the doorway. "I didn't tell you to hit me, you fuckwit. I know you play dirty, or I would gladly hold you to a fist fight."

  Chase, seething, had done just that. He worked out for three straight hours, pushing himself as hard as he could. It never helped. It made his anger worse if it was possible. He felt helpless.

  Now, he was beyond tired, but not nearly as stressed as he was that morning. Now, it was time to begin planning a way to bring John out of hiding. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be done. That's what the coming meeting was about strategy to draw out John.

  In the dining room sat his father, Trent, Asher, Ryder, and the guards. Everyone had the same look on their faces. They were all more than ready to get this war over with.

  Chase just wanted his wife back, and he didn’t care what he had to do to do that.

  “How shall we go about this?” Asher asked, rubbing his hands together eagerly. He was ready.

  “What if we make it look like you were killed?” Ivan spoke up, watching his son closely after a moment of thought.

  “No way in hell!” Chase seethed, stalking farther into the room and glaring harder at his father. There was no way he would willingly disappear off the planet. Not when his wife was out there.

  “Calm down, son,” Ivan stated, holding up a hand. “Just think about this for a minute. You know well enough that killing off each man that works for John will not draw him out. It will make him withdraw deeper. He’s smart and he will expect his men to be killed off.

  “We can still take them out, that will not be an issue what-so-ever,” he said, seeing his son was about to interrupt. He held his hand up, telling Chase to keep silent. “But if you died so to speak, John will come out, thinking he can use his own means to find the Princess. Everyone knows she’s not dead, just because Connor is dead and nowhere to be found.

  “With you dead, Chase, no one would question John if he came back. He would think he had a chance. An up above us all.”

  “No,” Chase said flatly, laying his hands on the table, causing a thump as he did so. “I will not go along with this!” his voice was filled with dark threats and worry.

  “It would work,” Trent said, jumping in. “John wouldn’t see this. He would never expect it.”

  “No,” Chase repeated, his voice hard.

  “Yes. You are not yet the Don of this family, and you will not be until I say,” Ivan said, standing. His voice was hard and demanding. “I can make you disappear, giving you a new name, in a new location. No one would know you with a haircut, and new clothing style.”

  “No,” Chase said, his voice weakening. There was no way he could do this. He promised Summer he’d find her, take out John, and make everything better.

  “Only until John is found. Summer will be perfectly fine where she is. You can’t go looking for her. Not until John is burnt to ash,” Ivan stated darkly, the look on his face matching the tone in his voice. “I will have someone watching your every move, even if I have to do it myself.” And he would.

  “Actually, what if you both ‘die’?” Ryder drawled out. “Jack or I would technically be next in line, and no one knows that except for the people in this room. We’ve kept that to ourselves as much as possible already.

  “You both would disappear after a huge gun fight we purposely set up, where we make it look like you both are killed. We get you out from under the watchful eyes of men that hate your guts without anyone knowing any better.”

  “Wouldn’t suicide be better?” Chase grumbled, hating how his father could take control at any given moment.

  “Too easy to pass off,” Ryder said, leaning back in his chair. “Gunfights are fun, dangerous, and harder to fake a death at. But doable. All we need are the blanks and I know a guy who does special effects and knows how to make it look real."

  “No,” Chase said again, all hope gone. His shoulders sagged in defeat.

  “Yes,” Ivan said. “Trent set it up for next week. Gives me time to get my contact to set up a place for us somewhere no one can reach us unless need be.”

  “Father, please,” Chase said, almost begging.

  “This is final. Do not push me,” he responded, glaring at his son. “No one outside of this room is to will know about this. Even our wives.”

  “Yes, sir,” everyone mumbled. Chase was the last as he sank into his chair. He had his doubts that this would work, but the Don had said his piece, and there was nothing Chase would be able to do now. He felt like he was letting Summer down, now that he couldn't be out there looking for J
ohn himself.

  Had Chase failed his Princess after his promises to keep her safe?

  That was not going to stop him. Oh no, Chase would use this time working behind the scenes, and he’d find his wife. It would be worth his ‘death’ to give Summer what she deserved. He’d kill his father if he dared to stop him. He might not be there in person but he would still be searching. If anyone found John, they better leave his death for Chase to handle.

  That man would suffer.

  Chapter 5

  The second week of January flew by, and Summer wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

  After a long nap, Sebastian and Summer had made their way into the small town of Red Feathers Lake to purchase a laptop and camera from an electronic store. Along with a few other things that Sebastian thought would be good to have on hand from other stores.

  Summer loved the town, finding the forest a great appeal to the laid back style everyone had. It was peaceful with less traffic and friendly residents.

  She found out just how popular Sebastian was on their trip, as he talked to nearly everyone. It was known that everyone knew him, and he didn’t bat an eye what-so-ever at anyone that dared to look his way. He was at home and Summer wasn’t sure how to feel about that fact.

  How long had Sebastien been here anyway? Sebastian seemed like he had spent his entire life here.

  While in town, Summer found that she liked it better than she thought she would. No one knew where she had come from, nor looked at her as she was anything other than the small town girl she felt like. She felt like an entirely new person to go with her new name: Grace.

  Simple and to the point.

  “I like it,” Sebastian stated once they were both in the car. “Also, it’s what I called you a time or two when you lived with me.”

  Summer liked her middle name and no one had questioned her about it. She didn’t recall Sebastian calling her anything in particular either.

  The following day, Sebastian began training. He kept it light and easy, but Summer needed to learn as much as she could in the time they had. He had no idea how long they did have, and he would take advantage of it no matter what.

