Dynasty (Boys of Winter 1)

Feeling backed into a corner, I force a smile across my lips and find myself staring across the room to where Carver stands, watching us with concern in his eyes. “You have real nerve to approach me like this,” I spit, while desperately trying to keep my voice down, though the hatred is clear in not only my tone but my eyes as well. “I know you had something to do with the attack on me last night and played a role in my parents’ death.”

“Let it go,” he laughs. “You’re such a girl and only a child at that. You’re not capable of handling the pressures of leadership. So, this is what we’re going to do. You’re going to be the face of the organization but you will answer to me.”

“You’re fucking insane.”

“Watch your tone,” he growls back at me, his act slipping for just a second before he pulls himself back together. He tightens his hold on my sore hand and I feel the blood beginning to seep through the bandage. “Let me put this in terms you may better understand. Either you answer to me, or I will continue with my endeavor to end your life.”

I gasp and stare in horror while trying to pull out of his arms, but he holds me tighter while the rest of the room continues to spin around us, completely oblivious to the tension rising in the center of the room. It’s one thing thinking you know something, but having it confirmed is a completely different kind of shot to the gut. “I knew it,” I spit. “You were responsible for killing my parents.”

His eyes sparkle with laughter. “Surprise! You caught me,” he says. “Your father was weak, just as you are. He wasn’t capable of running an organization like this. Dynasty is bigger than him. It has such great potential but needs a true leader to guide her in the right direction. Dynasty could rule the world. We’ve already infiltrated governments and taken control of the stocks. We need to strike, and when we do it, it will be under my rule, and the world will know my name.”

“I will never answer to you,” I demand. “You’re a piece of shit. You have absolutely nothing to offer the world except your shitty bullying tactics and your bad breath. You’re a murderer and I will have nothing to do with you.”

He just laughs, a sick sound that makes my ears want to bleed. He pulls me in close until my body is pressed right up against his, his hand against the soft silk of my dress. “Stop acting like you care, princess. I’ve watched you grow up. You don’t care about your parents. You have no real affection toward them. They’re just the people who share your blood, but for what it’s worth, your mother screamed as I stood above her bed and made her watch the sharp blade of my knife slice across her husband’s throat. Blood soaked the bed, but once I slit hers, it pooled. It was quite a remarkable sight.”

My whole body shakes with anger, tears threatening to spill from my eyes, but he forces me to stay, forces me to keep up appearances.

“You, Miss Elodie,” he continues, proudly telling me of his betrayal, certain that he’s untouchable. “You proved to be harder than I thought. You were only two months old. I should have suffocated you. I should have gone through with it, but I had a son of my own and couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I lit the fire. At least they got that part of the story right, those stupid fools. If I had known that you had made it out of that fire, I would have taken your life then and there, but imagine my surprise years later when a rumor of the lost heir hit my doorstep. I tried to find you time and time again, but you always slipped away, always one step ahead of me.”

I suck in a breath. “You’re the reason I jumped from home to home.”

“Not anymore, Elodie,” he tells me. “You and I are going to be partners. Now, smile for your audience.”

My mind races with fear, with thoughts, and untold horrors of a future living with this man in my life. He’s worse than Kurt. He’s an absolute monster. I can’t do it.

I shake my head, seeking out Carver’s stare but it’s not there, none of them are. They promised to always protect me, and here we are, right when I need them most and they’re nowhere to be found.

This man murdered my family. He set my home on fire. He took away my future. Because of him, I lived with eighteen different families, some so much worse than the other. Because of him, I had to learn how to fight. Because of him, my life was a nightmare.