Fatal Princess, page 2
I eat my ice cream slowly, savoring every bite and barely paying attention to the movie on the screen. Being back in this apartment reminds me of other things, of the last time I was here with Beckett, of fucking him for the first time.
I don’t regret it, I realize. I don’t regret any of it—any of the kisses, the touches, the fucking, none of it.
I should regret it—my heart now feels like it’s been stabbed by a million tiny little knives that will never heal—but I don’t. For a moment, he made me feel alive. He made me believe there were good men out there and that it was worth fighting to be the one to choose the man I spend the rest of my life with.
The sounds of footsteps in the hallway rush to my ears, despite the blare of the television. Someone’s here.
Beckett?
The other guys?
Vincent?
Someone else from the game?
Who?
The footsteps fade, though—someone who lives in the apartment building. No one is coming for me.
That’s a lie. Everyone is coming for me. It’s just a matter of who comes first and when.
Every footstep, every sound, every door slam from the hallway has me on edge. Lucy obliviously watches the movie, unaware of any of the danger.
Whoever comes, they won’t come for her. I’ll make sure of it. She’ll be safe. That’s the only thing I can get right, keeping her safe. She’s been my friend for so long that I’ll do anything for her.
There’s a knock on the door.
A knock.
“Lucy, take Loki and go to your bedroom.”
She doesn’t ask questions, calmly doing as I said.
I walk toward the door with my gun, ready to shoot whoever is behind the door. If it’s Beckett, I’ll shoot him in the groin, and then he can explain to me why he almost killed me for a crime I didn’t commit.
I chuckle inwardly at that thought.
My guess is it’s Beckett or Gage and the rest of the guys. No one else would knock. The assholes in my life would barge in and try to take me as their captive.
I open the door, expecting Beckett.
Instead, I find Ryker leaning against my doorframe with a soft smile on his face.
3
Beckett
The look on Ri’s face as I run to her will haunt me for all of my days. Her gaunt face, tear-streaked eyes, and stern frown broke my heart. I can see how I’d broken hers. Not just broken, but I shattered her heart beyond repair. The damage I did—I won’t be able to fix it, not as long as I live.
The thought shatters what’s left of my own heart as I watch her disappear into the tunnel.
It’s clear what Ri thought—I was going to kill her. She didn’t see the truth. For that, I can never be forgiven.
Gage snaps the door shut behind her as I reach the guys.
“Where is she going?” I ask.
The guys all look to Gage. He’s the one who appears to be making the decisions at the moment.
“Somewhere safe,” he answers.
I take a deep breath. I want to know where. I want to go to her immediately, but we have bigger problems at the moment.
“Promise she’ll be safe,” I ask, my voice cracking, my body screaming to run after her as I stare at the space in the wall where she disappeared.
“Ri will be safe. No one knows about this tunnel except us, Caius, and his father. This was an emergency escape for the leader. She’ll be safe,” Gage says.
I nod.
“Who was attacking?” Lennox asks.
“The Retribution Kings. They were mad with what I did.”
“Our own people were attacking? Are you sure?” Hayes asks.
I nod.
“Jesus Christ. We need to get out of here then,” Hayes says.
I agree.
“Beckett!” her voice sends chills down my spine. It’s a voice I’ve longed to hear again. I’ve wanted to hear her voice for so fucking long, but now it sounds like nails on a chalkboard.
I turn in time to see Odette and Caius running toward us. They’re out of breath when they finally reach us.
“How the hell are you alive?” Lennox asks, staring at Odette with anger in his eyes.
I look around the group, and it seems everyone except for Caius has a stern glare on their face as they stare at Odette.
“We need to get somewhere safe first, then Odette can explain what happened. We can go back to my place,” Caius says, placing a comforting hand on her back.
“No,” I say.
All eyes are on me.
“We go to the cabin. It’s further away and safer. Your condo will be the first place they look,” I say.
Caius opens his mouth to argue, but he sees the look on my face and doesn’t say anything.
We all start jogging out toward our cars when I feel a hand brush against mine. I glance down to see Odette’s fingers threading through mine.
My hand goes cold at the sight, and I harshly pull my hand away.
She frowns at me.
I don’t want to think about the truth—we are still legally married. And yet she’s tricked me and lied to me—god knows what the truth is.
We make it to the SUV, and all pile in. Lennox takes the driver’s seat, and I take the front passenger seat. I don’t want to sit for an hour next to Odette while we drive.
Gage and Hayes climb in the back, and Caius sits next to Odette in the middle row, comforting her like she just survived extreme torture. Although from the looks of her, she looks pretty damn healthy to me. Not a mark, scar, or bruise is visible on her skin.
I turn on the radio as soon as Lennox starts driving, making it clear to everyone there will be no talking until we get to the cabin. I should be thinking about the repercussions of my actions. About the men that will be coming after us or about how Odette is alive, but all I can think about is Ri. I hope like hell she’s run far, far away from here.
Because if I have to watch her forced to marry another man when the games are over, I’m not sure I can handle it. I’m not sure I can handle watching her go through any more pain.
