Bloodbound: The Alliance
Chapter 40 - 44

Chapter 40: Chapter 44

Botan POV

I sit on a picnic table in the park, my combat boots posted on the bench.

The entire park is empty. My men are strategically spaced out around me, motionless, many and menacing. This place is peaceful, a small town tucked away in a deep cleft valley nestled between grizzled mountains. The mountain’s reflection is varnished on the glassy surface of the lake. However, my eyes are on the private property right across it. A lake house.

Akio approaches. I know without even looking, those long, stomping strides, leaves crunching underfoot that carries the weight of his frustration. He emerges in my periphery, but I don’t even spare him a glance. He makes a bold move by standing right in front of me. I haul up my gaze. He stares back at me impatiently.

"You were supposed to be in Abu Dhabi two days ago—"

"I sent Kai."

"Only you have the authority to coordinate a joint operation. You know how important this is, we’re supposed to secure a foothold in the middle east."

I tilt my head. He darts to the side, deliberately blocking my view.

"Kiyo."

"I empowered Kai to negotiate on our behalf. They know Kai already."

"It’s not about that, it’s about you shirking your responsibilities over some bitch who—"

My hearing cuts out. Blind rage overtakes me, and I rush forward, lunging for him. My hand clamps around his neck in a death grip. He clutches onto my wrist, powerless, his face inflamed, eyes popping out of his skull, prominent veins bursting around his face. His skin turns into deeper shades of red. I swing him around and drop him against the bench, anger forcing me to exert even more pressure around his throat, cutting off his air supply.

He’s lucky we share the same blood.

"Watch your tongue or I’ll cut it out."

I jerk back. Akio vacuums in a deep breath, bending over, coughing raggedly.

"Now tell me what you’ve learnt."

I settle on the bench next to him.

His breaths come out as rasps, but he wrangles himself under control.

"Colton Vacheron, Alden and his sons have arrived. Edgar says that they’re planning to go have dinner tonight at some local restaurant."

"Did he book out the place?"

"No, he wants to show off the union between the Vacherons and the Du Ponts."

My insides are nothing but cinders and ash.

"I’m being blunt with you," Akio says, unremorsefully, "because you need to face reality. You can’t seem to see that because she’s all you see. She’s clouding your judgment—consuming it. That is what’s going to get her killed. Your obsession. You know that when she finds out the real truth, she will hate you. If she’s not already dead."

I snap a glare at him. The realization douses the fire in me, sapping the strength from my bones.

"If you love her. You will let her go."

"It’s because that I do is why I can’t. To let her slip into a world where I cannot follow is a torment my existence couldn’t endure." I tear my gaze away to set it back on the distant lake house. "Love isn’t even the right word. I need her as the tides ache for the shores, ceaselessly drawn, incomplete without the touch of her presence. Whatever is left of my heart and soul, I’m no longer their keeper. She embodies it all. And that is why no danger will even get near her."

Akio hangs his head, letting out a defeated sigh. "Then she’s an even greater threat than her father. Haru will see her as your weakness; a problem. He will want you to sever ties."

I glance at him disinterestedly.

"You would defy Haru?"

"My only fear is losing her."

***

Edgar opens the front door and lets me inside the lake house.

"Other than security, who else is here?"

"Colton hired a cleaning crew to scrub down the house. They just left and Reece just finished lighting up all the hearths in the house as per his orders."

"Sleeping arrangements?"

Edgar suppresses a smile. "The playboy sleeps downstairs. The Du Pont brothers are sharing a room, Colton has the master suite. And Vance, Kelsey and Avara have their own rooms upstairs."

"Take me to her room."

Without further explanation, he takes me to Avara’s room and we go up the curved flight of stairs. Promptly, he says nothing and just flanks the door to her bedroom. I open it and he leaves. I close the door behind me, delving deeper. A fire burns in the hearth, an orangey glow pulsing in the dimly lit room. I indulge in the fragrance. It’s like she’s everywhere. I glance at the bed—violently heated visions invade my mind of defiling her on that bed. The fact that her fake fiancé is just in the next room stokes my hunger even more.

I move to stand in front of the flagstone fireplace, waiting for her.

***

Avara POV

We all file inside the house after a ridiculously awkward dinner. Even though I harbor resentment towards him, I can’t help but feel a glimmer of happiness after seeing my dad. But my mind won’t let me forget what he has done, that I know of and what I don’t. Everything is stained. Lucie and Silas are like a lifeline to heave me out of the turmoil. Despite what my dad has done, my love for him and my brothers exists in every beating of my heart. My anger towards his criminal affiliations isn’t gone... just simmering under the surface.

When I eventually discover the truth, I have no idea what I’m going to do with it.

"You guys game for an outdoor movie?" Silas asks, turning to walk backwards. "I saw a projector in the garage. We can get a sheet or something and build a makeshift cinema."

Luciano starts undoing his tie. "No way, it’s freezing out there."

"That’s what blankets are for." Silas’s shoulders sag at the cold reception. "C’mon guys, I’m trying to think of something fun to do. Ever since we got here, it’s been so tense. You all are acting like someone died. If I didn’t know any better. I would think we’re here to attend a funeral, not be on a vacay."

Kelsey looks at me imploringly. I avert my gaze.

"I have to get out of this suffocating dress. And then I’m going to read. We can do this tomorrow night. It’ll be a little warmer."

"See." Silas tosses a hand at me. "Tense. The tension here," he says, gesticulating wildly. "A knife couldn’t cut through it."

I turn away, walking briskly to the staircase. Vance follows.