SWNOVELS Reign of a King: Chapter 29
I’m late.
I could blame it on the suffocating traffic, but I don’t. I needed the extra minutes to come to terms with what I’m about to do.
Not that it helps.
By the time I push the dining room doors open, everyone is seated at the table.
Every. Single. One.
And all their attention shifts to me.
My skin prickles at being forced under the spotlight. Ever since the public show I went through during Dad’s trial, attention has become my most loathsome enemy. I did everything not to be the centre of it by staying in the shadows.
Apparently, I wasn’t doing a good enough job, considering that Jonathan found me.
The focus in this room isn’t like the one I received eleven years ago. The people present here don’t want to mutilate me and hang my head on a stick. However, the energy isn’t welcoming either.
Jonathan is at the head of the table, as usual. His pressed black suit moulds to his muscles like a second skin. I swear the tyrant only likes to wear black, like his heart. I hate how much it suits him and brings out the darkness of his grey eyes and the sharp lines of his jaw.
His lean, masculine fingers form a steeple at his chin as he leans forward, both elbows on the table. Those fingers were inside me just this morning when he brought me to orgasm to prepare me for the size of his cock and then —
I force myself to avert my gaze from him so I can focus on the others. Aiden sits on his right, watching me with that calculative streak he inherited from his father.
Elsa is seated beside him, her body language the complete opposite of her husband’s. She smiles and offers me a tentative wave that I return awkwardly.
On Jonathan’s left sits a blond-haired man with piercing blue eyes — or rather, blue-grey. Levi King. Jonathan’s only nephew.
I know he’s a professional football player for Arsenal, and I’ve seen pictures of him before, but he’s more striking in person. His physique appears harder and taller than Aiden’s. Despite his blond look that differs from the other King men, Levi has the same straight nose and an intense gaze that’s meant to cut.
He now watches me as if I’m a ghost coming after his life. “Fuck me. She does look like Alicia. Are you sure she’s not her, Uncle?”
“Levi.” A petite woman with long brown hair and jade green eyes holds on to his bicep and shakes her head. Astrid Clifford. Levi’s wife and Lord Henry Clifford’s daughter.
The digging around I did before going to Aiden’s wedding is sure coming in handy. At least I’m not hit out of the blue by people I don’t recognise.
Levi’s expression immediately softens as he grins down at her. “I’m just saying it how I see it, Princess.”
“Levi,” Jonathan warns in his non-negotiable tone. “Change seats.”
“This is where I always sit,” he argues. “Why don’t you tell Aiden to change his seat?”
His younger cousin throws him a glare. “That won’t be happening.”
“It’s okay.” I flop on the chair at the other end of the table. I realise that I’m far away from the others, but that’s probably the type of distance I need.
From the slight narrow in Jonathan’s eyes, I can tell he doesn’t like it, but he must also see that there’s no point in pressing the matter further. Especially with his family as company.
Jonathan’s family.
The notion strikes me like thunder. I didn’t sign up for this when I agreed to that deal. It was supposed to be only about him and I and sex. Now, there are family members and everything is complicated.
Silence falls on the dining table for a second too long to the point I start touching my neck, then my watch. I drop my hand when Jonathan stares at me across the table.
He said it before. That showing my tells is a sure way to have my weaknesses exploited.
I wish I was more natural at this sealing emotions thing like he is. It’s one of the traits that I admire yet loathe the most about him.
His confidence and the way he flips the world the finger while ruling it is a trait only the top of the top possess.
However, being unable to read him, let alone figure him out, is no fun at all.
Margot and Tom wheel in trays of food, cutting through the silence. Levi grins at Margot and even Aiden directs a smile her way. She returns their welcoming expressions with one of her own.
Whoa. So she can smile. She just never shows it to me.
By the time she reaches me, her face has turned back to its blank professionalism. After she serves the soup and the main course, which seems like an exotic type of meatloaf, she and Tom nod, then leave.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Uncle?” Levi ignores the soup and goes straight for the meat.
“Aurora,” Jonathan speaks. “This is my nephew, Levi. That’s his wife, Astrid. You already met Aiden and Elsa.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Elsa told me so much about you.” Astrid grins, and I notice she’s wearing jean overalls that make her appear way younger than what I think her age is.
I’m about to take a spoonful of my soup, but I set it back down at her words. “Nice to meet you, too.”
“I have a question.” Levi pauses with a forkful of meat halfway to his mouth. “How come we never knew you existed?”
“Because she didn’t,” Aiden says without lifting his head from his plate. “She’s a ghost. Or more like a parasite now.”
“What did I say about respecting my guests when at my table?” Jonathan’s lethal voice cuts through the hall like doom. “If you don’t like to be here, off you go.”
