Reign of a King (Kingdom Duet 1)

Contrary to popular belief, the key to being a mastermind isn’t your ability to plot. It’s, in fact, your ability to predict your opponent’s moves before they make them.

To win, you can’t be taken by surprise or driven out of your element. It should be the other way around.

That’s how I conquer.

How I win.

How I drag everyone down so I’m the only one who rules over them.

Aurora is nothing but the latest addition to my collection. I have no doubt she’ll come tonight. It’s not speculation. It’s a fact.

According to the information Harris gathered about her, she started H&H with her black belt friend as soon as they were out of university. They even began planning and submitting requests before graduation. She poured more than six years of sweat and sleepless nights into that company. And according to their numbers, they were doing well.

If it weren’t for their accountant’s embezzlement, I wouldn’t have gotten in that easily. It still wouldn’t have been impossible, even if they were stable. However, it would’ve taken more time than I had to spare.

Time is the crown no one can acquire, and if I’d missed this chance, Ethan would’ve won.

Which is out of the question.

I had to lose a few favours in order to win over the bank director and Lucien Vincent. The first was easy to appease with a subsidiary that brings in five times more net profit than H&H. It’s Lucien that was a bit of a problem. Sebastian Queens, the prime minister and one of my biggest allies, doesn’t like him due to some idiotic jealous episode over his wife.

Lucien’s condition to let go of those shares was partnering up with King Enterprises for import and export between the United Kingdom and his main factories in France.

Since I needed to get my hands on his H&H shares, I agreed. Sebastian will probably complain if he finds out, but what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

His reason for hating Lucien is foolish in the first place, and absolute blasphemy in the business world. If he didn’t want his wife to fall in Lucien’s hands, he shouldn’t have divorced her.

But I digress, slightly.

Now that the core pieces have fallen into place, all I have to do is sit and wait until Aurora shows up.

Harris is with me in my home office, going through data for the joint project Ethan and I have been working on for the Rhodes Conglomerate.

Sooner or later, I’ll buy him out of it. Or, more accurately, kick him out.

The problem with Ethan is that he’s too tenacious and doesn’t give up.

We’ll meet again.

His words to Aurora today play on a loop at the back of my head.

I tighten my grip around the glass of cognac, then place it on the table.

There will be no seeing her again. Ethan’s fucking nerves know no limit. How dare he get close to Aurora after everything that happened with Alicia?

Sooner or later, he’ll pay for driving her to her death, and no, the years he spent in coma don’t count. But before that, he and Aurora will remain continents apart.

I’ll make sure of it. That will be my new mission — aside from the usual one that includes squashing him.

There’s a soft knock on the door before Margot appears, carrying a tray full of appetisers and a coffee.

She puts them on the table and steps back, placing both hands over her stomach. She’s a plump woman in her mid-forties with soft features and a kind nature. Margot was never married and has no family so her entire focus is on work. “Dinner?”

“In an hour. We’ll have a guest.”

“For three?” she speaks with a slight Irish accent.

She’s been with us since Alicia was alive and was Levi and Aiden’s nanny. They certainly show her more affection than they would ever show me.