The Secret Heir’

Episode4

I did not sleep at all that night. I spent hours pacing the room, trying the door every few minutes, hoping it would somehow open. It never did. I looked out the balcony and considered climbing down, but we were three stories up and there were guards patrolling below. I was trapped.

By the time morning came, I was exhausted and angry. When I heard the lock click and the door opened, I was ready to scream at whoever walked in. But it was just Marie, carrying a tray of food.

"Good morning, Miss Blackthorn," she said pleasantly, like I was not locked in here against my will. "I brought you breakfast."

"I want to talk to Lucien," I said coldly.

"He is in a meeting right now," she said, setting the tray on a small table. "He will see you in an hour. In the meantime, you should eat and get ready. There are clothes in the closet for you."

She left before I could argue. I looked at the food, eggs, toast, fruit, coffee, but I was too angry to eat. Instead, I went to the closet. It was filled with expensive clothes, all in my size. Dresses, pants, shirts, everything. How did Lucien know my size? How long had he been watching me?

The thought made my skin crawl.

I took a shower, trying to calm down, then dressed in jeans and a simple black shirt. I was not going to wear some fancy dress for him. I was not going to play along with whatever game this was.

Exactly an hour later, the door unlocked again. This time, a man in a suit stood there. He was tall, muscular, with a scar across his eyebrow.

"Mr. Valeo will see you now," he said.

I followed him downstairs to an office. It was large, with dark wood furniture and floor to ceiling windows. Lucien was sitting behind a massive desk, reading something on his phone. He looked up when I entered and dismissed the guard with a wave of his hand.

"Sit," he said.

"I do not want to sit," I snapped. "You locked me in that room. You are keeping me here against my will. That is kidnapping."

He set his phone down and looked at me with those cold grey eyes. "I am keeping you alive. There is a difference."

"You said I had a choice. You said I could decide what I want to be. But you locked me in a room like I am your prisoner."

"You are not my prisoner," he said calmly. "You are under my protection. The lock was for your safety."

"That is what every captor says," I shot back.

He stood up and walked around the desk, leaning against it. "Fine. I will unlock the door. You can leave anytime you want. But the moment you step outside these gates, you are on your own. No protection. No help. And I give you twenty four hours before someone finds you and puts a bullet in your head. Is that what you want?"

I clenched my fists. "I want you to stop acting like you own me."

"I do not own you, Aveline," he said, and something in his voice made me look up. "But I will not let you die because you are too stubborn to accept help."

We stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, I looked away. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to survive," he said. "And to do that, you need to learn. Today, we start your education."

"Education in what?"

"Everything. How this world works. Who the players are. How to protect yourself. How to fight. How to kill, if necessary."

I shook my head. "I am not a killer."

"Not yet," he said. "But you might need to be."

He walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a thick folder. He opened it on the desk, and I saw photographs, names, locations. "These are the major families. The Morettis, the Volkovs, the Stones, the Kanes. Each one controls different territories. Drugs, weapons, money laundering, human trafficking. Your father kept them all in check, but when he died, they started fighting for control. Now they have heard about you, and they all want something."

He pointed to a photograph of a handsome man with brown hair and a charming smile. "Dante Moretti. He wants to marry you. He thinks uniting the Blackthorn and Moretti families will make him untouchable. He will send you gifts, flowers, love letters. Do not be fooled. He is ruthless, and he only cares about power."

He pointed to another photo, a blonde man in an expensive suit. "Gabriel Stone. Billionaire, businessman, and secretly one of the most dangerous men in this city. He wants to control the entire underworld through politics and money. He will offer you safety and comfort if you give him control of your father's empire."

Then he pointed to an older man with grey hair. "Viktor Kane. Politician. He has connections to everyone and uses the law as a weapon. He wants to manipulate you into working for him so he can control the criminal world from inside the government."

I looked at all the faces, all these men who wanted to use me. "And you?" I asked quietly. "Where do you fit in all of this?"

Lucien looked at me, and for a moment, I saw something flicker in his eyes. "I am the one who does not need to chase you, because I know you will come to me eventually."

"You sound very sure of yourself," I said.

"I am," he said simply.

There was a knock on the door. One of the guards stepped in. "Sir, Dante Moretti is here. He is asking to see Miss Blackthorn."

My eyes widened. "He is here? Now?"

Lucien's jaw tightened. "Tell him she is not available."

"He said he will not leave until he sees her," the guard said.

Lucien looked at me. "This is your first test. You can hide, or you can face him. What do you want to do?"

My heart was pounding. I did not want to meet any of these men. But I also did not want to hide like a coward. If I was going to survive in this world, I needed to face it.

"I will see him," I said, surprised by the steadiness in my own voice.

Lucien smiled, just a little. "Good. But I will be right there with you. And Aveline, do not trust a word he says."

He opened the door, and we walked down the hall to the main entrance. Standing there, holding a bouquet of red roses, was Dante Moretti. He was even more handsome in person, with warm brown eyes and a smile that could melt hearts.

But when he looked at me, all I felt was cold.

"Aveline," he said warmly. "Finally, I get to meet you.”