She led me towards the wooden pier that led to the lighthouse. In the shade under the boards, she sighed. It was like being in the sun had been holding back her tears.
“I don’t want to go back to them, Nikolai,” she said, eyes becoming misty as she looked up at me.
At that moment, I’d have done anything to make it better. To soothe her pain. I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. She tilted her face towards me and I kissed the tears from her wet cheeks, then kissed her lips.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I reminded her.
“I have no choice but to go back. I have to finish this,” she said, blinking away the tears. “I have to make it right.”
“I overheard them talking about me a few nights ago…” Ana said, looking out to sea again.
“Rachel and Kaleb?” I asked, my interest had been piqued. She nodded as confirmation.
“They were talking about whether they trust me enough to start arranging the marriage. Kaleb is worried that I’ve been working with you all this time, to screw them over.” She barked a quiet, bitter laugh and turned back to me. “I hadn’t thought he’d be the one to suspect me, but he mentioned it. Rachel was insistent on the marriage. I was surprised, I guess, I figured it would have been Kaleb who wanted it more.”
I ground my teeth together at the mention of the ‘marriage’ that was definitely not happening. Instead of showing my anger, I tried to put myself in her shoes. “And Ambrose? I’m assuming he wasn’t privy to this conversation.”
She shook her head before explaining, “I’m pretty sure he wasn’t in there, but I’m not certain. He was mad about something last night though. He was drunk when he came in, he was yelling at Rachel when I confronted him. He didn’t take too kindly to that, but he stormed off into his room without any more drama.”
“You should have told me last night, I’d have come back for you, ” I murmured into her hair. “I don’t want you there at all, but especially if it’s not safe.”
“I am safe, it’s just…” She hugged me tighter and breathed audibly. “I just miss home. But I’m safe - I can take care of myself,” she said in an effort to be reassuring.
I smiled and looked along the beach over the top of her head. I knew she could, but I also knew that I didn’t want her to have to. I wanted to look after her. I wanted to protect her. She’d been without protection, without a real family, for so long that I wanted to give her that at the very least, if not so much more.
I sighed out loud for what seemed to be the fiftieth time in the last ten minutes. I didn’t want to leave him. That was my only thought as we drove back to my parent’s house. Well, that and the fact that he was indeed dropping me off. I had half expected Nikolai to kidnap me again and whisk me back to Boston. I wouldn’t have disapproved of that idea, but he played the gentlemen card perfectly.
I tried to be discreet as I watched him drive. I couldn’t believe the man in front of me was the same person I ran from only months ago. Everything had changed, my whole life had been shaken and stirred and completely scrambled. I couldn’t love my new life more if I tried, well except maybe if I weren’t stuck in a revenge circle.
But nothing could’ve helped that. I was on a warpath, and I wouldn’t be deterred. I would get what I wanted… otherwise, this whole trip had been pointless.
“You’re distracting me.” His voice was gruff as he called me out. Apparently I hadn’t been discreet at all.
But fuck, he was just so gorgeous.
“I don’t want to leave you.” My voice was only a notch above a whisper. The only sign that he’d heard me, his grip tightening around the steering wheel. But he didn’t respond.
Despite being caught out, my eyes continued to drink him in, memorising the way he looked in this moment. I felt myself being dramatic, I knew I would be home soon enough but I didn’t know how much longer I could take it, being apart from him.
What was that? I sprung up, suddenly wide awake in bed after hearing a soft creak outside the bedroom door.
I’d found it hard sleeping at night lately, the Varela house alone had me on edge - the people inside of it were a whole other level of my nightmare. One that I wished I’d never stepped foot into - voluntarily at that.
“Ambrose?”
What the fuck?!
It only took a second to confirm that it was him. I reached blindly for the bedside lamp and flicked it on. My eyes blinked at the sudden brightness but quickly adjusted and took in the figure that stood at the bottom of my bed.
“You’ve ruined it.”
“What?” I grabbed at the alarm clock and swung it around, the bright red digits told me it was after three in the morning.
