Page 78 of The Kings

“No, I don’t have to do anything of the sort.”

“Then you will cook and clean for yourself for six months while I’m away.”

“Six months!” My roar of fury echoes around the high-ceilinged office, and it breaks Sophia’s confidence. She steps back and narrows her eyes.

“Yes, six months.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No. End of story.” Turning my back to her, I take a sip of whiskey before I throw the glass into the fire, taking satisfaction in the smashing glass and the flames blazing more brightly. “You will obey me on this, Sophia.”

“No.” Her defiance surprises me.

“Don’t test me.”

“Don’t threaten me.”

“You are not bringing a stranger into my home, and you are not leaving for six months, or even six minutes. Do I make myself clear?”

“No. I’m going, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop me. So you will take this file, read it and see for yourself that I’m not letting a mole in your life, or you can fend for yourself for half a year and see how you fare. Either way, brother, you can’t stop me from leaving, and if you try, see how that pans out in the long run. Hmm.”

The smile that passes across my face is genuine, and it is one filled with pride. Sophia is the only one who could talk to me like that and not die a painful and drawn-out death. She is no doubt the fiercest woman I have ever known.

Deciding to play her game, I grunt and indicate the desk where she should leave the information about this golden unicorn in a world full of backstabbing, double-crossing, greedy mercenaries. “Don’t take that as compliance on my behalf. I’m more interested in seeing why you think this woman isn’t a mole. Probably means she is one, and I want to know more so I can take her out before she takes me out.”

“Jesus, Gideon,” Sophia says softly. “Don’t be like that. She’s a good woman.”

“Says you.”

“My word should be good enough.” Her voice trembles.

“Sadly, my dear, it is not. Leave the file and go.”

She sighs again and drops the file on the desk before stalking out without another word.

“Fucking six months,” I mutter. “What does she think this is?”

Lamenting my whiskey lost to the fire, I move over to the desk and pick up the file. It’s lighter than I expected, which tells me one thing. Sophia didn’t do enough homework on this creature. Sneering, I throw it back on the desk and pour another whiskey before moving over to the balcony doors and flinging them open to step out into the lashing down rain and gale-force winds. Feeling the freezing cold air hit my skin, I smile and throw my head back, revelling in the harsh nature of the weather. This tempest that fits my mood. Dropping my gaze over the village, lit up in the darkened night, the warm yellow lights cheery and a beacon of hope in the bleakness of the mid-winter, I wonder who and where this unicorn is right now.

One thing for sure is she has no idea who or where I am. Skulking in the shadows behind my castle walls, it is that way for a reason. As my father was before me, I am the Head of a Global Secret Society called Solitaire. It is my legacy, my birthright, my blood. It is also my weakness. As powerful as this position makesme in the world, it makes me twice as vulnerable. There isn’t a single member of the society that wouldn’t take me out given the chance in a coup that would pass the baton to them as told by the ancient bylaws of the Society. Do I blame them for wanting it? No. Do I want them to have it? No. Will I give it up willingly? Also… no. They will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands, but as much as I’ve protected my identity from the world and from those in the Society, there are a select few who know exactly who I am.

So, who am I to the world?

An enigmatic, eccentric, reclusive billionaire who lives up on the hill in the quiet village of Hemsway behind his fifteen-foot-high walls and electric gates.

But who am I really?

A man who has the world at his fingertips, who will do whatever it takes to stay twenty steps ahead of the game, a ruthless leader of an empire that is fickle and shaky as much as it is solid and absolute.

Power. It’s all about power. And the man behind the mask, the one with all the power, is the Don.

Gideon Hawthorne.

Me.