Corrupt Prince by Ivy Mason

 

One

A diamond is onlya lump of coal until, given enough pressure, it becomes something people would pay thousands, if not millions, of dollars for.

My whole life, I’d been protected.

I was intimately aware of both my father's indifference and his brutality, but most of the time, my brother, Bourbon, took the brunt of it.

He also made sure that my work in the mafia was focused on the business end of things.

I’d seen plenty of tortured but only witnessed a few people killed. When I’d killed, it had only been in self-defense.

And, I’d been in love.

It was the kind that stole my breath away, the kind that lived with grandeur in my heart, making the clouds float about my head and the world swell with music.

It had been bigger than life itself, and I was so alive with it that nothing else existed in my life, except for her.

And even after she died, stopped breathing in my arms, I was protected still from the truth.

Naive. Useless.

I was as worthless as a lump of coal.

As I sat on the plane, watching my brother comfort the woman who reminded me of the woman I’d once loved, my chest burned with anger. Even in their anger and grief, you could feel the devotion and tenderness pulsing between them. They genuinely loved each other.

I tapped my fingers on my thigh, wrenching my eyes away from them, and instead stared out the window into an endless blue sky. There were no clouds, only a nothingness beyond, much like how I was feeling inside.

As soon as Bourbon revealed the family secret, that my pieceofshit father had been raping the love of my life in my home, only suites down from my own room, I’d taken it out on anything inanimate within reach.

I’d punched, kicked, screamed, letting out all the rage. The wrath of my fury was born and now, it was building inside me like a trapped animal. Focusing on my anger would give me strength to pull out my gun the moment I saw my father and blow his brains out.

I knew killing him would change something inside me, tear any innocence remaining and turn me into one of them.

Like a useless piece of coal, this world was going to burn me up, turning me into the ashes of what was once a human being.

But my humanity didn’t matter any more. All that mattered was my revenge.

Torian finally landed the plane we’d confiscated from Dimitri's old crew, the man Rose had killed, her own revenge enacted, and I waited impatiently as it made its way down the runway. Once it turned into our private hanger, I immediately stood up and glared out the window. I was anxious to see my father's face before I killed him.

He was waiting for us on the tarmac, with a cold and stiff stance. He had a new woman by his side, someone who wasn't my mother.

Because he'd gotten her killed too.

The new woman was young and pretty and probably a whore too.

I just hoped I didn't get too much blood on her pretty, pink dress.

As soon as the stairs lowered, I rushed down them, my hand going to my back, where my gun was tucked.

Before I even stepped onto the runway, I was shoved to the ground, a heavy weight on top of me and my arms pinned behind my back.

"Mr. King has requested no weapons be allowed when you greet him," a low growl from Benny, one of his loyal guards, sounded behind me. I grunted as a knee dug into my back and my face smashed into the hot concrete by a hand on my head.

"Please, Coulter. Don’t hurt him. He has my sister."

I lifted my eyes to stare into Rose's gorgeous face. Her troubled green eyes filled with concern.

"Get off him."

The weight on me disappeared and then Bourbon was by my side. Grabbing my arm, he yanked upward, pulling me to my feet.

I grappled to stand without his assistance, noting that Benny had taken my gun. Once I was steady on my feet, I shoved Bourbon away. "I don't need your help."

I hated him right now.

He'd known all along that our father was raping Lily, and yet he did nothing.

He held his hands up in the air in surrender, trying to make light of the situation. “No problem, man."

I fixed my suit, straightening my shirt and tie before turning my back on them.

I couldn't look at them.

I turned to glare at my father, who was watching us with a slight curling upwards of his lips, his only emotion at seeing his prodigal sons return home. His stark blue eyes, the same color as Bourbons, were blank, apathetic.

But me, I burned with emotion.

Hatred.

Rage.

I didn't wish him dead; I wished him obliterated into nothingness. Not even a burial or his body burned to ashes to be thrown into the desert.

I wanted him to not exist.

He flinched at the look I gave him, which made satisfaction fill me.

Even though I had no gun, only a small pocket knife, I could still take the chance and race at him. I didn’t need a weapon to kill this man, my hatred would be enough. I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and watch the life slowly drain from his eyes.

It wouldn't be the first time I'd killed a man. Thanks to him, I had practice out in the desert.

It would be fitting justice to use the skills he’d forced me to learn to take him down.

And yet, I couldn't make myself do it. If I killed my father, they would kill Rose’s sister.

Even though I hated my father with every cell in my body, I loved Rose more, and I would grant her, her wish.

Not killing my father would be my gift to Rose, the woman who’d saved my brother.

Nodding my head, I shut down every emotion inside in order to gain control over myself. I would be cold and heartless, just like my father, because if I didn't, I would suffocate from the smothering weight on my chest.

“Fine.” I turned away from his satisfied smirk, walking towards the back of the grey cargo plane where they were already unloading the crates of weapons and ozone. Bourbon had negotiated our safe return in exchange for it.

I wordlessly watched as they worked, pretending I wasn't paying attention but I was actually listening to every word between the three of them.

