Corrupt Prince by Ivy Mason

Fifteen

We approached the white,dilapidated house ready to get in and out quickly. Aster was wearing black ripped jeans and a tank top, with her hair pulled back. The effect accentuated her beautiful, graceful shoulders, and brought out the softness of her freckles.

She was gorgeous, and I couldn’t get my fucking mind off of her.

The gun strapped to her thigh only made me want to slam her against the SUV and fuck the shit out of her.

We’d spent the day shooting, and the sight of her confidence with her gun had me unable to stop touching her every moment possible.

Knight kept an eye on my father, looking out for any changes to his schedule, and Dante watched over James’ activities. James had bought his sister a plane ticket to Houston, Texas, one she didn’t get on, but instead stepped onto a bus, headed towards the east coast. One of Dante’s men was on the same bus, keeping an eye on her.

James didn’t leave town though, and last time Dante had reported in, he was approaching Brooke’s apartment. She wouldn’t leave the city with him, I was certain of that. I’d given him the time he’d asked for, and it was his choice to take that risk, instead of getting out.

The house was hidden outside of the city on a worn down, non-producing farm, surrounded by a chain link fence. It had a barn on the property that looked like it would fall over any minute, and a lone donkey munching on the sparse tuffs of grass.

My father had an important meeting tonight, and I had exactly thirty minutes when I knew he would be too occupied to take any calls coming in and out. Though it was uncomfortably close to our location, I was confident we could get in and out quick enough.

The night was quiet and the whiff of shit from the neighboring ranch tickled my nose. As I surveyed the back end of the property, my chest began to tighten. Something about this whole situation was off.

I’d never heard of this place before, though I was sure there was lots of things I didn’t know about my father and his business. I reminded myself why we were doing this and led Aster towards the fence.

Marie said she could only hold my father off for a few days. If I didn't get the notebook tonight, she would bring the results, whatever they were for, to my father.

As we stood before the fence, I considered telling Aster to go back to the car to wait for me.

Scratch that. I would chain her to the fence. Knowing her, she’d fight against returning to the car.

She seemed to sense it though, and as she suddenly turned to me, a determined look on her face.

"We going in? Or you going to stand here like a limp dick?"

Christ. This woman.

I shook my head, pulling the cutters out of my bag and shaking my head. "You’re a bit extra, you know.”

She grinned. “You have no idea,” as I began to cut the chain link fence, she leaned in to whisper into my ear, “how extra I can be.”

My hands on the cutters froze.

Her breath washed over my neck. "Just try me, Coulter. You’ll be an addict after the first hit.”

My mouth was suddenly dry. My brain went blank as I imagined all the filthy things I wanted to do to this woman. She was right; I was already greedy to her kind of drug.

"Dummy, keep going." She punched my arm, snapping me out of my fantasies.

Growling, I cut through the fence quickly, then pushed it open, crawling through it first in case the security system went off.

When it didn’t, I gestured her inside, and we both moved quickly through the shadows towards the side house.

One guard was stationed at the front gate, while another one patrolled around the property. I tried the back door—locked. I considered whether or not I had time to pick it before the guard made his way around this way when Aster grabbed my arm, pointing to a window.

Nodding, we moved quickly. It was unlocked, easily sliding open.

Frowning, I grabbed her hips and hefted her through it, quickly following behind her.

Once we were inside, I turned on the flashlight and took the lead, following James’ instructions towards the stairs. The house was dark and sparsely furnished and we could only make out dark shapes in the light. The hardwood floors creaked with every step, which was really irritating and making me tense.

I kept thinking about that window. The sparse guards. How James went to see Brooke instead of leaving town with his sister.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I jerked to a stop and Aster ran into me from behind.

Swiveling, I grabbed her, yanking her from falling down the stairs. I pulled her into my arms, staring into her eyes. I pressed my hand to her mouth to stifle her protest. “Something's wrong," I whispered.

"What? Why?” She whispered against my hand. “Looks easy to me."

“That's the problem. It's too easy." My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to think. Normally, I would trust my instincts and leave immediately. They were rarely wrong. But there was a ticking clock over my head. We had to get the notebook tonight.

Suddenly my pocket buzzed and I let go of Aster, pulling my phone from it. There was a text from Dante.

Brooke left her apartment alone. Went inside, James wasn’t there.

It vibrated again with another one.

Knight said Nero walked out of his meeting early.

I swore under my breath, then texted him back. Get the hell over here.

