Page 14 of Brutal Reign (Bratva Kings #3)

CHAPTER

TWELVE

HOPE

For a second, all I can do is stare.

Simon is alive?

It seems impossible, but he’s here in the flesh, standing in my living room.

My hand finds the wall for support. “Simon? I-I thought you died in the attack.”

“I’m very much alive,” he says, stepping forward. “Like you, Hope. We’re both harder to kill than the Syndicate thought.”

“How?” The word comes out strangled. When I was making my escape, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a small army of Syndicate soldiers. My father only had his most senior men and maybe a dozen guards hiding with him, so I didn’t think there was any chance of their survival. But maybe…

“My father?” I ask hopefully.

“I’m sorry. Just me. Sit down. I’ll get you a glass of water,” he says, with familiar authority. “There’s a lot to explain.”

My legs shake as I sink onto the couch while he goes to the kitchen. It’s a shock to see someone I never thought I’d see again. There was no way to confirm that everyone died that night, but I couldn’t imagine another outcome.

Simon and I have always had our differences.

He treated me like an annoying younger sibling he never had time for.

Even when I started at Cambridge, he couldn’t understand why I’d choose to study history and literature instead of something more practical, like economics, which might one day allow me to work for my father’s legitimate businesses.

Still, after nearly a year alone, living like a ghost with no one knowing the real me, I’m surprisingly relieved to see him again, even if it’s a lot to take in.

Simon returns and passes me a glass of water but doesn’t sit. Despite everything, he’s as put together as always: tailored suit, expensive Italian shoes, not a hair out of place, while I sit here in threadbare clothes with shadows under my eyes.

“I know this is a shock,” he says gently. More gently than I’ve ever heard him speak. “You covered your tracks well. It took months to find you, but I refused to give up.”

“I have a million questions,” I breathe, still trying to process.

“I’m sure you do. Let me start at the beginning.” He leans against the wall, folding his arms across his suited chest.

“What happened during the attack?”

“We weren’t prepared for that kind of assault.

It came out of nowhere. They breached every entry point within minutes.

We fought back as best we could, but there were too many.

” He sighs, eyes shadowed with memory. “I was caught on the main floor, trying to hold them off, hoping I could keep them from your father’s office.

I tried, but it was too late… I saw them kill him, Hope. They were merciless. The way they?—”

I hold up my hand, unable to bear hearing more. “Please. I can’t.”

His voice grows rougher. “I held your father while he died. He made me promise I’d find and protect you, if it was the last thing I did.”

As much as it hurts to hear all of this, there’s a little comfort in knowing my father’s final thoughts were for me. Maybe, in the end, I did matter to him.

The realization cracks something inside me, and a rough sob breaks free.

When I look up, Simon is watching me with an expression I can't quite read. There's something unsettling about the way he's studying me.

“I escaped through the tunnels, as I imagine you did; they hadn’t been breached yet. Made it out on foot and hid in the forest. Soon after, the Syndicate had burned the villa to the ground. No one else survived.”

We sit in the thick silence, the weight of it settling between us.

“I’m sorry for what you saw, for what you went through. I can’t imagine.” I wipe a tear away. “My father planned my escape. He had a car ready, everything packed. I was so angry that he refused to come with me, but he insisted on staying and fighting alongside his men.”

“Your father loved you. I’m here because I promised him I’d take care of you.”

Take care of me?

My thoughts jump to the life growing inside me. If Simon’s here to help me, maybe he could arrange security for us and access to some of my father’s holdings. If that happens, there’s a chance I could keep this baby.

I smile up at him, hopeful. “I don’t need much. A safe place to live, protection, and access to some of my father’s money. I know he had property in Hong Kong. Real estate holdings alone are worth hundreds of mill?—”

His mouth hardens. “That’s not what I had in mind.”

“Okay,” I say carefully. “What did you have in mind?”

He reaches out, brushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear. It’s an intimate gesture that makes my shoulders tense. I edge back, putting a little distance between us.

Even though he’s only ten years older than me and what most women would consider very handsome, I’ve never been interested in him that way. And I didn’t get the sense he saw me as anything more than an annoying sibling.

