“No,” I said firmly, shaking my head when he turned my way. “No, father, I will not return to the family business. That’s all behind me. I’m legitimate, I’ve made my own way in the world and I no longer have any sleepless nights about the things we’ve done or the things we may be forced to do to hold onto power. You said that you know Petre’s strengths, and that’s one of his. He has no conscience.”
My father laughed.
“He is a cold-hearted bastard, for sure. He can be your right hand, believe me it’s useful to have one. But what he can never be is the boss of an enterprise like this. Particularly with the plans I have.”
I turned away.
“I don’t want to hear anymore. The less I know about the family’s lawless dealings, the better.”
“Not lawless, son. Well, there are levels of lawlessness, this is true. That’s what it takes. But I want to move away from some of our old ways. The direction the laws of this land are heading, the profit is less and less. Our best men get arrested weekly these days, they serve sentences that mean they will never be of any use to us again. It’s getting harder and harder to buy our usual leniency. It’s unsustainable. I want you to help me to change things. It won’t happen overnight, but with you by my side I can—”
“The answer is still no.”
“Think on it.”
I let out a low growl. One thing that had made my father successful was his uncanny ability to refuse to take no for an answer until his opponent gave in. He could keep it up for years.
“Fine,” I said, “but I won’t change my mind.”
“All I ask is that you give it some thought.”
“I’m leaving now.”
He nodded. “Very well. Heading back to the Hellborn cottage? Or do you have other plans for the evening?”
When I’d arrived back two weeks ago, my father urged me to stay here at the estate as he usually did on my visits home, but for years I’d preferred my own space. Our family had a cottage that suited me well, on the back border of the land we owned here in the valley, but I’d not let on that after the first couple nights back, I was in fact no longer staying there.
I’d procured much grander accommodations.
“No. I’ve been staying at the Bellemore Manor.”
“Really?” His eyes twinkled as he raised a brow. “I heard Lord Barrington had put himself in a tough spot.”
“Yes. I helped him find his way out. Let’s leave it at that.”
He smiled. I could have let him know the details of what had happened, but my father respected my private nature and left it for me to share the parts and pieces of my life as I wished.
When the time came, I’d let him know Lord Barrington lost his estate to me in a card game set up to allow him to settle a gambling debt that had grown to epic proportions. Over the years we’d gambled in all manner of cards and other games. Both on my trips back here and other gambling establishments in the kingdom. He’d lost to me so many times, he couldn’t think clearly. Pride and ego driving him which only served to make him more careless.
I didn’t feel a bit sorry for him. Taking one of his four manor homes that he’s acquired in his own devious fashion was just tit for tat in my book.
“If only your brother found independence as seductive as you.”
“He is your problem,” I said, and with that turned away, heading out of the house and into the moonlit winter darkness.
My horse was waiting in the stables, fed and watered ready for the ride ahead. It was no short distance back to the Bellemore Estate, and in the snow and ice it would require greater care to get there.
Unlike a lot of the men I’d grown up around, who treated their horses as if they were disposable, there was no way I would risk Vela’s life just to get home a little faster. But that wasn’t where I was heading.
Not yet at least.
Chapter 6 Vasile
Saint Theodora’s School was mostly dark as I rode hard down the long, snowy driveway. In the moonlight, I saw two pairs of carriage wheel tracks—one approaching, and one departing, which I guessed had to be from her father dropping her off. I fucking hoped so, anyway. But it didn’t matter, really.
If she wasn’t here, my next stop would be her family estate.
Whatever it took.
Scanning the lit windows for any sign of her, I dismounted and wrapped Vela’s reins to a fence post under a thick covering of trees, keeping her out of the wind.
“I’ll be back soon, girl.” I patted her shoulder and reached in the satchel on the back of my saddle and pulled out two apples.
I held one to her lips until she chomped the entire thing into her mouth, spraying juice onto my gloved hand then left another on the ground within reach.
It was cold as hell outside. Winters in Praque can last for nearly the whole year, with some of the higher peaks perpetually snow-capped. But it’s the low-lying land that tends to become impassable in the darkest depths of the year, with snow drifts and avalanches a regular occurrence.
Being away in warmer climes with my uncle had left me somewhat unused to that sort of cold, but right then I didn’t care. I barely felt it. Every fiber inside my body was burning up to see her. To get one fucking glimpse of those royal green eyes and the swell of her tits which had my cock nearly bursting from the front of my thick trousers.
But window after window yielded
