Ruthless Empire: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance (Royal Elite Book 6)

Silver ran away to her mother’s house.

Again.

She’s starting to make a habit out of it and I’m going to fuck it — amongst other things — out of her.

But first, I have to take care of business.

Like the sorry fuck who’s now going home after a drinking session in a pub.

Aiden, Xander, and I wait for him in the dark car park. Adam chooses this poor neighbourhood because it gives him some much-needed camouflage. He gets to drink as much as he wants without anyone bothering him or threatening to tell his father about it.

Xander is the one who gave us this piece of information since he does the same whenever he wants to escape his father’s wrath. Though he still doesn’t want to admit that he’s developing a drinking problem.

However, that’s not important right now. The fucker who’s going to come out is.

“Where’s Ronan?” Xander asks.

“He’s stoned,” Aiden says. “I’m going to fuck up his face if he complains that we’re keeping him out.”

“He wants to be kept out.” I place a hand in my pocket to prevent it from curling into a fist. I’ve been planning for this moment since last night. Since I saw the fear in Silver’s eyes as she dashed out in see-through clothes. She’s not the type who goes out unprepared, which means she was scared about her parents’ careers more than she showed. The fact that that bastard Adam has gotten under her skin this way makes me want to eradicate him from this world.

No one gets to toy with her under my watch.

That game is mine and Silver’s alone. No outsiders are allowed.

“Astor wants to be left out?” Aiden raises a brow. “Are we talking about the same person?”

“He puts on a façade.” I throw Aiden a condescending glance. “If you weren’t so self-centred, you would’ve noticed it.”

“Hashtag burn.” Xander grins. Aiden and I never go at each other’s throats — at least, not in front of the others. So whenever that happens, Xander and Ronan act like monkeys who’ve found a banana.

“I told you it’s over with Queens. I ended it officially in front of Jonathan.” Aiden levels me with his own condescension. “Stop being a petty little bitch.”

Before we met here, Aiden told me over the phone that it was all over.

He’s no longer engaged to Silver.

She’ll also speak to her father about it soon.

Despite the relief I feel, it’s not enough. It’s as if I can’t get the thought of her engaged to someone else out of my head. Despite knowing it was fake all along, she was still someone else’s fiancée.

Not mine. His.

The part I’m most pissed off about is the fact she’ll never be my fiancée. She’ll never be fully mine no matter how much I own her.

Then she had to be secretive about that fucker Adam. She’s slowly but surely pushing me out of her life, and soon enough, I’ll only be a fling in her past.

Silver will eventually choose her parents’ image and hers. I’ve never belonged in that picture-perfect frame.

Maybe that’s what makes me feel even more pissed off than I should be about this whole fucking mess.

“Whoa, Captain.” Xander clutches me by the shoulder. “Now you get Silver all to yourself, huh?”

“Which can’t be said about your case.” Aiden smirks at him.

Xander’s grin falls and he flips him off. They both think they can keep secrets from me, but I’ve already figured it out. I’m curious to see how Xander will handle it.

“Here he comes,” I whisper as Adam stumbles from the pub. It takes him a lot of swaying to reach his car.

He doesn’t see us since we’re hidden in the blind spot near the wall. Adam curses under his breath when he’s unable to find his keys.

Aiden’s shoulders tense and his expression blackens. Ever since he confirmed that Adam was the one who pushed Elsa in the pool, he’s been out for blood. Almost like me.

Xander just joined because he likes to punch things lately.

No one here wants to fuck up that arsehole more than me. He didn’t only terrorise Silver, but he also thought he could have her.

He thought he could own what’s fucking mine.

Aiden goes first, but he doesn’t bother with the ski mask. He punches Adam straight in the face.

Adam wails like a schoolgirl, clutching his nose.

“Payback time, fucker.” Aiden raises his fist again.

Adam’s eyes widen when Xander and I join in. The moment he realises the clusterfuck he’s got himself into, his face contorts like a whore faking an orgasm.

He has no idea what’s coming for him. I’ll have fun dissecting him to bloody pieces, but I won’t need violence like Xander and Aiden.

Mental pain is more destructive than the physical one.

After Aiden punches him for the second time, Adam shrieks, blubbering nonsense.

“Hey…hey…” He puts both hands up, his eyes red and bloodshot. “L-let’s talk it out. Our parents are friends. We can find a solution.”

