Throne of Power (Throne Duet #1) by Rina Kent

It took me so much to come this far, and yet I’m still expected to take a husband. Either that or Anastasia will pay the price. Either that or this position will eventually be snatched away from me.

I’m not a fool. I know I only rank so high because Granduncle is in power. The moment he’s gone, I’ll be kicked out or demoted, and I can’t do anything about it because of my damn gender.

My phone vibrates, and I retrieve it. An automatic smile paints my lips when I see the name flashing on the video call. She’s exactly what I need under the circumstances.

I straighten and answer with a smile. The exact replica of my face greets me. Well, almost exact. My identical twin sister has her hair loose to her shoulders, and she has pink lipstick on like the girly girl she is.

“Hey, Rei.”

“Hi, Rai! Look who wants to say hello to his aunty.” The screen shakes a little before she steadies it again, holding a tiny human on her lap.

He has his mom’s light hair, but his eyes are a deep forest green like his father’s.

Reina smiles at him. “Say hi, Gareth.”

My heart squeezes at the way she named him after Dad. It’s like he gets to live another life after his sudden and heartbreaking death.

“Hi, Aunty.” He grins, showing his baby teeth, and makes a kissing sound. “Miss you!”

“Hear the boy?” Reina scowls at the camera. “It’s been exactly six weeks since we last saw you.”

“You’re counting?”

“Damn right I’m counting. You’re my only family, Rai.”

“No, I’m not. You have Asher and Gareth. Also, Asher’s father treats you like his daughter.”

“None of them are my twin sister.”

“You know I can’t meet you often, Rei. It’s for you and your family’s security.”

They’re already using Anastasia against me, and while I can’t send her away because of who her father is, I can at least save Reina.

No one but Granduncle and Vlad knows she exists. Wait, no—Kyle helped me in saving her from Ivan’s coup seven years ago, and therefore, he’s well aware of her.

Shit. That’s one more reason to keep Reina as far away as possible.

I was feeling safe concerning her because Sergei would never hurt Dedushka’s other granddaughter, but Kyle is another story. He won’t hesitate to use every weapon in his arsenal.

“I know.” She releases a breath, stroking Gareth’s hair as he runs a car toy along her thigh. “Sometimes I wish I took your place.”

“Don’t say that. We both ended up where we should’ve.”

“Did we, though? Maybe it would’ve been different if I were the one who went to Grandpa’s side.”

Mom and Dad separated when we were born because Dedushka didn’t approve of her union with an American, even though he was a rich businessman.

Our parents decided to split my twin sister and me. Dad took me, and my birth name was Reina Ellis. Mom took my sister, whose birth name was Rai Sokolov.

While I was raised in a safe and loving entourage with Dad, Mom and my sister were on the run from Dedushka and his men their entire lives.

Mom didn’t want her to live the sheltered mafia princess life she had to endure. When we were twelve, Mom came and took me from school so we could leave the country. Dedushka was getting closer to catching her, and she didn’t feel like Dad could keep me safe.

That was the first time I met my mother and the second half of me—my sister.

We spent the most excruciating month on the run, but it was the most exciting, too. I got to know Reina—Rai then—and my mom, whom I’d constantly asked Dad about.

But then, they found us. They weren’t only Dedushka’s men, though. Ivan was also there, and he planned to eradicate every last Sokolov offspring so he could rule.

My sister and I were running, but we heard the gunshot that took Mom away. Ivan disguised it as suicide, but I know he killed my mom.

Back then, I gave my sister my name and told her to go to Dad and live my life with him. Then I stepped in front of Ivan and Mikhail and told them, “I’m Rai Sokolov.”

Despite being scared of what they could’ve possibly done to me, I never lowered my head or cut off eye contact. Dad taught me to never act like I’m wrong when I’m right.

That was the day my sister and I swapped places. Ever since then, I became Rai Sokolov and she is Reina Ellis—well, Reina Carson now.

Ivan wanted to kill me as he did with Mom, but a younger Mikhail snatched me from his hands and told him that the Pakhan wanted me alive. Needless to say, Mikhail must regret saving me every day now.

Dedushka and I didn’t always get along. If anything, I yelled and screamed and scratched his beard for how he sent his men to kill my mom. He said that he only wanted to bring her home, and that he never wished for his only daughter to die. It took me months to believe how genuine he was, and I wanted to tell him that Ivan was the one who killed Mom, but I didn’t, because I had no evidence and a practical man like my grandfather only believed in evidence. Besides, Ivan would’ve sold me in the black market before I could endanger his position at the time.

A while later, my grandfather sat in front of him and told me the words that snapped me into focus. “The only way to protect yourself, your sister, and your father is to become powerful.”