Authors: SE Chardou

Trophy (10 page)

BOOK: Trophy

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“Admit it then. You said there would be no secrets between us,” I murmured as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“Why? What does it change? Would you have never slept with me if I told you the truth?” The inquiry itself felt harsh but for the first time I could hear vulnerability in his voice I’d never heard before.

“Listen, Dorian, we were strangers. I didn’t know you at all except as an artist and . . . I wouldn’t have believed you. Richard told me he had no children.”

“None he wanted to claim anyway. What did Steena tell you?”

I sighed. “Looking back on the conversations we had, she didn’t talk much about it at all. Every time I approached the subject, she side-stepped me and would talk about some memory of her childhood in Sweden.”

“She always wanted to keep me. She wanted us both. You see . . . we were fraternal twins. My brother and I were part of a debt that was owed to the Petersson family. They helped finance my father’s career when he had no money so they demanded any children from the union he had with my mother.

“We were twins, and my brother was handed over to the Petersson family. Steena’s older sister, Ingrid, couldn’t have any children so she and her husband raised my brother. He grew up in a stable household in a beautiful Nordic country and he’s thrived. He’s quite the socialite playboy but we’re nothing alike.”

I stared into his eyes as I touched the sides of his face with gentle hands. “How did you end up in South Africa?”

“My grandparents weren’t stupid, Alyssa, and neither were the Conlons. They knew what Jeroen had done but by the time they figured it out, he was untouchable. Sure, they could have sent someone to eliminate him but that wouldn’t have brought Richard back. Since, technically, the Conlons still had someone using their family name, Edvard demanded a male heir. I was a debt that had to be paid. I had no choice in the matter, Alyssa. They needed a van den Beek to take over the family diamond empire, and I was the chosen one. Never mind van den Beek is like de Beers—it’s a Corporation and I am only one of the members on the Board of Trustees but the family name lives on. That’s all my grandparents ever cared about.”

My heart thundered in my chest now. “What are you implying, Dorian?”

“I’m not implying anything.” His voice was flat, unemotional—the same tone I took on when discussing the murder-suicide of my parents. “Edvin and I were debts that our parents needed to repay, Alyssa. If you were the casualty of my father’s behavior because he can be held directly responsible for your parents’ death then my brother and I were also casualties. My father sold us for fortune and fame. He dumped my mother when she became too old and acquired a gorgeous trophy wife—the daughter of the same woman he betrayed and ruined.”

“It’s why I murdered him. He obliterated my mother’s dreams and destroyed my family. He’s the reason why I ended up under Campbell’s thumb. I hate Cam but I despised Richard with a loathing I still can’t describe to this day. And yet, I still felt guilty for planning his murder.”

Dorian kissed my lips softly. “Don’t. That bastard got exactly what he deserved. He deprived me of my mother and he made me live the life that was carved out for him—
not
me. I decided a long time ago—from the moment I saw the article about his marriage to you—that I would one day take everything that belonged to my father. Including his wife.”

I knew what he was saying but I needed to hear the words from his mouth. “What do you want from me, Dorian?”

His fingers brushed against my cheek with a gentleness I could barely comprehend. “You might have been his trophy but I will make you my one and only prize possession. In the end, I will acquire everything that bastard ever had . . . and that, my dear, includes you.”

Dorian and Alyssa’s story continues in

Trophy, Part 2

Premiering Monday, May 26
th

SE Chardou is the darker side of professional liar and world-class traveler.

Ms. Chardou’s writing is usually either dark romance or psychological thrillers with mystery and suspense aspects weaved into the plotline.

She is currently working on a vast array of books about good girls gone bad, bikers, gangsters, cartels, and any other subject she finds remotely interesting enough to add a dark, psychological twist.

When not writing, she enjoys daydreaming about her next trip to France, jet-setting across the country to author signings and playing taxi driver to her school-age daughters.

Ms. Chardou currently resides with her two children and their multitude of stuffed animals in Las Vegas, Nevada.