Dust to dust.

Ironic.

The start is always the end, isn’t it?

We remain long after she’s six feet under. Everyone slowly says their condolences and leaves. Soon enough, it’s only the three of us.

What remains of the King family, anyway.

Ethan says he’ll wait for us by the car. I’m ready to go home and start taking action on how we should go from here.

Just when I’m about to voice that thought, a man in a striped suit walks towards us like he owns the cemetery and all the damned souls in it.

Lord Sterling.

Both James and Father tense at his view, but I glare at him, my mind filled with all the ways I’m going to destroy the fucker.

“I’m late,” he speaks in his over-the-top posh accent. “I couldn’t say goodbye to Anna.”

“Leave,” James snarls at him.

“Public property.” He stares down his nose at Father. “Maybe now she’ll realise she made a mistake by choosing you.”

“Piss. Off.” James starts to push him, but Father stops him.

“No can do. In fact…” He grins, baring uneven teeth. “You should expect a visit from the bank in a few days. I’m confiscating the house you love so much, Gregory. Maybe I can still smell Anna in it.”

It’s my turn to tower over the lord’s tiny, round frame. “I’ll destroy every bone in your body before you’ll be able to do that.”

“Show me what you’ve got. Though I’m sure it’s not a lot.” He makes a cross at Mother’s grave. “Rest in peace, Anna.”

And with that, he leaves.

I keep glaring at his back as he disappears. Fucker. I’m going to ruin him and everything he’s ever cherished. I don’t care if it’s his home, his business, or even his damn family.

I will destroy him.

A thud sounds behind me as something large hits the ground. I freeze, my breathing stopping for a second.

“Father!” James’s voice booms in the empty cemetery.

I turn around and life as I know it ends.

My father is on the ground, clutching his heart, face blue, and he’s not breathing.

As James yells and curses and tries to bring him back without any success, I vow one thing.

Lord Sterling will be eradicated in the ugliest way possible.

Everything he cares about will be taken, just like everything was taken from me.

He ended my family and I’ll end his.

Or what remains of it.

 

 

Jonathan

 

 

Present

 

 

When something bad happens, I feel it beforehand.

It’s one of the additional senses I have aside from predicting monetary income and international markets’ values.

No one believed me when I told them decades ago that the Chinese and the Russians were the future. It’s due to that very reason that I have the strongest partners in said countries.

The moment I left the company, I sensed something was wrong. I checked on Levi and Aiden — by checking, I mean, Harris confirmed that my son was in a class at university and my nephew was at a football practice.

Yes, I do have people following my heirs around to ensure their safety. I always have since they were toddlers. I’ve lost enough family members for a lifetime and I will not be taken off guard again.

I step into the silent house. Its eerily calm atmosphere is almost like the cemetery from that day at the exact moment before my father had a cardiac arrest and passed away. On the day of my mother’s funeral.

He died of anguish, of fear of losing this house his father left him and the last reminder of Mother’s presence.

Persian carpets extend in my vision and Greek marble flooring shines under my feet. The vaulted ceilings and the handmade ornaments decorating the entrance and the rest of the house’s doors weren’t something we could afford when my parents were alive.

I did this.

I returned this house to its initial glory from when my grandfather was alive. Gregory and James King didn’t protect the family legacy, I did.

After everyone started doubting our position, I’m the one who transformed the King name into something people respect and speak of in a hushed tone, either due to awe or fear.

Coming this far wasn’t done through pleasantries or being nice. The only reason I get to sit on the throne is because I’ve slaughtered everyone who looks at it, let alone dares to approach it.

I’ve seen grown men tremble and nearly piss their pants when I acquisitioned their companies. I’ve had them throw lawsuits at me, just so I would crush them in court and take everything they have — and more. I’ve had men offer me their wives and their daughters if I would leave their companies alone, and I took pleasure in erasing their names from the business world.

Compromise and mercy are terms I abolished from my dictionary the day my father dropped dead over my mother’s fresh grave.

If I want something, I take it. Fuck the world and its weak people. If they’ve chosen to be in a position I can explore, that’s exactly what I do.

If I find a chance to grow the King name, consequences be damned.

Only one thing matters: my family.

So why the fuck have I been thinking about Aurora ever since this ominous feeling gripped me?

She’s not family. Far from it.

Still, I spend more time with her than I ever did with Aiden and Levi.

Her face is the only one I wake up to every day and fall asleep staring at every night.

She’s the one whose black strands I stroke when her pupils move beneath her lids and she’s struck by a nightmare.

That’s when she’s most vulnerable and can’t put up her walls or hide from me. I get to witness her bare.

The more I see, the more I want.

The more I dig my fingers into her, the deeper I want to go.

It might have started with her body, but it’s her mind that I want to invade and conquer.

Which shouldn’t happen, because I make it my mission to not get interested in any other human being.

I didn’t sign up for being consumed by Aurora, and I’ll put an end to it…eventually.

I check the notifications on my phone. Since Harris, the COO, and I spent the entire day locked in my office going through possible companies to add to our arsenal, I didn’t have time to send her the occasional email that usually implies how I’ll fuck her that night.

Besides, she’s the one who wanted a date, so I thought she would be the one to get in touch.

There’s only a missed call from her in the morning.

It doesn’t add up, considering she never calls me when she’s at work.

Something tells me she’s not home, either. Otherwise, there would be some music playing in the hall. She does that a lot, especially when her black belt friend is around.

“Dinner, sir?”

I lift my head from my phone and shift my attention to Margot. She stands with her hands intertwined in a respectful pose over her white apron.

“We’ll eat outside.” I slip the phone back into my pocket. “Have you seen Aurora?”

“She didn’t come home, sir.”

Huh. It’s past seven. She couldn’t have stayed at work this late — especially since she insisted on a date.

“If there’s nothing you need…” She nods.