Facing the devil

Vanessa

Oh okay…No, shit! How could I have forgotten that. What do I do now? I can’t be in the presence of him and his family. Oh Lord! How did it get this bad?

“ Can you just help me take this to him? I’ve been feeling this lingering pain in my chest all day and seeing him in grief might just cause my heart to give up. Please…” I give Leon my best puppy eyes but the straight look on his face tells me that I am not going to be successful in this one. 

“ You’re going to have to face the devil on your own this time.”

“ You’ve been here in this house for about eight years and still haven’t gotten used to his presence.” Barry adds with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“ Well, I don’t think anyone gets used to having the devil around” says my soul sister Tianna. 

 I look at her, feigning sadness in my eyes and bat my eyelashes,“ how about you take it to him for me instead?” 

“ I’m with Leon on this one, you should face your fears by yourself. Plus I heard he’s in the study with his friends not with the other old asshats.” Traitor! I should have known better.

“ How does that make it better?” 

“ Despite your fragile heart, you’re the only one who can hold his stare long enough and mirror his energy even without having to say anything” Leon says as if it is enough consolation for having to be in the demon’s presence.

“ Well, my heart is more fragile today than other days and I don’t think it can handle being around him.” 

“ I know you can handle it. Off with you before he throws another angry fit”

Just then, Marlon the butler enters with another message

“ The master wants me to know if he’s ever going to get his wine this year of if there is a special psychologically impaired factor holding it back.” I look up at him “ Don’t crucify the messenger. His words, not mine.” 

“ You should probably go tell him that his devilish aura is what keeps everything, including his wine, running away from him and if he could just upgrade his personality to a better one, then maybe nature will finally bless him with luck.” 

“ You should say that yourself when you get to him in his study. That energy will probably keep his temper in check. But then, isn’t he already blessed by nature?” Bianca responds on his behalf. “ You will be fine honey, just hurry up and get there before he gets angrier.” 

I’ll be fine. I reassure myself as I take the stairway up to the study. But why does my instincts keep telling me otherwise?

Dimitri's pov

I really can’t believe that this man would have the audacity to leave me in this state. On a normal day, even after his burial, I would have hurried away after the funeral service, hopped on a jet that would take me far away and either bury myself in work or the arms of a beautiful woman.

He has even managed to destroy my routine. We’ll, if I’m being honest, I’m not really surprised that he could do this because he has always had a way of being at the center of my misfortunes. It really is a shame that a father would go to all lengths to torment his own son.

Now here I am having to go through all this torture. Where the fuck is my wine at this moment?! I sent for it a while back but the entire household seems so busy to cater to the one important person that they are supposed to cater to. 

I refuse to take any more Brandy because I know that I would empty the whole bottle with how furious and agitated I’ve been feeling. 

“ His will states that you will need to have a wife and a heir, a complete family, before the inheritance is handed to you and maybe then you will understand the kind of man that he is before you can handle his property.”

Understand the kind of man that he is? I do understand that he is a sneaky, sniveling, cheating, corrupt bastard. What more is there to understand about him? What more is there apart from the fact that he was a husband and a father who wanted nothing to do with his family and would rather chase after his mistress skirt. 

I wonder what would have happened if grandfather accepted those bastards. I would probably have been left nothing despite being the legitimate son of his original legal wife. That is how much he hates me. 

I look outside the window and catch sight of Stephan. The favorite son. The perfect one. The son after his own heart. The heir from his one true love along with his mother. The reason for why my mother attempted suicide on many occasions before death finally granted her wish. 

I hear the door close and I’ve been so lost in thought that I did not care to listen to Patrick Spencer go on and on about my father’s legacy. My family’s legacy, Yes but the mere mention of my father makes me just want to throw everything to dust but I would rather wash my hands in hot, boiling oil than give them the satisfaction of handing over everything my ancestors worked for to beggars. Never! 

I loose sight of them and I know that they’re somewhere lurking within the house probably making their way to come find me. I’d rather they didn’t.

I really prefer to avoid being in their presence. Especially the one whose fingers inches closer to my inheritance.

“ Please tell me you’ll put me in charge of the wife hunt” Carter chooses to break the silence. “ No one is putting you in charge of nothing. If anything, the groom should take up the responsibility of finding himself a bride.” Brian, the voice of reasoning speaks up.

“ Who then, is going to be the unlucky bride? How would you even find one? Or are you planning on putting a ring on the next pussy you spend the night with?” Trent adds

They all burst into laughter. It’s crazy that they manage to find humor in my present situation.

 “ He should try Catherine. I’m sure she’s still in love with him despite how he ended things after sleeping with her sister.” 

“ Or Serena after using her to nearly ruin her father."

“ Or maybe Sadie Arnold, who’s friends with Alana. You used to have something with her right?” Brian asks with mock inquisitiveness in his eyes.

“ Nah. They’ll figure out his reasons very easily.” Carter says feigning seriousness.

“ Never did I think there was ever going to be a time when this dickface would finally get married. Congratulations in advance bro. I hope you spend the rest of your life in matrimonial bliss.” They all laugh once again.

“And who says I’m going to really get married."

“ Isn’t that the condition for your inheritance or have we not all been hearing right?"

“ It is, but who says that I need a real bride with love and vows” I say very calmly.

“ So…does that mean we’re going clubbing tonight while going on an undercover wife hunt? That could really work.” Carter asks very seriously and in response gets a slap on the back of his head courtesy of Tren.

“ What good will it do for his reputation if he’s seen clubbing on the night of his father’s funeral."

“ Well he doesn’t need to be there. I could handle it all for him. Sample the women to test them out if necessary, just like old days."

“ It’s a wife he’s in search of not just a fuck buddy you idiot!” Brian shoots in.

I really don’t know what to do with him constantly trying to find the humor in everything. I would throw him out if I wasn’t used to him being like this all the time even when he has issues of his own.

“ Where the hell is my wine and how many years would it take to get it here?!

“ Take it easy man. We know you’re agitated but you don’t have to bring down the whole house.

I’m sure that if looks could kill, Carter would be dead right now. Shot between the eyes. The fool still has that smug look on his face.

“ Maybe you should find someone familiar who isn’t all that popular or from a family like ours and just pay her to marry and put up with you for a while” He speaks up again after the momentary silence. I signal for him to continue by nodding.

“ Someone not special, someone not controversial that you can easily manipulate into giving you what you need most, which is your heir, and would be paid to leave after a while. Maybe five- eight years at most.

“ You would still be connected to her as she will forever be the mother of your child but at least with someone of lower class and standards, you will be the one calling the shots on everything without a wealthy, greedy family that you’ll need to answer to or a high class lady to make it into a drama series.

He rests into his chair and has a proud look in his face like he just ended the possibility of another world war. Maybe he did after all.

“ And where do you suppose I find her?

Just then there’s a knock on the door and a voice I’m all too familiar with resounds through the door.

“ I’m here with your wine."

Trent has this manic smile on his face “Well I guess she came to find you herself