Lennox pulls up to the cabin far too soon.
“It’s safe,” Gage says from the backseat.
We all climb out and head inside, going straight for the liquor. I pour myself a drink, not bothering to ask anyone else if they want one before walking out onto the back deck.
I need plenty of fresh air and a lot of fucking alcohol in my system before I have this conversation.
Odette is the first to find me outside.
She walks toward me with her arms outstretched, expecting me to welcome her home. She expects me to hug her, to love her again. But the truth is I’m not sure if I ever loved her in the first place.
Instead of holding her, I lift my drink to my mouth as I stare at her. She gets the hint and stops.
“I—” she starts.
“Wait until everyone else is out here. That way, you only have to tell your story once.”
She frowns. “You don’t want privacy?”
“No.”
I pace on the deck while she quietly takes a seat on one of the wicker chairs. Everyone else files out quickly and sits on the various chairs and benches. I’m the only one who remains standing, leaning against a post.
“Start talking, Odette, and don’t leave anything out,” I snap, more fury spewing out of my lips than I realized I had.
She looks to Caius and then back to me, taking a deep breath. “Before our wedding, there was a death threat against me, a plot to kill me. My father’s condition was poor, and we knew he wouldn’t survive much longer, so we couldn’t postpone the wedding.”
“Who is we?” I ask, interrupting.
Her eyes flutter to Caius. “My father, Caius, and me.”
I frown. Caius knew more than he was telling me—the bastard.
I take a long sip of my whiskey.
Odette fidgets with the ends of the strands of her hair, but she continues. “We knew you and I needed to get married and initiate you in as the leader as soon as possible. But we also had to protect me, so we also changed the date of the wedding—to throw everyone off. And as soon as the wedding was over, I needed to disappear.”
“Disappear maybe, but die?” I growl.
“Disappearing wouldn’t have helped. They would have still come after me. I had to die in order to stay alive. And you had to think I was dead—everyone did—in order for our plan to work. If you weren’t devastated, no one would have believed I was dead.”
I have so many questions, but I start with, “Who are they? Who wanted you dead and why?”
“Vincent Corsi. He’s been trying to destroy the Retribution Kings for years. We cause the most conflict with the various gangs when we take retribution into our own hands. My father almost started an all-out war between the gangs, and Corsi wasn’t happy about it. He wanted to teach my father a lesson in retribution to show that he had all the power in this city. He wants the Retribution Kings under his control, so he called for my death.”
“You knew Odette was alive?” I ask Caius.
“No, I didn’t. I knew that her life was at risk and that she was going to try and disappear, but after I saw those horrible photos, I thought she was dead—same as you,” Caius says.
I don’t know if I believe him, but I want to hear more of what Odette has to say.
“How did you fake your death? And how did Ri come into this?” I ask.
Odette sighs.
“I hated leaving on our wedding night, but I knew that’s when it had to be done. I needed blood—a lot of blood. So I drew my own blood and spread it around the room to make it look like I’d been dangerously close to death when I was taken. But I needed an attacker, someone Caius and my father wouldn’t recognize. I couldn’t just use anyone.”
“How did you rope Ri into this?” I ask, losing patience with her.
“After she interrupted our wedding, I knew she was exactly who I was looking for. I didn’t realize she was a Corsi; that was just a bonus. I just thought she was a scared girl in need of some money. Once I told her my story, she agreed to help me without payment.”
She takes a deep breath and then continues. “I knew you’d go downstairs to get my medicine, so that’s when I had Rialta come to my room. She pretended to fight me, to threaten me. She did cut my skin and make me bleed, but I was willing to endure that in order to survive.”
“So then you spent your time on some private island living the good life while everyone here thought you were dead? The fake photos of your bloody body were a nice touch. Whose body did we bury? Did you kill someone to pretend they were you?” I rage.
I’m pissed, beyond pissed. I can’t believe she would do this to me. I can’t believe I ever loved this woman. I can’t fucking believe I fell in love with a monster.
“The body was a woman who died of cancer, similar age and build.”
I shake my head as I pace. “Where have you been all this time?”
“My plan was to run, to always be running. I’d wait tables, bartend, clean houses, pick up any job I could to survive. I thought I’d be giving you a better life. You could take over as leader—I knew you’d be amazing at it, Beckett. You deserved to be the leader, needed to be the leader of the Retribution Kings.
“But I also knew that you deserved to find someone who didn’t lie to you, someone you chose to love, not a fake like me. I did love you, and I still do, but I didn’t think I was enough. So I thought the best plan was to fake my death—save myself and let you live your life.” Her voice is practically shaking now.
Caius goes to her and puts his arms around her shoulders, tucking her into his side. He stares at me like he can’t believe I’m not the one holding her right now.
Everyone else stays in their seats, though, watching her closely. I can’t read any of their faces. I don’t know if they trust her or not, but I know what I believe.
