Chapter 56
SEBASTIAN’S POV
“And what about her?” My lips thinned with anger as I glared at him.
“Easy there buddy,” he grinned, sealing the whiskey bottle. “Why so flared up and defensive all of a sudden? She’s just a slave, you---"
"She might be a slave," I interjected, stopping him in his tracks. "But I'm in charge of her now. I'm her master, not you," I stressed. “So you have no rights whatsoever to speak about her or ask about her….just don’t mention her name ever again.”
He scoffed incredulously, fixing his gaze on me with surprise and shock. Then, his expression shifted, and he reached for the filled glass on the coaster. With a fierce gulp, he downed its contents and wiped a stray droplet from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. Finally, he locked a cold, sinister stare on me.
“I’m just here to make one thing clear to you. She was the prettiest and hottest of my slaves. And she still is. Finding a replacement for her has been fucking hard! So you better watch your back. Because I might want to take her back as my sex slave.”
“Over my dead body,” I said through gritted teeth, my anger surging like an electric jolt. I stood up, swung my arm, and landed a punch squarely on his face. He staggered backwards, knocking over wine bottles, glasses, and stools in the process.
Seeing the commotion, some of the guests seated at the mini bar left their drinks and hurried to a safer spot, their faces showing a blend of total bewilderment and surprise.
Hermes placed his hand on the side of his face where my fist had landed, staring at me with eyes wide open in shock. He couldn’t believe I could have such a thing. Never in a thousand years.
Suddenly, like an enraged bull, he lunged at me.
“After all, you’re married, and you’re probably treating her as nothing more than a maid. But I want her back in my bed,” he grabbed my suit’s lapel, pushing me backwards and causing me to stumble into a row of stools, wine bottles and glasses.
After claiming Omega slaves at the auction, unmarried Alpha Kings can use them as sex slaves. Married ones have the option to employ them as castle maids or as additional sex partners if they’re unsatisfied with their partners or for other reasons. It’s their decision. However, Hermes was mistaken. I wasn’t treating Brianna like a maid, nor was I using her as a sex slave.
“You’re wrong Hermes,” with his hands still on my suit lapel, I gripped his fingers and gave him a head butt. “You’re so wrong. I don’t treat as any of that. And if you ever lay your filthy fingers on her again, I swear I’ll chop them off and make you watch as I burn them to ashes.”
A crimson line of blood trickled out from his nostril. My lips took a pleasant twist on seeing that. I wanted to make him bleed more. I wanted to ruin him. To make him feel the pain he made Brianna feel. He threw me a punch on my side. I stifled a groan and the next thing that followed was a whirlwind of more punches and grapples before our guards quickly intervened, stepping in between us to separate the fight.
The guests at the reception turned their attention to the commotion, watching in shock, and wondering what had triggered the fight. They wore frowns on their faces. This was supposed to be a funeral reception. But Hermes had turned it into a battleground. It was all his fault. He should have never approached me in the first place.
“You better stay far away from her or I swear, you’ll regret it,” I threatened, panting like a wounded beast as my guards restrained me.
If he ever tried to hurt Brianna again, I would do more than what I did to Nolan to him. I would so love to see his horrified face when I chop off that little soldier of his and watch as he lives without it.
“We’ll see about that,” he replied coldly, forcefully breaking free from his guards and straightening his dishevelled suit.
I broke free from the vice-like grip of my guards and made a desperate attempt to rush at him once more. But they quickly held me back.
“Both of you, just stop this nonsense!” Dylan’s voice cut through the air, sharp as a blade. He was one of the leaders of the Association of Alpha Kings (AAK) and had a fierce, angry expression that could frighten anyone. “We’re at a funeral, not just any funeral. But the funeral of a fellow Alpha King. And this is how you honour his memory?” He shook his head in disapproval. “I don’t care about your issues. I don’t want to know about it. All I want is for you two to end it here and now. Quit acting like two teenagers fighting over a girl. And let’s respect Nolan and his family.”
I nodded, agreeing with what Dylan said. Even though I didn’t give a fuck about Nolan. I gave the order for my guards to free me. And they did. But reluctantly, for fear that I might want to charge at Hermes again.
Hermes nodded too, his gaze not breaking away for even a second as he glared at me. He had his usual devilish look on his face as he wiped off the blood that dripped from his nostril.
“It’s nothing serious,” Hermes feigned apology. “We just had a misunderstanding over the drinks. That’s all. We’re sorry for the commotion we’ve caused. It won’t happen again. You’re right, we should be honouring Nolan’s memories and not fighting during this sensitive time.”
To my surprise, he walked up to me and pulled me into a tight brotherly hug.
“I’m coming for her,” he whispered in my ear.
Pulling away, he beamed a toothy grin and gripped my hands for a firm handshake. I smiled forcefully and reluctantly to make Dylan and the rest of the guests watching believe we were good and settled. But deep down I was boiling to more than a hundred degrees with rage. I wanted to knock out all those teeth in his mouth and watch him smirk without them.
“And to Nolan’s family,” he withdrew from the handshake and looked into the audience in search of Nolan’s family. When he spotted them, he said. “My sincere condolences. Nolan was a good man. We shared the same interests.”
What devil he was! A bastard!! He and Nolan were the same; always changing women as though they were clothes and seeing them as nothing more than instruments to draw out their sexual pleasures.
Seeing this, Dylan eased his expression and gave us an approving look before heading off to attend to some matters there in the reception.
I wanted to leave at once. I needed to go check on Brianna. It’s been two days already. And now that Hermes was being an ass, I needed to be with her always to protect her in case he wanted to try anything stupid. Which I knew he wouldn’t dare.
But I couldn’t just leave at once. If I did, people might think that our reconciliation was just smoke and mirrors. So I forced myself to stay back for a bit. But far away from Hermes and his stupid smirk.
Later that day, I heard that Nolan’s slave ran away with his most trusted guard a few days after his death. This made me feel kind of uneasy and anxious. Would Brianna try to escape again? Would she want to leave, just like Nolan’s slave did?