I leant down, taking her wrists and holding them tightly above her head as I rocked in and out of her. Ana arched her back, tilting her head back and giving me access to her sweet neck. I could have lost myself in her right then. She was so vulnerable, so beautiful, and so utterly mine. I bit down on the smooth skin of her neck then kissed the mark tenderly.
“God, I’ve missed you,” she moaned.
“I’m right here baby, I always will be.” I breathed as I kissed her again and again.
“Nikolai?” The serious note in her voice, coupled with her hand capturing my cheek. My eyes met hers on instinct. Was she okay? Was something wrong?
“Love you,” Ana smiled as she continued to gently stroke the roughness of my whiskers with her hand.
The moment was so sweet and tender I wanted to just wrap her up and pepper her in kisses. Instead, I slowed my hips and leaned down, capturing her lips with my own. The kiss was hard and furious, but with a tender undertone. This kiss was me unleashing my desire and love onto Ana.
“I love you too,” I replied against her lips and I continued to ravish them.
Moving together, we slowly sped back into our rhythm. She and I were more than anything I had experienced before. She was everything I needed. Everything.
It wasn’t long before I knew I couldn’t take much more. I watched her closely, for signs that Ana was getting close to orgasming again for me. I knew that her next one would take me over the edge too.
She snaked a hand between us and I felt the movement of her fingers as she played with herself. Her walls tightened around me so hard that I gasped. Ana gave me a satisfied smirk.
“Fuck…” I breathed. “I’m gonna…”
“Me too!” She moaned a second before I felt it. Her body convulsed as she called my name, her back bowed again, letting herself unravel before me. I felt my own release a second later, in perfect sync with what she needed from me. We hold on for a moment, a perfect solidifying moment. I wished we could’ve stayed right there forever, as close as two people could get.
I rolled over onto my back, our erratic breathing mingled together in the quiet room. I turned on my side to look over at Ana. Her breathing was still sharp but her eyes had grown lazy. She was tired, worn out. It probably wasn’t the brightest idea to seduce her or to let her seduce me.
I wasn’t even sure who made the first move. One word, one look from her and I’m her puppet. She held such control over me, it would be dangerous if she over found out just how much.
“I’ll wake you when we need to head out. Get some rest, sweetheart.” I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and just laid there, continuing to watch her drift off to dreamland.
“Ana?” Nikolai called out, stopping me from following him. He stood in the open door blocking my exit. “Why don’t you stay here?”
I sighed loudly, almost as if I were an unhappy child. I should’ve stomped my foot for effect. “Nikolai. Don’t.”
I shouldn’t have been mad at him, deep down I knew he was trying to shield me. But I wanted him to know that he didn’t have to. After all this time and everything that we’d been through, I’d expected him to expect this from me.
“You’re not going anywhere without me.” Despite him thinking differently, this wasn’t his battle he was fighting. It was mine. This was as much my life now as it was his.
It still seemed bizarre to me that we were even here. I was practically demanding that he let me come along as we raided and murdered Cassio Bellucci, the head of the Bellucci crime family. We’d come so far, moving swiftly and unnoticed.
Nikolai stepped aside. I slid out of the backseat and inspected our surroundings. We were still under the cover of night but that wouldn’t last more than a couple hours. If we were gonna do this, we had to do it quickly.
The dozen or so men, all dressed in black, huddled around Nikolai as he gave instructions. I watched his lips move but didn’t hear a word. I loved this side of him, although I wouldn’t ever admit it to him. He would’ve thought I was crazy. Hell, I thought that. But I couldn’t stop the flutter inside my chest at the sight of him. Dressed in his usual black slacks and white shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows - the bulletproof vest that hugged his chest only emphasized his sculpted muscles.