“And leave her to do whatever she wants?”
“Aiden.” Elsa glares at her husband. Despite Aiden’s frightening expression, she’s not the least bit fazed. “You told me you’d play nice.”
“I don’t play nice, sweetheart. Especially with imposters.”
“I’m not an imposter,” I say calmly, even though something inside me burns.
“Is that why you came into my mother’s house and decided you’d make it yours?”
“I have no intention of taking anything of Alicia’s.”
“Don’t say her name.” Aiden’s left eye twitches. “You have no right to say her name when you didn’t come to her fucking funeral.”
“I didn’t go to her funeral because I was being detained in a police station in Leeds.” My voice chokes. “I reported my father for murder.”
The silence that overtakes the dining table now is more due to surprise instead of awkwardness.
It’s the first time I’ve divulged that information willingly, but Aiden needs to know that much about my life. He needs to know that abandoning him that young, despite my bond with Alicia, wasn’t a choice I took lightly.
Jonathan stares at me across the table and I expect disapproval, or perhaps surprise. Instead, his lips curl into a smile. A genuine one.
A proud one.
Wait. He’s proud of me?
Wasn’t he the one who said I wouldn’t tell Aiden anything? He should be surprised that I did talk. Or was that entire speech a manipulation plot to push me to speak?
Whatever it is, the expression on Jonathan’s face encourages me to keep talking.
“I was sixteen at the time, a minor. Since I had no relatives, aside from my father and Alicia, I was taken to a safe house. I couldn’t attend Alicia’s funeral, even if I wanted to.”
“I’m sorry.” Astrid’s eyes fill with deep sympathy. “Mum died when I was fifteen. It would’ve killed me if I hadn’t attended her funeral.”
My lips tremble, but I rein in the tears. All I think about is the nights I spent in that safe house. The fear. The guilt for ratting my dad out. The thoughts of what if I made a mistake. But most of all, I was hit by the grief of losing Alicia and the inability to even say goodbye.
In a way, I still haven’t.
“What happened afterwards?” Levi is the first who goes back to eating.
“Statements and trials.” I release a breath. “Lots of trials.”
“How long did that take?” Aiden asks. “Weeks? Months? It couldn’t have possibly been eleven years, right?”
Elsa pins him down with a glare again, but his attention stays firmly on me.
“Due to the nature of the crimes my father committed, I had to be admitted into the Witness Protection Program.”
This time, Jonathan is the one who narrows his eyes on me. He couldn’t possibly know that I escaped the program the moment I could. After that, I didn’t let them write my story for me. I went back to the cottage and wrote my new beginning with my own bare hands.
“You have an answer for everything. Brilliant.” Aiden goes back to eating.
“Aiden,” Jonathan warns.
“You can’t bring her here, to the place Mum called home, and expect me to act all acceptant of her. That woman is not Alicia. Why can’t you see it?”
“She does look like her, though,” Levi mutters.
“Silence,” Jonathan orders, and just like that, everyone turns quiet.
He has the power to make anyone listen, even if they don’t like him or his decisions.
“Aiden.” His attention falls on his son. “When I told you to stay away from Elsa, what did you do?”
“That’s different —”
“Answer my question,” he cuts him off. “What. Did. You. Do?”
“I married her.”
Levi laughs under his breath but stops when Jonathan’s deadly attention shifts to him. “And you. Did you hear a word I said about staying away from Lord Clifford’s daughter?”
“Nope.” Levi takes Astrid’s hand in his and kisses her knuckles. “I made her my world.”
“Fascinating.” The tone Jonathan speaks with suggests he finds this anything but ‘fascinating’. “Now, you two expect me to listen to you. Do you know what I call that? Hypocrisy.”
Aiden releases a mocking sound, but he doesn’t say anything, and I’m guessing it’s due to the way Elsa is discretely holding his hand on her lap.
After that, the meal goes peacefully — mostly. I keep to my space as Levi goes on about his upcoming game, and then he gets into a teasing argument with Aiden, who quit football after school.
Aiden merely tells him that he’s the one wasting his time, considering a career playing football is short-lived.
I focus on my plate and only answer when either Astrid or Elsa asks me a question, which I guess is their polite way to include me in the conversation.
Jonathan rarely speaks, if ever. He just listens. Like the first days I came to live here.
After that, I made it a habit that we talk. Whether it’s about the business column he loves too much, or politics. It doesn’t matter that we clash a lot and it ends up in an argument. I don’t like eating my food in silence. It’s a habit I’ve been trying to get out of at any cost.
Jonathan motions at my plate across the table. My cheeks heat. God, I can’t believe he caught on that I wasn’t actually eating.