“Yes, let’s talk.” I place a hand on Aiden’s arm, bringing it down. My voice is surprisingly composed, considering the chaos stabbing inside me. But I’ve always been the type who gets eerily quiet and calm in a time of crisis.

At first, I thought it was because of the calm night of the kidnapping, but maybe it’s more because of the blood pool William drowned in. It was so fucking calm after he floated.

So silent.

So dead.

Like this lowlife will be once I’m done with him.

“Right, Cole.” Adam smiles as he straightens. “I knew you’d be more reasonable.”

“I am. See, I don’t think violence fixes anything. You eventually heal from the cuts and bruises. They don’t live inside you and remind you of what you did every day, do they? Unless we can get you in a state of stage four cancer for at least ten years — without medication — I don’t see how we can make you pay physically.”

Aiden and Xander smirk as all hope vanishes from Adam’s eyes. It always feels euphoric when they realise I’m the worst choice they could’ve ever gotten. People are afraid of Aiden and think they can take refuge in my apparent kindness and welcoming smiles, but they don’t know me.

None of them do.

Except for my Butterfly.

And it’s for her that Adam will regret the day he got into her immediate vicinity. He’ll regret every time she read those texts with a frown or looked over her shoulder in fear.

“Here’s how it will go, Adam,” I continue. “We already know you use performance-enhancing drugs. But that won’t do you much damage, even with the school, so we planted a few stashes of cocaine in your locker this afternoon. The cleaning staff should have found them by now and reported back to the principal. He should be on a phone call with your father, but that’s not the only phone call he’ll receive, is it, Xan?”

“Nope.” Xander feigns sympathy as he speaks, “My dad, you know, Lewis Knight? Anyway, he’s kind of a big shot in your father’s party and he’ll tell him that if he doesn’t send you away, his position might be in jeopardy. If he does, however, it might end up being beneficial for him. He can move up in rank, you know.” Xander winks. “Politics.”

“My mother also has your mother’s chain of restaurants.” I take a step forward. “Considering Dad’s company is one of their biggest shareholders, I’d say I can crush your mother’s business with a simple BOD meeting, don’t you think?”

I had to tell Mum about Adam. It was either that or get Sebastian involved. And as much as I’m fucking pissed off at Silver, I know she did everything she did to keep this out of her parents’ political lives.

So I respected her wishes and didn’t tell them. Mum loves Silver, so she agreed immediately and said she’ll do anything to keep our family protected.

Our family.

I hate those fucking words.

“And that, my friend —” Aiden clutches Adam by the shoulder, and the bastard is too stunned to even flinch “— is only the beginning. We still haven’t gotten Jonathan King and Sebastian Queens involved. Do you want a preview?”

“W-what do you want me to do?” Adam stares between the three of us as if we’re his Grim Reapers.

I stalk towards him and smooth his shirt. “You’ll accept your fate and leave for the military academy without a fucking protest. If you don’t, I’ll crush you.”

And I will. Adam won’t get away with only being transferred. As soon as I grow up enough to take hold of my father’s businesses, I’ll hunt him down and destroy him all over again.

I’ll make his life a hell so deep, he will never find a way out.

He’ll pay back in instalments.

He’ll look over his shoulder in fear, just like she did.

That’s my best form of revenge.

Once Adam thinks I’ll release him, he sighs. I lift my fist and punch him in the face until my knuckles sting.

True, violence never solves anything, but it’s liberating in a way.

It’s ironic that I’ve only ever punched two people due to anger — Aiden and Adam.

Both times were because of Silver.

Everything in my life has turned around and revolves around her.

One way or another.

I go home late.

Partly because of Adam. Partly because I considered going to Cynthia’s building and barging inside.

The only reason I stopped is because of Cynthia. She doesn’t like me — because of my mother, I suppose — and would start a riot before allowing me to see Silver this late.

By the time I arrive home, it’s around one in the morning. It’s dark and quiet, so Sebastian and his team must be pulling an all-nighter in the party’s building. They seem to be doing that a lot lately.

Perhaps he knows how much Mum needs her quiet when she writes. Besides, it’s more convenient than moving back and forth between the house and his workplace.

As I open the door to my room, my mind fills with ways to drag Silver back here tomorrow.

I need to catch her at school before she runs to Cynthia’s. While I hate missing practice, because of the control I feel during games, I probably have to so I can —

I stop on the threshold of my room, my thoughts coming to a halt, too.