“Stop your tears. You chose to leave. You chose to keep me in the dark when I could have easily protected you and kept you safe. You ran. You chose to go it alone. You didn’t give me a chance to decide if I really loved you despite the lies.”
Odette pushes Caius off her shoulders as she stomps toward me with fire in her eyes. I don’t cower. I don’t back down, even though I’m pretty sure she’s about to slap me.
“You have no idea what I’ve been through these past few weeks!” she yells.
“And you have no idea the pain I’ve been through!”
She frowns and pulls up her sleeves, revealing a plethora of scars and bruises on her arms. “I was free a grand total of one week before I was taken. I was tortured and raped and abused. My life was threatened every night, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to wake up the next morning or die in my sleep. I’ve spent every day regretting my decision. Every day realizing the mistake I made in not trusting you. It’s made me realize how much I love you. I’d do anything for you.”
I narrow my eyes as I study her bruises—they’re real enough, but that doesn’t mean I believe her story.
“How did you escape?” I ask. She grew up in this world. She could have had as much training and skill as Ri, but I doubt that.
“I was released with a warning to you. You have to step down as leader of the Retribution Kings. Otherwise, they will kidnap me again and actually kill me.”
Her story is a mess, full of reasons not to believe her. Not to mention she has never told me the truth in her life, so I don’t trust a word she says without undeniable proof. Even then, I’m not sure I’ll believe her, not when I saw a video of Ri killing her, and it turned out to be a lie.
But I have one question left. There’s only one question that could give me some answers.
“Who took you?”
Her nostrils flare as she thinks of the evil who took her. “Enzo Black.”
4
Ri
“What are you doing here?” I ask Ryker as we both stand in the doorway of my apartment.
Looking at his black, mid-length hair and devilish grin, he’s the last person I expected here. Ryker has a reputation as one of the cruelest leaders, but after he offered up two of his men to help me, I’m not sure if his reputation is warranted. It doesn’t mean I trust him either, though.
“I won the game.”
Oh, shit. He’s here to collect his prize—me.
“You can go to hell. I’m not going to let you kidnap me, treat me as your possession, and then let you rape me. I’ll kill you first. Ask Leighton what happened to his men when he tried it.” I slam the door in his face, but he catches it with his hand.
I aim my gun at him, expecting him to do the same, followed by a dozen men filing into my apartment. Instead, Ryker puts his hands up in the air.
“I’m not here to kidnap you. And I would never think of raping or hurting a woman.”
I frown. “Your reputation says differently.”
“And your reputation is that of a damsel in distress, nothing more than a princess who can’t take care of herself. Neither of our reputations tells the whole truth.”
I don’t drop my aim as he slowly enters our apartment, his hands still up.
“I’m here to protect you,” he says.
“Why?”
“You’re my responsibility for the week. If anything happens to you, Corsi will have my head, and my men will be without a leader once again. So my loyalty is to you for the week. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
He seems genuine, but I don’t trust him. I don’t trust anyone—not after Beckett betrayed me, the only man I thought I could love.
He puts his hands down, but I don’t drop my gun.
“I’ll take you and Lucy wherever you want, but you can’t stay in this apartment. It’s not safe. Too many people know about it, and too many people will come looking for you.”
“How do you know about Lucy?”
“I did my due diligence.”
I was right. Everyone knows about Lucy, and she’s not safe.
“You’ll take us anywhere?”
“Anywhere.” He nods.
“Even if I wanted to go to a rival gang? You’d take me there? Make sure we were safe?”
“I promise to take you wherever you want to go. You will not be a prisoner with me. If you want to go back to Beckett, I’ll take you.”
I don’t ask how he knows that’s where I would want to go.
“If you betray us if you fail to keep us safe, if you trap us or hurt either of us in any way, I will kill you. My father and I will ruin your entire gang and everyone you love, do you understand?”
Ryker smiles. “Of course, why else do you think I’m here? The goodness of my heart? I may like you, but I wouldn’t be risking my life to protect you if it didn’t serve my own self-interest.”
His smile is what gets me. It’s so genuine and sweet, not to mention the light behind his eyes. He plays the villain well. I’ve seen his monster act firsthand, but his men respected him and wanted to work for him.
This could be an epic mistake, but then again, I’m used to making epic mistakes. I wish I could rely entirely on myself, but I don’t have a choice. There are too many people that want me and will have no problem hurting Lucy to control me.
I’ll go with him for now, but that doesn’t mean I’ll trust him.
“Take us to a private house rental. Pay in cash. Only you are allowed to know the location, no one else.” It’s a lot to ask. He’d be lying to his men, hiding the truth from them. I don’t expect him to agree.
“Your wish is my command, Princess.”
I frown, lowering the gun for the first time. “Don’t call me Princess.”
He chuckles low and deep. “Okay, Rialta.”
I wince. “Don’t call me Rialta either.”
He raises his eyebrows. “What would you like me to call you?”
“Ri, just Ri.”
“Well, Ri, give me five minutes to figure out a house we can go to and something to tell my men as to why they won’t be seeing much of me this week.” He pulls out his phone.