I force down a few spoonfuls, then pretend I’m not affected by the way Aiden avoids me all night. Levi does throw some remarks my way, but soon retreats with a scold from Jonathan or a touch from Astrid.
By the time dinner is over, I excuse myself, pretending I spilt water on my suit trousers.
A huge breath heaves out of me when I’m inside my room. I slump on the bed and hold my head between my hands.
It wasn’t as disastrous as I expected it to be, so that says something.
I think.
No idea how many family dinners I can handle in the future, though. The girls are kind and welcoming, but I can’t say the same about their husbands. Especially Aiden. He’s out for my life
A knock sounds on the door and I straighten up. “Who is it?”
Elsa opens the door, followed by Astrid, who asks, “Can we come in?”
“Yeah, sure.” I stand and lead them to the small sitting area in my room. The few times Layla came here, she said I have a princess’s room fit for ‘daddy kink’, at which I proceeded to hit her with a pillow.
The three of us sit down, Elsa and Astrid next to each other while I’m on the chair opposite them.
When neither of them speak, I slice through the silence, “Is everything all right?”
“Absolutely.” Elsa clears her throat. “We just wanted to see if you’re okay.”
“I am.”
“Levi doesn’t hate you, you know,” Astrid blurts. “He’s merely curious about you.”
“As for Aiden…” Elsa trails off. “When he was younger, he was taken by my parents as a ‘fuck you’ to Jonathan, and when he returned, his mother was dead. He was wounded deeply by that, and seeing you brings that wound to the surface. Give him time and I promise he’ll get used to you.”
Aiden was taken by Ethan and his wife? That must be why Alicia called me and told me her son was missing.
Hold on. Is this why Jonathan can’t stand Ethan? Because he kidnapped Aiden?
Instead of voicing those questions out loud, potentially making me look like a creep, I plaster on a smile. “Time is all I have.”
“Thank you.” Elsa relaxes in her seat. “I knew you’d understand.”
“So different from Jonathan,” Astrid mutters.
“Word.” Elsa exchanges a look with her sister-in-law and they both shake their heads.
“He gives you trouble?” I ask.
“Did you hear him earlier?” Astrid winces. “He hates me because Mum caused the accident that killed James King, Jonathan’s brother. He doesn’t care that the accident also took her life.”
“I’m sorry.”
A sad smile grazes her lips as she stares at the inside of her forearm where there’s a sun, moon, and start tattoo, the star coloured in black. “I’m better now, I think. But Jonathan still sees me as the reason his brother died. He never stops reminding Levi of how my mum killed his father.”
“Or Aiden of the fact that Alicia died because of my dad.” Elsa lowers her eyes.
“Wait. Go back. Jonathan thinks my sister died because of Ethan?”
“Well, remember when I told you that Aiden was taken by my parents? Alicia died in a car accident on her way to go find him.”
Oh.
I didn’t know that.
This, however, explains the aggressiveness Jonathan doesn’t hesitate to display whenever Ethan is around, despite his generally emotionless façade.
“Can I ask you something, Aurora?” Astrid’s voice is low, hesitant.
“Sure.”
“Why…why are you with him?”
“Yes.” Elsa leans over. “He’s scary in a dictator kind of way.”
“And he doesn’t know how to feel,” Astrid adds.
“He dislikes everything that’s not his work.”
“And his legacy.”
“I get the chills every time he’s in the room.”
“I told Levi the other day that I age ten years every time we have a family dinner with him.”
“Oh my God. Me, too!”
My lips part at their exchange. Jonathan is sure as shit winning the most feared person of the year award.
Their attention falls back on me, eyes expectant, waiting for me to answer their question. They must’ve wondered this for some time now.
I could choose not to answer them, but I like them. Jonathan is an idiot to not appreciate having them to tame his offspring. So I go with the truth. “I don’t really have a choice but to be with him.”
“How do you cope?” Astrid asks.
“I’m not scared of him, I guess.”
“You’re not?” Elsa nearly yells.
“No, not really.” I mean, he does frighten me sometimes, but it’s not enough to erase everything else about him. Perhaps it’s the intimacy factor, or that I just know there’s more to Jonathan than he projects to the world.
His page isn’t half-written or blank. It’s simply encrypted, and no one has dared to crack the code due to the wires surrounding it.
“You’re the first person I’ve ever met who’s said that.” Astrid’s eyes fill with awe. “Well, Levi isn’t scared of him either, but he’s a King. He doesn’t count.”
“Aiden doesn’t count either,” Elsa agrees. “They have their own exclusive code of communication that no one else is privy to.”
My heart warms at the way Astrid and Elsa talk about their husbands. I can feel their love for them, and despite the other two’s aggressiveness — or passive-aggressiveness — towards me, I could sense how much they care about their wives’ wellbeing.