  First, he began by teaching Summer – Grace how to protect herself by taking a man down.

  Step by step, Sebastian worked with her, telling her how to use her knee to hit any man in his family jewels, and that alone would bring any man down with a powerful knee jerk reaction.

  “Hands on my shoulders, or even my biceps. Heck, even my waist. Whatever you can use, use it as a leverage,” Sebastian said, standing in the loft area of the garage with thick mats under both of their socked feet.

  They could easily see down over the top of the few cars he had stored, along with a number of boxes that were there filled with things Sebastian didn’t need. He kept them for a distraction if needed.

  Summer placed her hands on his lower biceps, using him as a leaning post, and slowly brought her knee up, but didn’t actually touch him there. He was several inches taller than she was, and that alone tested her limits with just touching him.

  “Use force, child,” Sebastian said, knowing she was holding back. “I have a shield in place so no harm will come to me. I learned years ago how a powerful woman’s knee can cause damage.”

  Summer didn't ask for him to elaborate on that topic, preferring to not know. Instead, and with a deep sigh, she brought her knee up harder between his legs.

  “Harder,” Sebastian said.

  So she did it again. And again. And again.

  She practiced with Sebastian for over two hours, learning how much pressure was good enough to cause a man lasting damage. Along with a couple moves to easily twist out of if someone was to grab her wrists.

  With time, Sebastian knew that Summer would easily be strong enough to get out of almost any hold. All she needed was a little bit of strength behind her movements. With more practice, she’d be able to perfect her moves.

  “We’ll practice every day for two to three hours,” Sebastian said, feeling that they both had enough for the time being. “Either something like we did today or even the punching bag over there. Sometimes both. We will need to build your stamina up a little more each time. We will also start on weapon training, but we’ll do that in the afternoons three times a week. Possibly more depending on how you take it.”

  Sebastian would teach her how to take down a man in many different ways, but didn’t want to go too far yet. He was still waiting on some test results that Gabriel had taken two weeks before. It wasn’t like the man to not contact his older brother, and that did concern Sebastian.

  “Go wash up,” Sebastian said once they were both back in the house. “I have somewhere I’d like to take you after you shower and dress.”

  “Okay,” Summer said, feeling more than safe here. She was enjoying the lessons and the time to get to know Sebastian better. It was hard to trust anyone, but somehow, she did trust this man. He was like an uncle to her or the father she never had, and only after one week. She was still shocked at how fast she had come to trust he would never hurt her.

  He didn’t let her have time to mope around, keeping her busy as much as possible. Summer was thankful for that. She feared where her mind would go otherwise.

  She still wouldn’t talk about certain things and he didn’t ask. There were things neither of them wanted to share if they didn’t have to. Being here in a place that felt like home was rare, but they weren’t going to waste a minute of it.

  Their bond grew more every day, even for Sebastian who had never really considered having children of his own. He felt a connection with Summer that he was sure was how a father felt for their child.

  Sebastian hoped that in time, Summer would be more willing to keep a lasting bond and open up to him. He knew she needed someone to talk to, someone that would listen without judgment. She still held a fear in her that he was determined to make disappear.

  Sebastian had gone out and bought everything Summer would ever need, and in turn, Summer cooked one meal a day and kept the house cleaned. She had more than enough time to waste while the man was doing whatever he did up in his office during those hours. She didn't mind taking care of the house at all, it was the least she could do. She had offered to do all the cooking, but Sebastian insisted he would cook the other meals. He wanted her to feel at home and he loved cooking as well.

  At night after dinner, Sebastian would help clean up, and then they would talk while watching TV or taking a walk around the property. He wanted to get to know Summer, as Summer. She wasn’t the frightened little girl he had hoped to save. Oh no. She was turning out to be strong willed and even stronger as time grew on. She would be a force to be reckoned with once she could take a man down. Even more so if she could do it with her bare hands. It would have to be taught one step at a time.

  While Summer went to take a shower, Sebastian went to his office, shutting the solid oak door. Picking up his phone, he once again found no missed calls or messages. He wasn’t sure what was going on, and he didn’t know what to do. Gabriel always called when he said he would.

  Laying the phone down, he dug out a new burner phone before dialing his brother, who answered on the fourth ring.

  “Gabriel speaking,” he answered.

  “It’s me,” Sebastian said, his voice low. “Can you talk?”

  “I’m a little drunk, man,” Gabriel said, purposely slurring his words. Gabriel never drank; he refused to. “But I can try to get the order in tomorrow?”

  “Early or late?” Sebastian asked, waiting for the code words he desperately wanted to hear.

  “Eh, mid,” Gabriel said. “Hey, man, what’s your deal?”

  There was some noise in the background that sounded like a fight going on, and it made Sebastian even more confused.

  “That’s fine, G,” Sebastian replied. “How much will it cost me?” He was sure that someone else was listening in, and wasn’t going to dare ask or demand anything else.

&n
bsp; “I don’t know,” Gabriel slurred again. “J’s men are here causing racket; I can’t think. I’ll let you know when we go over the order.”

  “Did that test come back positive? I need to know about that car I needed papers on weeks ago,” Sebastian asked, his voice impatient, needing to know that at least. He was one of the best to talk in code, and no one would know.

  “Oh, yep. All clean,” Gabriel said a little too happily. “Run’s like a baby.”

  “Thanks, I’ll get in touch tomorrow,” Sebastian said before ending the call. It was as he feared, but at the same time, he was thrilled.