He finished speaking and everyone dispersed heading in the direction of the iron gates. Zedd appeared next to me, handing me a vest. “Where’s my gun?” I raised an eyebrow at him as I tugged on the vest. Everyone else had a gun…
“Do you even know how to shoot?” He smirked patronisingly. Oh, it was on, that challenge would be coming back around to bite him in the ass. But now wasn’t the time. Instead, I sharply slammed my foot into his and stole the gun from his holster. That’s what you got when you acted like a tool.
I turned back around to Nikolai just in time to catch the shake of his head. There was no doubt in my mind that he’d just seen our exchange. Nevertheless I made my way over to him, ignoring Zedd’s soft curses. I checked out Zedd’s gun making sure it was loaded and then tucked it down the back of my jeans
Once close enough, Nikolai placed a soft kiss to my forehead. “Come along, angel.”
We made our way through the gates and up the path towards the house. Ahead of us, I watched as an upstairs light turned on. No one was around, so I assumed that Nikolai had everyone forge ahead, leaving the dirty work up to them. It was his way of humouring me, or ‘protecting me’ as he would say.
“So what now?”
“My men have locked down the perimeter, and secured everyone inside.” His hand captured mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. I wanted to ask what our job was, but I knew what it was. Cassio’s head was on the chopping block but in this kitchen, only Nik wielded a knife.
I stayed silent as I followed behind him into the Bellucci mansion and deep into the belly of the beast. We followed the sounds of voices until we reached the downstairs study. With the door wide open and the lamp turned on, I caught the first glimpse of the man who’d had it out for me. He was slouched in a chair, the gun of one of the surrounding men pointed at his head.
Wait. “Where’s Rosa? And Marco?”
“Don’t worry, we tend not to hurt women or children. Rosa has been escorted off the property.”
“Marco?” I asked.
“He’s restrained in another room.” Well, at the very least he wasn’t going to have to watch this. But I hoped he wouldn’t be able to hear it either. That was gruesome. The sound never quite leaves your head, trust me, I knew.
Nikolai pulled out his gun, suddenly Cassio ceased to move - his struggling becoming minimal. He knew what was coming next. I did too, and Nikolai certainly did. I’ve never thought too much about ending someone else's life before that moment. It should’ve been a bigger deal than what it was.
But at the end of the day, in my eyes, Cassio was a bad man. I was a heartless bitch that had no empathy for him. But still…
“Wait.” I reached a hand out to Nik’s shoulder to stop him. Having his attention, I stepped around him and faced Cassio head-on. I even crouched down so that we were eye level, there was no escaping my scrutinous gaze. “When you had Anton kidnap me all those years ago, what did you have to gain?”
There was no change to his expression, he had clearly known why we were there. Who knew, maybe he had known all along. I waited a minute, when no response came I spun on my heel and walked out of the room. I pressed my back against the wall of the hallway, my breathing became heavy as I waited.
Cassio groaned, and then finally started talking — loud enough for me to hear in the hallway. “Kaleb and I were on good terms at the time, we’d arranged their marriage to intertwine the families forever. It was the smart move, we’d both been under fire from the O’Malley family. There was a disagreement about certain business practises because Kaleb didn’t agree with the way we did things. I wasn’t going to give up everything I’d built because he wasn’t willing to run with the big boys.”
Exactly what I w
ould have expected from Cassio Bellucci. What an asshole.
Nikolai grumbled, a gun cocked then a single shot later it was all over. I didn’t know why I bothered even leaving the room. While I didn’t see it, I felt like I did. Every spoken word, every sound rang as clear as a blue sky. Even the sound of Cassio’s body going limp. I’d never thought that that was an audible sound. Maybe it was just my imagination. I was still contemplating it when Nikolai stepped into the hallway.
He didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to, his eyes said enough to fill the silence. They were asking if I was okay. I gave him a small nod of the head to answer all his unspoken questions. He took off down the hallway and I tentatively followed behind him.
A man stood outside a room, moving out of our way when we reached him. As soon as we entered the room, Marco was running at me before I’d even noticed he was there. Nikolai intervened, moving in front of me and running at Marco, slamming his body into the wall across the room. The force used seemed a bit excessive but I wasn’t about to hold that against him.