Why was he here? In my room, at three in the morning. If he was here to talk about what happened at dinner, then I wasn’t interested.
I squinted harder to take a long hard look at him. I must have been missing something. Like a missing piece of the jigsaw that had been knocked off the table and kicked under the couch.
And there it was. I had spotted it.
The glint of silver from the gun in his hand was too distracting to miss.
A knife of panic struck me deep, through to my very core. What the fuck was happening?
I think somewhere inside myself I know it would come to this. After only a month spent here, in this house, I knew our animosity would come to a halting … sooner or later. The moment we met, Ambrose decided he didn’t like me nor did he want me around. And he hadn’t made any effort to hide that fact, not even from our parents, even going so far as to make a point of it. Like every time he ignored me at dinner.
From what I’d seen, and heard, he had a good relationship with Rachel and Kaleb. I don’t know how, if he cared so much for them, he couldn’t at least shield them from his hatred. To control himself. But there had been none of that the whole time I’d been here. I had tried my hardest to not take his hatred personally. After all, he hadn’t known me well enough or long enough to make such a sound judgement about my personality.
It was jealousy. Which was a new, and very odd, emotion for me to process.
I knew what he wanted, what he had his eye on his entire life. Then I walked in and took it away from him. He was raised to think he would be the one to inherit the family name - the fortune, the business and the title. The golden throne.
In a twisted way, I sort of felt bad for him. I wasn’t here to steal anything from him, I only wanted answers. My time here was with purpose. It was my — no, our — parents. They were the ones that had the fancy, elaborate plan to marry their long-lost daughter off to the highest bidder. And in their eyes, this was just business. I was the smarter business decision over Ambrose. I didn’t even know if the Bellucci family had someone Ambrose could marry.
It was a decision. Not even mine and I would be taking the brunt of the punishment. It was my parents' decision that brought Ambrose into my room tonight. It was their actions that led to this very moment.
If I lived through the night, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to forgive them.
“Ambrose, what are you doing here?” I asked calmly, feigning sleepiness, even though I was wide awake. Obviously, I knew why he was here, but I needed a way to buy myself some time.
My question backfired on me, Ambrose just raised his arm - aiming the gun right at my head. My breathing sped up as I tried to keep my eyes focused on his trigger finger. My brother may have proved to be useless at so many other things - in every sense of the word - but I’d yet to bear witness to his shooting skills. Right then, and in such close proximity, I wasn’t willing to bet against him.
He had the upper hand and he knew it. I needed a plan, and quickly.
“So, that’s it? You’re just going to kill me?” I goaded as an idea struck me.
“That’s the plan.” He shrugged like it was nothing. To him, it probably wasn’t.
“You really think that’ll fix all your problems?” The wor
ds fell from my mouth before I had a chance to think them through. I wanted to stab myself in the foot for opening my big mouth at all. Sometimes people's stupidity stumped my brain so hard that my mouth had time to sneak in and run the show. Which in any ordinary moment of time, I would’ve been able to control. Now was not one of those controlled moments.
So… I had to run with it. Honestly, running my mouth probably couldn’t have done anything to worsen the situation. Just maybe, if I was lucky enough, I’d be able to fluster him. Throw him off his game and give me a way out. It was wishful thinking but worth the shot.
Current situation? I had nothing left to lose.
“You really think killing the long-lost Varela princess will help your situation? Really? I didn’t think you were that dumb.” I only gave him half a second or so to think it over before continuing. My hand slipped under the pillow behind me, to the kitchen knife I’d hidden there. It had been a ‘just in case’. My hand closed around the metal handle.
“They would know, and they would kick you to the curb before you even knew what had happened. I’ve been here a month and already I know that above all else, family loyalty is the most important thing for our parents. It’s the only thing they believe in.”
The words came to me as if I were reading them from a script. Because, unfortunately for my brother, it was the wholehearted truth.
“I’ll just have to make sure they never find out, then,” he snarled.
