Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress

"How are you holding up?" Katherine came up behind Damien, who is fixing his cuff links to his shirt, and wrapped her arms around his midsection. She had just gotten out of the shower and was in her robe.

He told her everything that happened yesterday during breakfast. It wasn't the most pleasant time to talk about decades-long secrets over pancakes and eggs benedict, but was there ever really a good time? Truth didn't choose a time. It was always there, sitting, waiting to be unraveled. And when it did, it would either create chaos or save a life.

Damien would like to think neither. He didn't want chaos, but he also didn't want to save the life of the person responsible for his father's death.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced over his shoulder and said the first thing that came to mind. "The truth? I want there to be a portal to the afterlife so my father can answer all the questions I have, then I wouldn't have to face Frederick to force the answer out of him." He closed his eyes when she pressed her face against his shoulder and inhaled deeply. "When did life get so complicated?"

"Has it ever really been easy for us?" she quipped, amusement laced in her tone.

"I guess not." He pulled her by the waist and drew her in for a sweet kiss. Coconut and vanilla scents wafted in his nose, two things that he always associated with Katherine, and something he looked for subconsciously whenever they weren't together. "At least I have you with me."

"I want to go with you. But I have a meeting at eight, and it's…" She trailed off, checking the clock on the wall, and her eyes went wide. "Shit. It's almost seven. I'm going to be late!" Katherine reluctantly stepped away from him and dashed to her side of the closet. Good thing she didn't take too long changing clothes. But the drive from the Young Estate to the city took at least forty minutes. She'd be cutting it short.

Damien leaned against the dresser, his eyes trailing her every move. She dropped the robe to the floor, leaving her in her birthday suit. He had to suppress a groan rising up his throat at the sight of his woman naked before him. He would choose this over what he had to do this morning any day.

However, he had to face the music. That morning, he and William had to talk to Frederick. And he had been dreading it.

"If there's anything I can do to help, I would love it if you tell me."

Katherine's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, realizing that she was in front of him now, buttoning the pink shirt that she paired with a gray pencil skirt. He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face as he ran his eyes down her form. Sexy librarian. Some things didn't change.

Placing a gentle kiss on her lips, he told her, "I appreciate it, Kitten. I will. Right now, I can handle it. I'll call you later?"

He was headed out the door when she called behind him, "Can I drive now?"

"No."

She grumbled under her breath but didn't fight him on it.

:crown::crown::crown:

In front of the safe house where they kept Frederick, Damien scrolled his phone as he leaned against the side of his car while waiting for William to arrive. The latter was fifteen minutes late. He swore his cousin was—damn it, he was still not used to calling William his uncle. He didn't think he would ever get used to that. It freaked him out.

The sound of a sports car engine came near and then a black Ferrari parked next to him. Damien had just finished reading an article about Gael De Luca's new company in New York when he closed his phone and shoved it into his pocket. "You're late."

"I have an excuse." William strolled toward him, adjusting his Rayban with his middle finger.

"And what is your excuse?" Damien cocked a brow.

"I just found out that my father is my brother and my grandfather is actually my father." William shrugged.

Damien shook his head and strode toward the front door, the men nodding in respect as they passed by. The other fell in step next to him. "You have a hickey on your neck."

William rubbed the said hickey on the right of his neck but kept his mouth shut.

They walked deeper into the house, strode down the basement where two guards made way for them, and came face to face with Frederick who sat at the edge of a double bed, reading a book about Shakespeare. They supplied him with a few classics. It smelled musky and earthy down there. He wasn't restrained, but they removed all potential threats that he could use against them and on himself. Other than his bed and an armchair in the corner, it was pretty much empty.

"If it isn't my lucky day." Frederick dog-eared the page of his book and stood to his full height. He wore a white Henley shirt and black sweatpants. "A visit from my nephew and my son in one day." His voice was dripped with sarcasm.

"How about brother?" William challenged without a second thought.

'Alright. I guess we're getting straight to the point,' Damien thought. "How about he's not your son and he's actually my uncle?"

The color drained from Frederick's face. His eyes widened and his jaw ticked as he took a step back. "How?"

Without any pretenses, William unfolded the paper with DNA results and held it up for him to see.

Damien glanced to his right where William stood with a detached look on his face. William's eyes were dull as if he didn't have an ounce of sympathy.

"Where did you get that?" Frederick asked in almost a whisper.

"Does it matter?" William said in a toneless voice. "The only thing that matters is the truth."

"Where?! Just answer the damn question!"

"In a safe, at grandfather's cabin," Damien said.

A laugh that was laced with scorn came out of Frederick's mouth. "Do you know what that cabin is? Aside from the times he took you boys up there?"

Damien remained silent, but his uncle's strange tone kept him on edge.

When neither of them answered, Frederick said, "That was his love nest. It's where he brought his women. Sometimes, my wife—for a weekend fuck."

Bile rose up Damien's throat. He wanted to throw up at the image that shot to the forefront of his mind. What the fuck?

Frederick sat on the armchair, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at the cemented floor.

"Does mother know?" William wondered and then he hissed. "Fuck. Does Nana?"

"Your mother knows. I confronted her. But your grandma." Frederick shook his head. "She doesn't know. It would devastate her. For all she knows, her husband had been faithful until his last breath. What she doesn't know is that every time he goes on a business trip, he's out frolicking with some hussy. My wife included. Do you know how humiliating that is? My own father cuckolding his son." A humorless laugh rumbles out of him.

Poor Nana. She didn't deserve this.

"How long have you known?"

"Late. You were already in school when I found out that having a child is not possible for me. That I…" Frederick turns red, his nose flaring.

It was Damien who supplied the last bit. "You're infertile."

Instead of confirming Damien's words, Frederick looked up at William and continued in a harsh tone, "I didn't question it. We look so much alike. Of course, you would. You're my fucking brother."

"When?!" William snapped. "When the hell did you find out?"

Frederick swallowed. "When you were seven."

William's breathing became harsh, his chest heaving laboriously. "That's the first time you ever hit me. It all makes fucking sense now."

"Every single time I looked at you, you reminded me of being emasculated, my wife's adultery, and my father's sins against me—"

Frederick didn't get to finish his sentence when William's fist connected to his face. He fell back on the bed, his hand cupping his bleeding nose. William grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, raising his fist to land another punch.

But before he could do so, Damien placed a hand on his shoulder and spoke in a tone so cold that matched his piercing gaze. "I'm going to ask you once and you better tell me the truth." Frederick shifted his gaze to Damien, his nose flaring. "Is this why you killed my father?"

Frederick's left eye twitched. Then he averted his stare and squeezed his eyes shut.

That was all the answer Damien needed. "He found out the truth and you killed him! Because you didn't want to be labeled as fucking infertile?" William let go of Frederick's shirt only for Damien to grab it again as he snarled in his uncle's face. "Answer me you fucking asshole!!!"

"I didn't mean for him to die!!! Lawrence was going to announce it and it would've fucked up everything! Father already took away my dignity. Then he gave his favorite son the company, while I'm just an afterthought. Always the second option! My father owed me!!!"

Pulse speeding, heartbeat pounding, Damien couldn't think straight. His hand closed around Frederick's neck and he squeezed.