Silver sits on the chair by my desk — or, rather, sleeps. Her head lies on a book she must’ve been reading, her blonde strands half-camouflaging her face.

Her oversized T-shirt for the day is pink and barely reaches the middle of her naked thighs.

For a moment, I stand there and watch her.

For a moment, I soak in the image.

She came back.

Not only did she not stay at her mother’s, but she also came to my room.

She was waiting for me.

Fuck. I shouldn’t be feeling like a giddy teenager with a crush on the school’s queen B, but it’s there. The…joy.

Silver has never come to me before, not willingly. Not even as a pretence. She has walls so high, I thought I would never be able to climb over them no matter how much I tried.

And I did try.

I tried every fucking trick under the sun.

A part of me is still pissed off about the whole Adam thing, but now that I know he’ll disappear for good, some of that anger vanishes.

Besides, I can’t actually be mad at her when she’s sleeping. She looks so pure and peaceful.

I gently pull her hand away to catch the title of the book she’s been reading.

Nausea.

A small smile grazes my lips as I carefully wrap one hand around her back and the other under her legs and carry her in my arms. Her head falls against my chest with a satisfied moan.

She’s so beautiful, it’s fucking me up.

And it’s not only her external beauty, it’s everything about her, from her insecurities to her affectionate and responsible side.

It’s just her.

I sit on the bed and manoeuvre her so she’s half-lying atop me, her back leaning against my chest and her legs tucked between mine.

My fingers stroke the sensitive spot in her neck. She moans, and this time, her eyes flutter open.

Fine, so I was being a dick and woke her up. But I needed to see those baby blues.

For a second, she seems disoriented, then her lips break into a smile as she stares up at me, her head lying on my bicep.

“What are you doing here, Silver?”

The smile slowly vanishes. “Mum has a late-night meeting at the party and I don’t like staying there alone. Besides…”

“Yes?”

“I don’t want to run away anymore.”

“And you decided to come to my room?”

She nods.

“If I remember correctly, you ran away when I told you to wait in the car earlier. Do you think you can come and go as you wish, Silver?”

“Cole…”

“Answer the fucking question.”

“I was scared, okay? You can be scary sometimes.” She half-turns so she’s tucked in my lap and glides her fingers across my chest. “But when I got to Mum’s and knew she wouldn’t be home, I was restless. I met Adam there the other time, you know. He said his uncle lives there, but he doesn’t. So I was scared he’d come find me.”

That fucker. I should’ve punched him a few more times.

“I couldn’t stay there,” she murmurs. “You’re the only person I wanted to see.”

I try not to let those words consume me, but I fail. All I can do is watch her — the rosy hue on her cheeks, the relaxation in her shoulders as she snuggles into me.

“Are you still mad at me?” she whispers.

“Depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether or not you hide things from me again.”

She gulps. “I won’t.”

“You won’t, huh?”

“No.”

“Adam is gone,” I tell her. “He’ll be forced to transfer tomorrow. You won’t have to worry about him again.”

Her eyes light up and widen like when we were kids. And just like then, I would do anything to bring that expression again. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.” She plants sloppy kisses on my lips, my cheek, my jaw. “Thank you, thank you.”

It’s like she’s back to being a little girl, but I’m the only one who gets to see this side of her.

Just me. And it’ll remain this way for as long as we both breathe.

I reach my fingers under her T-shirt.

“Cole, what are you doing?” She swallows, her expression morphing from excitement to arousal.

“Punishment.”

“P-punishment?”

“You think you can hide things from me, flip me off and run away without paying the price?”

My fingers find her bare pussy and I grunt as her arousal coats my skin. “Looks like you’ve come ready for your punishment, Butterfly.”

Her breathing hitches as I thrust two fingers inside her.

“You’ll never lie to me again?”

“N-no.” Her thighs clench around me.

“Run away from me?”

“No…” It comes out as a moan as I pound into her and play with her clit.

“Take someone else’s side over mine?”

“Oh, God. Cole…” She tightens against my fingers, her lips forming an ‘O’.

Using my other hand, I slap her arse and she gasps even as her walls grip me like a vice. “That’s not the word.”

“No, no…” She falls apart around me.

“You’re mine, Silver. Only fucking mine,” I whisper against her ear.

She doesn’t nod. She doesn’t agree, but for the first time after an orgasm, she doesn’t tell me she hates me.