I scoffed at him. “If you’re that confident that you can outsmart Rachel and Kaleb Varela, then just cut out the middleman. Go kill off our parents and then all your problems are solved.”
“All but one.” The sinister grin as he stepped closer had my grip on the knife tighten. “Don’t worry about dear old mom and dad, they’ll get theirs. But you, well you’re going to be a bit of fun.”
“Well, that’s just fucking dandy, isn’t it?” Nikolai was right. Yet again. But it also meant that as I pulled the knife from its hiding spot under the covers and threw it at him, I felt no guilt. As I watched the sharp edge lodge itself into his stomach there was no remorse.
I jumped up from my position on the bed and ran to him. The force of my weight managed to knock Ambrose to the ground. He agonised as he fumbled with the knife's handle. Even in the faint light of the bedside lamp, I could see blood start to seep out of the knife wound and stain his white t-shirt.
I took advantage of the distraction by snatching the gun away from his side. I laid it on the floor next to me, close enough that I had quick access to it should I need it, but far enough out of his reach that I felt safe.
Rolling up the sleeves of my t-shirt, I kneeled over Ambrose’s chest, digging my knee in to hinder any movements. I may have only weighed a hundred and thirty pounds but it’d be enough to pin down an injured man. Even more so, my weight would’ve felt like it was crushing him - like an elephant's foot. His breaths - the smell of hard liquor - washed over me as my hands gripped the knife and held it in position. No matter how hard he tried to bat away my hands, he didn’t have the strength, he was only getting weaker by the second.
The darkness inside of me stirred awake. A small voice whispered not to pull the knife out, that it would be over too quickly. That it wouldn’t give me any satisfaction to save his life. He needed to suffer. I wanted him to suffer.
I pushed it further in until his blood gurgled at the hilt. Quickly, painfully I drew the knife from it’s lodged position. Blood rushed out of the wound, staining the skin of my knees and the hem of my pyjama shorts. I wasn’t sorry. This was his own fault but I wouldn’t sway fate.
Leaving Ambrose where he was, bleeding out on my bedroom floor with the knife just inches from him, I went in search of my parents.
“Rachel. Kaleb. Wake up, it’s an emergency!” I slammed my hand repeatedly on their bedroom door. I knew it was theirs because it was the only room that they didn’t point out on the tour of the house.
“What’s wrong, Anastasia?” Kaleb asked as he opened their door, sleepily rubbing at his eyes.
“It’s Ambrose. Come quick.” I spread my hands in front of myself, even though I was still processing what just happened. “He attacked me, I didn’t know who it was…”
“What have you done?” Rachel asked, as she appeared behind Kaleb, her face pale and drawn with fear. They rushed past me and into my room. Rachel’s anguished scream echoed down the hall to me and I swear my heart broke. Ambrose may have hated me, but I didn’t hate him, not really…
“Ana,” Kaleb yelled. “Get my phone and call 911.” His voice dropped as he tried to console his wife. “He’s going to be okay, Rach. We’ll get him to the hospital…”
I darted into their room, which was large and luxurious, and found Kaleb’s smartphone by the bedside light. I dialled 911 as I ran back to my own room. Rachel was cradling Ambrose’s head. The pool of blood was spreading around them on the wooden flooring. With a shaking hand, I gave the phone to Kaleb.
“Hello? I need an ambulance, right away. My son has been stabbed.” He spoke quickly and efficiently.
I thought I was going to be sick. I couldn’t listen to that. I walked out of the room, down the stairs, and into the street. Someone needed to flag down the ambulance when they arrived, so I figured that person should be me. I wished briefly that I’d worn warmer pyjamas, waiting out there in the cold, but I scolded myself for being so selfish. Ambrose could be dying and I’m complaining about being cold?
The lights of the silent ambulance showed up first before it raced down the street towards me and came to a sudden stop.
“In here!” I called, waving them over. The EMTs rushed to me. “They’re upstairs, end of the hall.”
