Irene Barclay ran from her wedding- that's the only information the world had, but he knew there was more. Xavier Luca knew that as cold and as empty as her heart was, she would not leave everything behind. Not now. Not when her last act in his pres...
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"Oh for the love of..." Dimitri jumps up from my side and I pinch my eyes close when he checks to see if I'm still sleeping. He pulls the door open carefully to confront the genius yelling my name into the night. "Bloody hell, do you know what time it is?" He asks with hushed irritation.
"I need to see her," Alexei replies a lot louder than Dimitri.
"No. She's asleep. In fact, she's peacefully asleep in her own bed and she's been asleep for hours. Do you realize how rare that is? I'm not letting your drunk ass anywhere near her."
I carefully pull the blanket closer to my neck, enough to hide my face from their view and enough to catch the reflection of the door in the mirror on the vanity. Alexei attempts to lean against the door, almost tripping but not yet. The grip on the vodka bottle tightens as he does so. Dimitri's jaw clenches a little as a reply, causing the muscles in his neck to do the same.
"What you say goes, huh? Like you know best. Like you know what's good for her or not. Hmm. You don't." His voice breaks and he takes another clumsy sip from the bottle, frowning as he swallows. "I was there way before you waltzed into her life. I know her. I deserve to be on that side of the door, not some wannabe soldier with a holier than thou attitude."
"Okay, doc. You need to leave." Dimitri attempts to softly force him out of the room, but Alexei grabs him by the wrist dropping the bottle in the process. "Dammit, Alexei," Dimitri growls, stepping back from the glass and turning towards me while doing so. He sighs seeing me sit up. I smile softly removing the covers from my legs before walking to his side.
"Irene." Alexei roars when he sees me stilling behind Dimitri. He steps towards me, but Dimitri places a firm hand on his chest to halt the action.
"It's late Alexei and you're scary drunk. Just go to your room and we can talk in the morning. Okay?" I keep my voice low, monotone.
"Of course. I leave and he stays. So typical of you. He enables you to go on this ludicrous little mission to find all your precious little answers after all. And what then, Red? Huh? You find your real parents and you kill the king and destroy whoever took you, what then." He scoffs, filling the air with his hot breath. I look away as the alcohol stench drenches into the room. "Why? To sleep. To rule. To be free. It's pointless, Irene. You're already free. You're here. You don't know what you'll find. You don't know what-" He stops, looking away for a brisk moment before looking back at me.
"Do you? Do you know what I'll find, Alexei?" Dimitri looks at me and it's clear how confused he is.
"No. He never told me anything. I never knew. I loved you. I wouldn't..." He slides down the door frame, bringing his legs to his chest when he hits the floor. "I loved you..." He mumbles under his breath. Dimitri pushes the security button behind my door to call over the guards on watch. I walk away from them and sit down on the edge of the bed, watching Dimitri close the door when a guard carries Alexei away.
"He doesn't have anything to do with this." The bed tips as he sits next to me. "He's an asshole, but he's not part of this." I nod slowly, scoffing at the bit of blood still hiding behind my nails.
"Then who is? I don't know who to blame next. I don't know who to see as a suspect. The man believed he was in love with me and I tied him up and cut him." I lean forward to rest my head in my hands. "I have no idea what I'm doing."
The room stays silent. I feel him looking at me and I can tell he wants to speak, but he keeps quiet instead. It's a courtesy he grants me to get my shit together before we continue.
"Then why do you do it? Why is this so important to you, princess?" He pulls my arms away to see my face. "You are in fact free. You have the power to do whatever you want. Why is this what you want?"
I strengthen my back, ignoring the hand marks on my face when I look at him. His eyes are tired, much like mine. We've been in here for days. He waited. Knowing damn well the amount of stubbornness my body bears, he waited for me to sleep. A foolish attempt to help me cope with the news of the adoption.
"I don't know. I just need this. I need this more than I can rationally explain to myself. I need revenge, I need closure, I need real freedom. I need to be more than some orphan princess with a dark past and trust issues. It might be a crusade in the end, but still, need to reach the end."
"And what if it kills you in the end?"
"What if it doesn't?"
"Well, either way. We need to stop aimlessly searching for anything that could possibly be a clue. We need to do what the king would do." I frown, not following his words. "Throw a fancy party."
"For who?"
"Everyone. The parliament. The adviser. The police. You bring all your possible enemies together in one room and someone is bound to let something slip." He reaches under the bed and pulls out the revolver I'd hidden from him and he smiles. "There's no party like a gun party, princess."
I smile as well, falling backward onto the bed to look at the ceiling. We're doing this. We're getting my answers. My revenge. And also, for all intents and purposes, we're starting a rebellion. And we're doing it right inside the palace. The bearer of the crown rebelling against the crown. They'll never see it coming. But once we're done, it'll go down in history.
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Does Alexei really love Irene? A huge party in the palace is coming up. Is it a good idea? Will it go down smoothly? Will there be some surprise guests?