"I want to see my sister. You better not have hurt her or I’ll--"

"Or you'll what? Kill me?" My father chuckled darkly. "I'd like to see you try. If Bourbon here couldn't do it before, what makes you think you could?”

His words shocked me. I never knew that Bourbon had tried to kill my father.

There was only one time when my brother's whereabouts had been unaccounted for, for days on end. When I was sixteen, he'd been gone for two months. When he'd returned, any light that had been in his eyes was completely gone. They were dead, just like my father's. He also moved more slowly, like mere movement was difficult for him.

The blood drained from my face when I realized that it was around the same time Lily had come to me that first night crying.

Had Bourbon tried to kill my father after he found out what had happened?

If so, I could imagine my father would've beat him to within an inch of his life. That would explain the time needed to recover, and the deadness in his eyes.

It could also be the reason Lily never told me the truth.

Once again, I realized how I'd been protected my whole life without knowing it.

Fuck! This was going to stop. Now.

“Maybe I’m smarter than Bourbon.” She stared him down with a haughty look.

My father’s hand clamped down on her arm and he drug her to him, his face red and mottled with rage. "If you know what's good for you, girl, you'll keep your mouth shut, or your sister will suffer."

I swiveled on my feet, anger surging through me, but Bourbon's hand snapped forward, instantly jerking my father's hand off of Rose. He stepped in between Rose and my father, his face calm and cool. Ice cold. The dangerous side of Bourbon had come out.

He was an inch taller than my father, and he stared down at him. "Touch her again and I will kill you."

"Bourbon," Rose's sweet voice interjected.

Bourbon shook his head. "No. You may have the upper hand here, Nero, but I will not tolerate you touching my fiancé."

“Fiancé?" My father's face went blank. "You mean you actually proposed to the girl?"

"Yes," I bit out, joining them, “he did. Do you have a problem with that?”

Instead of being angry like I thought he would be, my father grinned. "Of course not, why would I?" He stepped back, conceding to Bourbon. "In fact, it was my plan for the two of you to marry, even if you didn't want to. Word can't go around that my son went chasing after some tail, can it?” His cold gaze moved to Rose. "Of course not. We will announce to everyone that you are the lost Petrov princess, and that I’ve arranged the two of you to marry as an alliance between the Bratvas and the Kings. Nicholi has accepted it, and so will you. Is that clear?"

Rose was furious. I could see it in her clenched fists, her fiery gaze. "I want to see my sister. Make sure you haven't killed her already."

"Doctor?" My father tilted his head to the side, and the woman in the pink dress stepped forward, pulling something from her large black bag as my father continued, "I need some of Bourbon's blood. If he gives it to me without--"

"What do you need my blood for?” Bourbon snarled.

"If he gives it to me without a fight, I will let you talk to your sister on the phone." His gaze turned back to Bourbon. "If you don't, I will take it anyways, and order the sister to be killed."

Bourbon’s hands clenched into fists and he stepped into my father’s space, with spitting rage on his face. The calm and collected Bourbon was gone, replaced by someone who was quickly going to lose his control.

In that moment, I knew what my purpose was from here on out.

My father would always hang Rose's sister's life over her head like a guillotine. And, because of this, he would be able to control Bourbon.

It was my turn to be the protector. Bourbon and Rose deserved their happy ending.

I placed my hand on his arm, determined to defuse the situation or someone we didn’t want harmed would end up dead. "It's just a little blood."

“Please, Bourbon,” Rose said.

When Bourbon didn’t tear his eyes away from my father, I continued. “He can't hurt you or Rose with it.” I drew his attention away from our father, growling out. “I swear I won’t let him.”

"Fine," he snarled. Taking off his Armani suit jacket, he began to roll up his sleeve.

Smirking, my father gestured with his fingers and the doctor pulled the rest of her supplies out of the bag.

“You and Bourbon will be staying at a house in Summerlin,” my father’s sneer turned sharper, “away from the strip and our house.”

“But—” Rose tried to interject but my father cut her off.

“That’s the deal. I don’t trust you anywhere near my business, or where I’m keeping your sister.”

“Fine,” Rose grit out, “but I want to see her. Face to face.”

“You will,” my father gave her a cold smile, “if, and when, I see fit. If I see that you two are on your best behavior, acting the doting couple, as well as the obedient children I know you can be, you will be allowed to see her. But on my orders only.”

Rose scowled, folding her arms across her chest. “I want to talk to her now.”

“Of course, dear,” my father took out his phone and swiped at it.

As the doctor took a couple vials of Bourbon's blood, my father handed over his phone to Rose.

“Aster?” Rose began to cry, apologizing over and over, turning away from us to whisper into the phone.

Hearing Rose break down made something inside me go stark cold.

I hated, hated what my father was doing to her. To her sister. To Bourbon. He would burn the whole world down to get what he wanted.

With every tear that fell down her face, I bricked another stone in the wall around my heart.

I knew that in order to protect them, I was going to have to be just like him.

Cold. Unfeeling. Hard.

As emotionless as a piece of coal.

I was done being the useless brother.

From here on out, I pledged to burn his world down in order to save the people I loved.