One of them nodded. “Right, thanks. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m… I’m fine,” I stammered. With that confirmation, they left me and both jogged into the open house, and disappeared up the stairs.
I waited in the hallway downstairs. I wished I could go up and get fresh clothes. But, of course, they were all up in my room… One of the EMTs came down the stairs and jogged outside to the ambulance. They were back a moment later with a gurney.
So he must still be alive. Before long, everyone came down the stairs all at once. The EMTs carried Ambrose between them on the gurney. He was pale and sweaty, mercifully, his eyes were closed, so he couldn’t see me inspecting him from a distance.
“You go with him, Rachel, we’ll meet you at the hospital.” Kaleb looked at me then and handed me one of my hoodies. “Come on.”
On the way to the hospital, Kaleb didn’t speak. His face was pale and wan, He followed the ambulance at break-neck speed, and pulled into a parking lot near the ambulance bay. We both jogged into the emergency room to see Ambrose being wheeled into a ‘no visitors’ area and to see Rachel drop to her knees in tears.
Sitting in the hospital waiting room my mind spun. While Kaleb paced back and forth, Rachel slumped in her chair silently sobbing. Me? I was trying to figure out what this all meant. My parents still hadn’t asked me what had happened. But they’d seen the gun by now. And that wasn’t a bullet wound in Ambrose’s stomach…
But all I could think was; Ambrose? Why Ambrose?
When I planted myself in the Varela household it was to set a trap for someone who was trying to kill me. With the target on my back, Ambrose hadn’t been who I expected to take the bait. He was my brother, whether he had liked it or not.
It just didn’t make any sense.
Cassio was the man I’d been after, not Ambrose. Oh boy, I couldn’t wait to hear Ambrose explain his way out of this one. Was it simply because he hated me that much, or had Cassio gotten to him.
“Family of Ambrose Varela?” a man in a white coat called out to the mostly empty waiting room.
I stood from the hard plastic of the hospital chair and followed my parents to the doctor. I felt like an imposter, I was the reason Ambrose was here. But I didn’t let that get to me. He was family, to some extent, I wanted to
know how he was doing. And when, or if, I’d be able to go in and talk to him. These weeks I’d been looking for answers and now I felt they may have been closer than I thought this entire time.
“Yes?” Kaleb said as he held Rachel tightly in his arms as she tried to compose herself.
“Young Mr Varela should make a full recovery. He lost some blood, and we took some time assessing just how deep the wound was, but he was very lucky. None of his organs were harmed in the attack. He’s been stitched up and given some pain medication. He’s sleeping at the minute but I’ll come and get you when he wakes up.”
“Thank you, doctor,” I said as my parents walked back to their seats.
We sat, waiting for an update, the sky had started lightening - the sun would soon be rising. My phone buzzed in my hand as a text came through. Not surprised I looked down to see Nikolai’s name flash across my screen. I had expected him to get in touch eventually, as soon as he realised that no one was home.
Where are you? — N
I ignored it for the time being. I couldn’t exactly answer right now, with my parents sitting only feet away. It was a risky move, but I knew for a fact that if I heard his voice I would crumble.
So far, adrenaline buzzed through my veins. The fight or flight response had attacked my system, and I was still heavily feeling it’s effects. I dreaded thinking about what would happen when I returned to normal. My brother had snuck into my room and attempted to kill me. As much as I hated Ambrose, I was still reeling from the events of tonight.
I knew that at any minute the dam would break, without a doubt I would need Nikolai. He was my rock, my constant through this all. But the Varela’s still had no idea that he was still in town, safe to say that they definitely didn’t know that we were still together.
After tonight, I would admit defeat. I couldn’t handle much more, I couldn’t take being away from Nikolai and our home much longer. I missed him too much. But I wouldn’t take this moment away from them, their only son was in the hospital, put there by his sister because he’d threatened to kill her. I would give them time to deal with that first.
Be My Queen (The Crown Duet Book 2) Page 9