“You have to leave. Right now,” I told Aster. She frowned, rebellion forming on her face, but I shook my head, cutting off her protest. "Remember? You promised.”

“But--"

"Aster. I'm telling you to leave. Right now. Go back to the SUV. Wait for me. If I'm not there in twenty minutes, leave without me. You can go anywhere, run away if you want."

She clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes and whispered back. "I'm not leaving my sister."

“Fine." I didn't have time to argue with her. "If I don't return soon,” I pressed my phone into her hand, “call Dante. He'll tell you what to do. The code to get into the phone is 5459. Can you remember that?”

For once in her fucking life, she didn’t argue with me, but took the phone, nodding. Clutching it to her chest, she stepped up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “Be careful.”

“You be careful.” Wrapping an arm around her back, I jerked her to me, kissing her.

She gasped and I cupped her jaw, tilting her head, loving the feel of her soft lips against mine. Her lips parted, and our tongues tangled. She tasted so sweet, so soft, so soulful.

I tasted life in her kiss, and I needed more.

I felt alive for the first time since I’d returned home.

She was right.

She was a fucking drug, and I was her addict.

I slowly pulled away, reluctantly, but the need to protect her overcame my need to taste her.

I nibbled softly on her lips, tugging them. “That’s a promise for later.”

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Sir.”

Her eyes heated. “Please, sir.”

Fuuuck. I loved it. “Now go. Be careful. Scream if anything happens.”

She nodded, and I watched her sexy ass as she turned away and snuck quietly down the stairs. I heard the soft creak of the back door. When I sensed that she was out of the house, I pulled out my gun, then made my way to the end of the hallway.

The door wasn’t locked and I opened it slowly, my gun held out in front of me.

The room was empty, with only a mattress on the floor and a rolling chair, tucked under an empty table.

I moved quickly, striding to the closet where I found the false panel, just like James said. Typing in the code to the safe, I opened the door, and disappointment settled in my stomach like an anchor.

Empty.

Shit.

Fucking James. I was going to kill him when Dante found him.

I needed to get the hell out of here.

I made it to the hallway before the lights flickered at the window. Heart pounding, I raced into the front facing room, pushing boxes aside and tearing the curtains open to see guards racing through the yard towards the front door.

In the middle of them, was my father.

As if he had a second sense, he looked up, right into the window I was standing.

It was too dark to see his face but I thought I saw a smug, knowing look plastered on his face.

I didn’t wait. I swiveled on my feet, racing towards the back room, planning on jumping from one of the windows, only to growl in frustration at the sight of the house surrounded by men. Stepping backwards, I scanned the rest of the landscape, searching for Aster.

My only comfort was that she seemed to have gotten away.

I made it down the stairs before the men rushed into the house, guns pulled out, all trained on me.

I dropped my gun, holding my hands up in surrender, waiting for the bastard of a father to enter.

James came in first and I growled, jumping towards him. “Asshole.”

A wall of men swarmed between the two of us, holding me back. Someone kicked my legs, forcing me to my knees. Someone else jerked my arms behind my back, using a zip tie to tie them together.

James kept his distance, but his hard gaze met my furious one. He shook his head, scowling. “You threatened my sister, man.”

I didn’t respond, because just then, my father strode into the house. He was wearing his standard suit but without a tie, which was rare. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, and splatters of dark red colored his collar.

He met my gaze, his steely blue eyes so like Bourbon’s, met mine.

It was the grin he gave me that made me freeze in place. Several guns were pointed at my head, and yet, strangely in this moment, I thought about Bourbon.

I wondered how often this had happened to him and understanding washed over me like a tidal wave.

While I was busy messing around with Lily, Bourbon had been at my father's side.

When we were younger, Bourbon had been full of life, and he’d mutinied against our father often. But, the older we grew, the colder and more detached Bourbon became, and the rebelliousness slowly drained from him.

I’d hated it at the time, but now, I finally got it.

You don’t dwell with evil and it not touch you.

In that moment, any doubts about the kind of man I was becoming bled out of me, replaced with something stronger.

Something so powerful, that it would take my own father killing me to rip it out of me.

It was a fierce corruption of my own soul.

I had to become the devil to defeat evil.

I was going to do whatever it took to get Bourbon and Rose free, so they could live a happy life together.

They both deserved it.

And, as my father loomed over me, I matched his cold, manic grin with one of my own, and swore to make him suffer for his sins.

Tonight was going to be hell, but unless he killed me, I was going to outmaneuver him, no matter the cost.