Reign of a King: Chapter 10

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.

Which is fine.

Those two punks would never admit it, but it’s because of their upbringing that they are who they are today. King blood runs in their veins and they’re born to rule, not to be stomped on.

I ignore the coffee and take another sip of my cognac, letting the burn settle in. “For two.”

Margot throws a peculiar glance at Harris. He shrugs and focuses back on his tablet as if he were born with it attached to his hand.

“Do you fancy beef?” she asks me.

“I have no preferences, Margot. Just make it perfect.”

“Always.” She nods and retreats.

Am I doing this to impress Aurora? Probably. She needs to be impressed in order to be intimidated. They’re weaker and easier to handle when they’re put out of their element.

She seems to be the type who’s not easily threatened, which is fine by me. The process of subduing people is more thrilling than watching from the top. It’s what happens after their fall that bores me.

Harris slides his tablet into his leather briefcase and stands up. “I’ll be leaving as well.”

“You can have dinner here.” Since Levi moved out two years ago and Aiden followed a year after for university, Harris has most of his meals here. He also spends all-nighters sometimes. Needless to say, he has no life outside of work, which makes him efficient.

“I’ll have to decline, considering you’re having dinner for two. Last I checked, I’m not one of those two.”

“You’re being petty.”

“Me, sir?” He raises a sarcastic brow. “Never.”

“Leave.”

He smiles a little, but then his expression goes back to normal. “Sir?”

“Yes?”

He readjusts his glasses. “There are some rumours.”

“What type of rumours?” Harris does a lot of media play on my behalf, so he knows most rumours are lies. He even uses them for King Enterprises’ favour when needed, but if he mentioned it, there must be something behind it.

“In the juridical circle, there’s talk about granting Maxim Griffin a trial for parole.”

“I thought he wasn’t eligible for parole because of the nature of his crimes.”

“He’s not, but there’s a new psychotherapist on the line. Apparently, his lawyer is playing the mental health card. Or it could be new evidence.”

I plant my elbows on the table and lean forward. “Who knows about this?”

“The inner circle.”

“Your source?”

“Dr Lenin. The new psychotherapist works in his facility.”

That’s close enough to be chalked up to false rumours. Dr Lenin has no reason to lie to Harris, considering he gives him the best investments – on my behalf.

Since Aurora disappeared right after Maxim’s trial, I had to at least keep an eye on him in case she went to visit her father.

She didn’t. Not once.

Considering how she ended things with him, I’m not surprised. That woman has so much stubbornness in her, it sparks in her stormy eyes like waves. However, there’s a slightly broken quality to her, too. A vulnerability I’ve caught a glimpse of whenever Maxim’s name is mentioned.

“Keep me updated on that. And, Harris?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I need eyes on her.”

“Consider it done.” He nods again and leaves.

I rub my forefinger against my chin, contemplating where Maxim’s call for parole is coming from. Does it have to do with Aurora’s reappearance?

The image of her murky blue eyes returns to memory. The way she trembled in fear but still held her ground when I gripped her chin.

I’ve had grown men shake in front of me, yet Aurora didn’t shy away from giving me a piece of her mind. Even after she knew I had her and H&H by the throat.

Literally and figuratively.

If I choose to, I can blow her little company to irredeemable pieces.

I won’t, though.

At least, not until I have what I want from her.

I sip my cognac, letting the strong liquid burn my throat as I recall the slight twitch in those red lips while she stared up at me.

She held my gaze, I’ll give her that.

Now I’m tempted to see how far I can push her before she stops doing so.

I’m no saint. I’ve had my fair share of women after Alicia’s death, but each and every one of them were gone within the night. Harris made them all sign NDAs that ensure they’ll run the other way the moment they see me again.

This is the first time I’ll keep someone close. Not because I want her close, but because I’ll untangle her piece by each bloody piece.

Aurora Harper might be a carbon copy of my wife, but I’m beginning to see they’re nothing alike.

Clarissa – Aurora – was a wild child. She sang off tune and danced sporadically when she thought no one was watching, then hid behind Alicia’s wedding dress when people were around.

Something tells me she’s still the same. She’s hiding something, and as it happens, I’m good with riddles and wars.

Especially wars.

I stand up and stop by my glass chessboard on the coffee table. It has an unfinished game from when I played alone this morning.

Now that both Aiden and Levi are gone, I have no one to play with but myself. There’s Harris, but he’s too obsessed with his tablet to pay enough attention to chess.

Usually, I make one of my sides lose just so I can win afterwards.

Let’s say it’s a vicious cycle.

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I retrieve it.

Aiden. Speak of the devil.

“Jonathan, finally.”

“Hello to you, too, son.”

“Forget about that. Why haven’t you been answering my calls?”

“One, you’re on your honeymoon on my island, and if I might add, you still didn’t thank me for it. Two, some of us have work to do.”

To say my relationship with my son is strained would probably be putting it lightly. He’s hated me since his mother’s death. Not that I mind. It’s his hatred for me that’s made him grow up into the man he is today.

While I do not approve of his taste in women, I have no doubt King Enterprises will be in good hands twenty or thirty years from now.

There’s a pause on the other end of the line before he speaks quietly. “Who is she?”

“Who is who?”

“You know exactly who I’m talking about. Who the fuck was that woman who looked like Alicia’s ghost? And don’t even try to tell me you don’t know everyone who appeared at the wedding.”

This is long overdue. Aiden’s been trying to reach me since the wedding, and I know it’s not because he misses me. Avoiding his question is only delaying the inevitable.

“She’s your aunt.”

“My aunt? Since when do I have an aunt?”

“You always did. Aurora is Alicia’s half-sister. She was born after an affair between your grandmother and a commoner from the North. That’s why no one likes to talk about her existence.”

“Why didn’t I know?”

“Because neither Alicia nor Aurora wanted you to.”

“As if that explains everything. Why is she back now?”

That’s what I would like to find out, and I will. She’ll also tell me all about the shitstorm that went down after Maxim Griffin’s arrest.

‘I saw the devil today, darling. I think he’s coming after me.’

At first, I thought Alicia said that as a result of her hallucinations. She often woke up in the middle of the night and roamed the house, scribbling words everywhere. However, more recently, I’m starting to think that maybe there was something different going on. Maybe she did see the devil.

The look on Aurora’s face whenever I mention Maxim’s name is too similar to Alicia’s horrified expression to write it off as a coincidence. Not that I ever believe in those.

A knock sounds on the door. I check my watch. Ten minutes early. Impressive.

“I have company,” I tell Aiden and hang up before he says anything. After slipping the phone back in my pocket, I say, “Come in.”

But instead of being faced with the stormy blue eyes that look ready for trouble, my driver appears at my doorstep. His white-gloved hands lie inert at his sides and his bald head shines under the light.

“Sir.”

“What is it, Moses? Why are you here?”

“The lady sent me back.”

My fingers strangle the glass until I nearly break it. I was so sure she’d accept. She should have. All the facts point in that direction, yet she went straight against that possibility.

Well played, Aurora.

She’s taken me by surprise for the second time since her reappearance.

There will not be a third.