“When you lunge at someone, don’t scream.” Nik’s forearm was pressed against Marco’s throat, pinning him in place. I was sure Nikolai tacked ‘idiot’ onto the end but it wasn’t loud enough for me to have been sure.
“What are we going to do with him?” I asked Nikolai with scrunched eyebrows. I’d never thought about what role Marco would play in my vow for revenge.
I think I’d known all along that this had to end in Cassio’s death, that seemed only fair to me, but Marco? He was guilty of a lot of things, being an idiot was one of them, but technically he’d not done anything wrong. I held no ill will against him, certainly not enough to wish for his death. But Nikolai on the other hand, he looked just about ready to kill Marco with his bare hands.
“We don’t have many options…” Nikolai answered my question, trailing off to leave my mind to fill in the blanks. No, there weren’t many options, but one came to mind - one that I was sure wouldn’t go over too smoothly with Nikolai.
“Let him go,” I demanded.
“Ana…” The deep timber of Nikolai’s voice growled dangerously. He gave me a what-the-fuck-are-you-doing look, that I ignored as I moved closer to them. I could feel Nikolai’s fury from across the room, it only seemed to intensify the closer I got. When Nikolai’s arm didn’t drop from Marco’s neck, I cut him a hard look.
“Secure the property, then wait for us in the car,” I told Finch and Zedd without taking my eyes away from Nik.
When we were finally alone in the room, Nikolai’s arm dropped. I watched closely as Marco gasped for breath. I hoped that in the future this wouldn’t come back to bite the King family in the ass but at least we knew that Marco was in fact as weak as he seemed. I shooed Nikolai away, and he surprised me by actually backing off a bit.
“I’m giving you a chance. One chance.” Marco finally met my eye as I spoke. I watched as he swallowed and took a sharp breath. He nodded his understanding. I could see the anger on his face, but he had no choice but to comply.
“You mess up or you come after us or you come after my parents, and we’ll be back here. You understand?” Again, he nodded.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you lost your father. He took me away from my family, and he rightfully paid for it with his life.” I turned, grabbing Nikolai’s hand and dragging him behind me as I exited the room.
I hoped that we wouldn’t have any more problems with Marco, but I meant what I said. We’d come back for him if we needed to.
Outside, almost everyone had already left. With Nikolai pacing ahead I slipped my phone from my pocket and messaged my parents. I needed to see them but I didn’t know where they’d be. Was Ambrose still under the hospital's care or had he been released?
We’ll meet you back at home - R
After reading their quick reply, my nerves doubled as the thought of facing them. But first, Nikolai...
“Finally, we can go home.” Nikolai sighed and relaxed into his seat behind the wheel. The sky was lightening as the sun began to rise.
“Nikolai!” I cried, looking over at him in outrage. I couldn’t believe his lack of sensitivity. He must have guessed my thoughts because suddenly he looked aghast.
“You can’t be serious, you think you’re going back there?” he asked incredulously.
“Only half the task is over.”
I still had a homicidal brother to deal with, and the matter of my inheritance. I wasn’t letting them off the hook that easily. Whether they wanted to face the facts or no, I was the Varela heir, and I was intent on claiming that crown.
“The Varela estate.” I narrowed my eyes at Nikolai in challenge. While he huffed and clenched at the steering wheel with white knuckles, the engine roared, and we pulled away from the curb.
My eyes never left him as I wondered about whether or not I should’ve told him the rest of my plan. It hadn’t been my original intention to go through with taking over my father's seat, but I’d surprised myself. I’d come to like his job.
It took several minutes and a loud disgruntled sigh before Nikolai finally kicked the engine of his truck to life. “Fine, but I’m not leaving your side.”
I knew there was no arguing about that. By now, I had learned to recognise what I could get away with and what I couldn’t. But truth be told, I wanted him there. I was just glad to know that he had my back.
