Prologue
Eleven years ago
St. Valentine, Contini
“Mind if I join you?” At his younger brother’s nod, Willem de Konigh stepped out to join Jaak on the balcony. Behind them, the rest of the chateau was still blanketed in the quiet of sleep, their three younger siblings unknowingly missing out on the chance to say goodbye to Jaak.
“Are you here to change my mind?” Jaak’s tone was light and humorous.
“You know me better than that,” was his older brother’s mild reply.
Jaak laughed. Standing almost as tall as his brother, he possessed the same blue eyes that the de Konighs were famous for. But unlike Willem’s blond good looks that made women all over Europe think of him as a real-lifePrince Charming,Jaak’s ebony black hair and trademark smirk lent the younger de Konigh a devilishly wicked aura. If these were the olden days, he would have no doubt been mistaken for a rakish pirate, a man guaranteed to steal the virginity of any lady in his presence.
The grandfather clock inside the chateau chimed out a heavy tune, and both brothers instinctively stiffened at the unwanted reminder of the time. Even though a decade had already passed since they had escaped their father’s brutality, there were still things they were struggling – and failing – to forget.
It was two o’clock in the morning, and not so long ago, this was the hour of the night that insanity, cultivated by years of alcoholism and emotional instability, would take over their father.
Willem’s beatings would start, an almost-nightly ritual that left him bloodied and broken.
And Jaak hadnotknown.
He hadnotknown because he, unlike Willem, had been the apple of his father’s eye, the only one among his children that Edgar de Konigh had deigned to notice.
Or maybe he had not known because he hadn’t wanted to, Jaak thought bitterly. Maybe even then, he had been a weak and spineless idiot who had idolized his father—-
The same father that had turned his eldest son into a punching bag because he didn’t have the guts to beat his wife for cheating—-
“I am aware it’s pointless to say this, but as I like being thorough—-”
“You’ll say it anyway,” Jaak finished.
“Correct.” Willem inclined his head in agreement.
“Then consider the words said,” Jaak murmured evenly, “and disregarded – courteously, mind you.”
A brief grin cracked Willem’s mask. “Bullshit.”
Jaak rolled his eyes. “If the press could only hear you now.”
Willem’s gaze turned towards their surroundings. It was another beautiful December day in the north of Contini, the kingdom that their paternal grandmother had ruled since she was eighteen years old. Snow completely covered the roofs and roads, but the wintry landscape was enlivened by splashes of color coming from hardy perennials lining the sidewalks. Yellow mahonia and winter jasmine grew next the occasional blooms of snapdragons, violas, and cyclamen, with its petals boasting an ombre display from deep red to pale pink to white.
The ten-bedroom chateau that stood behind them was just as eye-catching, with its ornamental brick façade and pillared entrance.
“We have had a good life, haven’t we?” Willem asked reflectively. His kind of people represented the tiniest fraction in the world that literally had more money than they could ever spend in various lifetimes. Their wealth was boundless, but more miraculously than that, Willem had also been blessed with brothers and sisters he would die to protect – and who would do the same for him. The same could even be said for the Queen of Contini, their grandmother, and the large brood of cousins they had grown up with.
They might have not lucked out on the parental department, but considering all the other blessings they had received—-
Willem saw no cause for complaint.
At the end of the day, they had more than most other people could ever dream of having, and it was for this sole reason why Willem didn’t even think of praying to God to make his younger brother stay.
Jaak glanced at his older brother, asking mockingly, “Are you about to becomeemotional?” He feigned a light shudder, saying, “Because that would be horrendous.”
Willem only gazed at him, blue eyes remaining unreadable, and his hard face unyielding. It was clear that he wasn’t willing to make this easy for his younger brother.
“You knew this would happen sooner or later.” Jaak shoved his fists into his pockets in an effort to curb the frustration inside of him. “I stayed for as long as I could, and I swear to God I did try to put everything behind me—-” His tone became uncontrollably savage. “But Ican’t.Our family means everything to me—-”
“Then stay,” Willem said simply.