“I’ve spent the last year in Hong Kong, working to rebuild. There are still many loyal to the Black Company and the King legacy.”

I nod, uncertain where this is headed.

“The future depends on us. On King’s daughter and his right hand uniting. Together we could get revenge on the Syndicate, become even more powerful than your father.”

Unease lodges in my gut. “United how?”

“By marriage. It’s what your father wanted for us.”

A knot twists in my gut. Is this true? “My father never mentioned that to me.”

“He didn’t have time to, but think about it, Hope.

We make sense.” Simon’s gaze sweeps my flat, his lip curling.

“Your father wouldn’t want you to live like this.

Always looking over your shoulder. Residing in some dump, serving drinks to drunk idiots, and wearing patched-up clothes. He raised you to lead.”

I bristle, heat rising beneath my collar. “No, he raised you to lead. That was never my role. He kept me far away from his world.”

His expression turns steely. “Maybe. But survival isn’t enough. Not for someone like you. We can’t let your father’s death go unanswered. The Syndicate stole everything from us, and now we’re going to take it back together.”

His words make my head spin. “I don’t want revenge or power. I just want a normal life. I’ve already lost both of my parents to this world, and I won’t risk losing anything else.”

He closes the space between us. There’s something in his expression, in his flat stare, that makes my stomach drop. “I’m not asking you. I’m telling you this is happening.”

Ice spreads down my spine. “What is it you want from me?”

“Exactly what your father told me before he died. He wanted to see us married, to stand side by side and rebuild what was stolen from us.”

Footsteps echo behind me. I turn and see two men in dark suits blocking the doorway.

The walls feel like they’re closing in. Maybe Simon believes he’s honoring Baba’s wishes, but that doesn’t make this right.

He looks at me with icy detachment, his features revealing nothing. Simon was always able to hide his emotions. Maybe that’s what made him rise through the ranks so quickly in my father’s triad. “This is your fate. It’s what you were meant for.”

“No, Simon. I’m a grown woman, and I will decide my own future. Whom I marry, where I live, what I do with my life—those are my choices to make. Even if it goes against what my father wanted.”

His upper lip curls in a sneer. “If I found you, so can the Syndicate. What do you think they would do to you? I guarantee you wouldn’t be standing here breathing right now if they found you first.” He folds his arms across his chest, shutting down any argument.

“I’m doing what’s best for you, even if you don’t realize it yet. ”

Bile rises in my throat. “You’re not giving me a choice?”

He doesn’t bother responding, and that makes everything clear.

My mind races, searching for a way to get myself out of this. To talk sense into him, but I don’t know if I can. A thought takes root. If he’s going to force this marriage, I need to use what little leverage I have to get what I want.

And what I want is this baby.

The feeling has only grown since I found out I was pregnant. But now, I’m sure. I want a child more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I want someone to love unconditionally, and to be loved in return. I want a chance to be the mother I never had.

Simon is offering me a gilded cage, but at least it’s one protected from the Syndicate.

And he doesn’t know about my trust fund—no one other than Chen does.

He doesn’t know that when I turn twenty-five, I’ll have enough money to take my child and disappear forever. I just need to survive until then.

I lift my chin, meeting his intense stare. “I’m pregnant.”

His face darkens. “Is that so? I didn’t realize you had time to whore around while pulling pints.”

I ignore the jab and force confidence into my tone. “You might have been my father’s right hand, but you need me—my name, my bloodline, my father’s legacy—in order to legitimize your power. If you want my cooperation, it will be on my terms. I will marry you, but only after I have this baby.”

His gaze turns calculating, weighing his options. Finally, his mouth curves into something that might be a smile. “Clever girl. Your father would be proud.” He pauses, studying me. “But this changes nothing about our arrangement. Only the timing.”

I work hard not to visibly exhale in relief. I’ve bought myself time. Not freedom, but a window where I can protect this child until I figure out what comes next.

It may not be a perfect plan, but it’s the only one I’ve got.

Simon looks me up and down, his expression cold and businesslike. “You have ten minutes to pack before we leave.”

Leave? Blood rushes in my ears. “Where are we going?”

He smiles, and it chills me to the bone. “We’re going to Hong Kong. Where you belong.”