I wanted my inheritance, my seat at the Varela table, and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to get it after all of this. The only way I was going to ensure that I got my way would be to speak to my parents now. I was banking on a lot — it was definitely a gamble — but I figured now was the best time, before Ambrose could get his hooks into them again and shut me out.
When we pulled up outside the Varela house, I saw that my parents’ cars were both there. Good timing, I supposed. They must have finally left the hospital. I wondered if Ambrose would be here — it seemed unlikely.
I looked at Nikolai and found him already watching me closely.
“I’m ready, let’s go.” I was, in part, trying to convince myself that it was true. My heart pounded in my chest, and I was starting to feel the slight, buzzy light-headedness of an adrenaline rush. Fight, flight or freeze. The most base instincts. I hoped that I could quell the urge to run back into the truck and drive away.
I walked up the drive with Nikolai on my heels. I was relieved to have him with me, but I knew that I’d be the one doing all the talking once we got inside — assuming my parents let us inside… I didn’t hesitate as I knocked on the door.
There was a moment of stillness before the door opened. Rosetta held the door as her mouth opened then closed into a disapproving line. I was fairly certain it was Nikolai’s presence that made her hesitate to let me inside. The last time he’d been here, he’d just barged right past poor Rosetta and accosted me from the kitchen over breakfast.
“I’m here to see my parents,” I said to Rosetta, who hummed a suspicious note, and opened the door wider.
“Your father is in the library and your mother, I believe, is in their bedroom. The shock of the past twenty-four hours has been hard on her.”
I felt a twinge of guilt at that. I hadn’t intended for this to go the way it did. But I wasn’t going to back down. I would have my inheritance and I would lead this family when Kaleb stepped down.
“Would you please get my mother? Tell her we’ll be in the library.” I grabbed Nikolai’s hand and led him through the house to the library. As I’d expected Kaleb was seated behind the desk, tapping away on his computer.
He looked up to see both of us entering the room. We hadn’t even shut the door by the time he was standing and opening his mouth, “Anastasia? Nikolai King, what is he doing back here?”
“We’re heading home.”
“Anastasia, you are home. What are you talking about?” As Kaleb spoke I caught my mother entering from the corner of my eye. She crossed the room and took a seat on the couch.
“Like hell do you think that you’ll still be taking over after all this!” Rachel burst out. Her perfectly polite demeanor was long gone, in its place was the head of the Varela family.
“Cassio’s dead, Marco’s as good as under my thumb, your son tried to kill me for money. Sorry guys, but I don’t think you have much choice.” I tried not to laugh but it was a truly sticky situation that they found themselves in.
“What do you mean Cassio’s dead?” Kaleb asked as Rachel tilted her head with piqued interest.
They were both sitting on the couch then, his tone was softer - less demanding. I knew that they would be close to relenting. They had no other options and like they’d said before I was ‘good business’.
I had them on the ropes, more or less.
“We killed him.” I looked back at Nikolai then, just for a split-second as I took notice of his presence in the room for the first time since the conversation began. He’d stayed suspiciously quiet, that wasn’t like Nikolai at all. Then again, he’d not known the true purpose of this visit.
I swung back around to face the Varelas, “he won’t be causing trouble for anyone ever again.”
They sat like gaping fish for a few seconds, I’d quite obviously shocked them. But their next response hadn’t been what I’d expected.
“And Ambrose? After all this, why would we choose you over him? He’s just as capable-”
“Bullshit. But you know what, go ahead. I’ll be there to pick up the pieces when he fucks it all up. And I’ll get to say I told you so.” I spread my hands, palms facing them, open to anything they had to say. When they said nothing, I took that as my cue to leave. “I also came by to say goodbye, you are my parents after all but it’s clear my efforts have been wasted. We’ll be on our way now, you have my number.”
Be My Queen (The Crown Duet Book 2) Page 11