Page 11 of Dirty Crown
I laughed and gasped and had to agree. I didn’t understand why I was so peeved at Ivan’s plan other than the fact that I was putting my stress onto something that felt like I could control. Everything else with Ivan was so beyond my control at the moment, it felt good to complain about his lack of recycling.
Breakfast was simple, just eggs and toast with a side of pancakes. Archer loved making the pancakes, but I secretly thought he just liked the showmanship of the event. He basked in everybody’s attention as he dramatically flipped them over the frying pan.
After breakfast, we had to decide if we should feed Avery and Maksim, if they deserved it.
“They did leave me trapped without food for a couple of days,” I said, remembering the pinch of hunger.
“Then they should starve.” Valen picked up his plate and wafted his hand across it, as if to send the delicious scent of food towards the two prisoners in the other room.
“As much as I’d love to see them squirm,” I replied, eyeing them up from the kitchen. They were uncomfortable and letting it be known through constant shifting and dark looks thrown our way. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry you guys, I can slice him up in a fit of revenge, but I can’t sit here and slowly let him go hungry. It’s not in my nature.”
“And we love you for it,” Kingston said. He pecked the tip of my nose, walked around the kitchen island and picked up two plates for our captives. He gave them each a scoop of scrambled eggs with a slice of buttered toast, and that was it. “We don’t have to spoil them, this isn’t a luxury accommodation or anything, after all.”
He flashed a grin and strode into the other room to feed them both.
I wondered if he’d do it by hand so I trailed behind him and watched as he got the plates set up on the coffee table and helped them over to it so they could eat without hands like pigs at the trough.
I can’t lie, it felt good to see them like that.
Once again I was proven to be brutally violent at time, petty like crazy, driven by revenge, but ultimately motivated by love. My Kings made it easier for me to be kind, and that was where I wanted to focus after all this was over.
Kindness over violence.
Although kindness never got me as turned on as violence, I’d have to figure something out.
Because I knew I’d never be normal.
CHAPTER5
We didn’t haveto wait seven hours to hear from Ilya, let alone twelve.
I only got a few hours of sleep before breakfast, and afterwards, when I was lounging in the sitting room with a good book, I heard my burner phone ringing from the room next door.
I rushed to it, opened it up and answered it before the person on the other end hung up.
“There she is, the little—” Ilya started to insult me but thought better of it. See? Even old dogs could be trained when their son’s life was on the line.
“The little what?” I demanded. I was staring down into the screen, and he appeared to shrink back when he saw my face. “What were you going to call me?”
“The little princess, of course,” Ilya replied. He opened his hands and smiled in a conciliatory gesture. He knew I had the upper hand he cared more about Maksim than I did about Ivan and Amara. And it wasn’t that I didn’t care about them. It’s just that Ilya was terrified of losing his son. It wasn’t the natural order of things, especially in a crime family like his. He was also afraid of the image it would give, one of weakness. Like he wasn’t strong enough to keep his family alive, so how could he be considered powerful and dangerous?
I felt cocky because of this.
“Princess? Okay, because I think I prefer queen,” I said. “I’d like you to call me Queen Everly, please.”
“What? Don’t be stupid, and let’s get down to business,” Ilya scoffed. He waved his hand dismissively and that just set me off.
“No, you will address me as queen,” I said. I had no idea why it meant so much to me at that moment, but I needed more control over the bastard who had almost destroyed my life.
He refused, and we went back and forth for a couple of minutes, when finally somebody said something off camera. It was Russian, so I didn’t understand, but Ilya argued. They continued for another minute and finally he sighed and stopped the conversation.
“I’ve been advised to give into this one demand to show a willingness to negotiate,” he said. He was tired. He’d been doing this a long time, running a crime group, but he was definitely hitting that point where he wanted out. I could see the defeat in his eyes.
“So, are you going to?” I prompted.
He sighed again, his weary face dropping from exhausting, and he finally said, “Yes, queen Everly, I’m ready to talk.”
“Excellent,” I replied and leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “Now we’re talking. I want Ivan and Amara by ten tonight, here in London. If you don’t bring them, then I’ll be slicing Maksim apart, one appendage at a time. Got it?”