As Jonathan said, they didn’t really care about his opinion when they decided to pursue these women.
I’m glad they didn’t. It must’ve taken a lot to go against a harsh man as Jonathan but their efforts are so worth it.
Elsa, Astrid, and I talk about art since Astrid is studying drawing and Elsa is into architecture. Considering I’m a designer, too, I give them pointers about some useful classes I took back at uni.
They’re fun to talk to, and soon enough, none of us are cautious or awkward around each other.
I don’t know how long we spend in my room. But it’s long enough that Levi and Aiden come searching for them.
I make plans to meet Elsa and Astrid for lunch next week, and soon after, they all leave.
I change into my pyjamas and slide under the covers. After checking my emails and texting Layla for a bit, I’m ready to sleep.
Today exhausted the hell out of me. First, work. Then, Alicia’s message. Ending the day with dinner.
The door opens and I know who it is before even seeing him. He’s the only one who barges in uninvited.
His woodsy scent conquers my space before his presence comes into view. My muscles tighten like every time he’s in my vicinity. It always feels like I need to be prepared for him.
“Forget about Aiden.” Jonathan sits on the edge of the bed. He’s in black cotton trousers and a T-shirt. It’s one of the rare times I’ve seen him in house clothes.
“What do you mean forget about him?”
“You’re making plans with Elsa to try to get close to him, aren’t you?”
Yes and no. I do like Elsa’s company, but I also hope I can approach Aiden in the future. Considering his reaction, let’s make that the distant future.
“You don’t want me have a good relationship with your son so that we can’t plot against you?”
“I don’t want you disappointed, because he’s hot-headed.”
My heart thumps. Shit. How can he move me with such simple words?
I clear my throat. “You mean like you.”
“Kind of. It comes with the family name.”
“If I can handle you, I guess I can handle Aiden, too.”
“You can handle me?” He stares down his nose at me. “Where did you get that idea from?”
“Elsa and Astrid think I’m doing it just fine.”
“Elsa and Astrid are still kids.”
“They’re not kids. They’re married to your son and nephew.”
“Who are still kids themselves.”
“By the way. You don’t have to be a dick towards them. They don’t really like you either.”
“I don’t care about being liked.”
“Really?”
He pauses, throwing me an indecipherable glance, then nods. “Being liked doesn’t get things done. Fear, on the other hand…”
“This is your family, Jonathan. They’re not supposed to be scared of you.” My voice raises and I realise I’ve let my own anger get in the way. I whisper, “I didn’t mean to yell.”
He reaches a hand to my hair and I freeze as he strokes it away from my forehead. “Maxim was not your fault, wild one. Tell that to your reflection in the mirror every day and you’ll end up believing it.”
Fat tears fill my eyes and it takes everything in me not to let them loose as I fall into the gentle but firm way he’s stroking my hair.
Sometimes, it feels like he can dip his fingers inside me and draw me out. Other times, I can’t decide if it’s his deceptive gentleness that he only uses to get what he wants.
But at the moment, I choose to drown in the soothing touch he’s offering freely. I might regret it later, but later isn’t right now.
“Sleep.” He starts to stand up, but I hold his hand, stopping him in his tracks.
I’m not ready to give up this warmth yet.
Not tonight.
He raises a brow. “Or would you rather be spanked for not finishing your dinner?”
Although the promise turns my legs boneless, that’s not what I’m after. It’s something deeper, and it might slice and hurt me harder than any of his punishments do.
I pull down the duvet on the empty side of the bed. “Stay.”
He pauses, but he doesn’t remove his hand from mine. “I do not sleep with others.”
“Just tonight,” I murmur.
“Why?”
“Please, Jonathan.”
“I’ll only agree if you do something in exchange.”
The damn tyrant. But he’s caught me in a vulnerable moment where I’d agree to just about anything. “What?”
“You won’t go to that dinner with Ethan.”
Why am I not surprised? But since it’s a small price to pay, I nod.
Jonathan slides under the covers with me and I expect him to keep to his half of the bed. Surprisingly, his arm wraps around my back. I rest my head on his chest, using it as a pillow. His heartbeat is strong and steady like the rest of him.
I fit in the crook of his body so perfectly, it’s as if this is where I was always supposed to be.
His fingers stroke my hair like he did earlier and I get lost in his woodsy scent. In the way he smells fresh out of a shower.
What I don’t tell Jonathan is that I don’t share sleeping space either. I’ve always needed to be by myself to convince myself to sleep and to wake up alone in case I have a bad dream.
But tonight, I don’t spend half an hour or more tossing and turning and thinking of happy thoughts to help me fight off an impending nightmare.
I just fall asleep.
And I know that the simple act of sleeping will never be the same for me again.