The Dark Side Of Fate by Karima Sa'ad Usman

99 Return to The Estate

~Sylvester~

I wondered what Vino wanted to discuss with me. The guy honestly gave me the creeps, but I knew I needed to be polite; so far, he had sided with me most of the time during the council hearings, and he had let Tamia get away with a lot. The least I could do was hear him out.

"Hey," I linked Marcel and Theodore. Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

"The meeting is over with Leo and Devin, and they are willing to work with us because of Tamia. Meanwhile, Vino asked to see me, so I want to see him briefly in the booth. I will join you guys soon. We will be heading for the estate today. Cancel all our participation. I think we have played enough," I said, and they agreed. It would have been fun to unwind and win a cup before our wedding, but there was just too much to do, and the time was very little.

"Meet me in my meeting booth," I linked Vino, returning to where I had the meeting with Leo and Devin.

I went there and sat down to wait for Vino. He arrived looking dirty in his football jersey. I did not know he was playing football. The guy was just invisible to me. I needed to make more effort to know what my council members were up to.

He greeted me with respect, and I smiled at him.

"Vino, how may I be of service?" I asked him, and he smiled and made himself comfortable.

"How are you, your eminence?" he asked, and I chuckled.

"Please call me Sylvester. We aren't in the council hall," I said, and he smiled.

"It is an honour to call you by your name," the man said, and he was creepy.

Sometimes I wonder why he admired me. I had done nothing. Other than succeeding my father, I had done nothing, yet he treated me like his idol. It was weird, but there were strange people like that, and Vino happened to be one of those people.

"So?" I asked Vino getting impatient.

"I am really in a hurry," I said nicely, and his smile dropped.

"if I may?" he said, and I knew he was asking to speak freely, so I nodded and told him to go ahead.

"Too much has been happening lately, and I do not know if we need to be worried," he said, and I frowned at him.

"The petition these alphas raised would affect all of us. I am glad they changed their minds," he said, and I frowned at him.

"You were likely to benefit from it the most," I pointed out since he was the head of the council. He bared his neck immediately, a sign of submission and respect.

"That is why I want to see you. I knew I would be the prime suspect, and seeing how people have been set up lately, I believe whoever is doing this is trying to set me up. Please, Sylvester. I have no hand in this. Think of it like this, if they pass it, you, Marcel or Theodore, will likely become head of the council. Please. I do not want you not to distrust me. I saw the way you and everyone looked at me after the hearing. It got to me. I have no hand in this, Sylvester," he said, sounding scared, and I smiled at him.

"Do not write yourself off, Vino. All the culprit has to do is find a reason to disqualify the three of us, and you have a seat," I said, and he looked even more worried, so I decided to help him relax.

"Do not worry, Vino. I do not think you are behind it. The Alphas must have just wanted some autonomy and did not think it through before raising the petition. Glad they did not do damage in the

process," I said, and Vino smiled, looking a bit relaxed.

"I am glad you see it that way. I was worried that I was being set up like Sir Dominic," he said, and I laughed and stood up.

"Would that be all?" I asked him, and he nodded.

I left him in the booth and walked away quickly.

I didn't want to get into conversations with him, and I did not want him to invite me to anything he was doing at the Lawrence Mansion in Lucland. I walked briskly until I got to my Primary booth, where Tamia was. Jake was still with them, and they all seemed to be discussing something serious.

My mother looked furious, and I knew they had found something. I cleared my throat, and Tamia looked at me.

" Enzo Mikhailov," she said, and I frowned at her;

"He was the enforcer that led the attack and left a message claiming he was from you," She said.

I remembered Jacob's role and wondered what the Mikhailovs had against me to work against me like this.

I tried to compose myself because I did not want whoever sent those cards to suspect something was off. We needed to act as normal as possible, but I was desperate to get Tamia away from the arena.

"Shall we?" I said aloud.

"Please, Alpha jake, stay with us for a few days in The estate before you return home. It is my way of apologising to you," I told the alpha, and the look in his eyes showed he understood what I was doing.

"With gratitude, my Lord. I wasn't able to identify the person. You know how war is. The memory is a blur,' he said, and I nodded, telling him it was okay.

"It was simple logic. Whoever sent those cards wanted something, so they would likely listen to our conversation and watch our actions after seeing them.

I linked Marcel and Theo and headed to the car park to enter our vehicles.

I left Dominic and Katya at the arena because one of us had to present medals to the swimming teams. He would handle all my official duties concerning the games while I remained at the estate, investigating the issues we were facing.

The ride was smooth, and I was relaxed, knowing I had gained two powerful unlikely allies. I knew Tamia would be curious to know how the meeting went with Leo and Devin.

It would be discussed as Pillow talk, especially Leo. I was worried for the man; he seemed to be hanging on a thread mentally.

We arrived at the estate, and everyone rushed to their wings and rooms. My mother handled Alpha Jake's reservations, and they seemed to be friendly with each other, so I knew he was in good hands.

The moment Tamia and I entered the room, I pinned her against the wall and kissed her to calm the stormy sea of fear inside me. She returned the kiss with the same passion.

"Thank you," I said and broke away from her.

"How did your meeting go?" She asked, and I looked at her.

"They are willing to work with us. Devin thinks Amanda might be working for her father. He has the same misgivings about Ramsey," I said, avoiding talking about Leo.

Even though she loved me, I knew Tamia cared about Leo and knowing he was suffering would affect her mood. I would still tell her when we decide to rest.

"Kappa Levi has arrested Amy Zakharov, and they are on their way. The irony is her husband was the one that gave her up." Marcel linked me, and I was happy we had some people in custody.

Hopefully, it won't lead to a dead end this time around. I needed to catch someone and end this nonsense once and for all.

"Vino came to see me," I told Tamia while she was taking off her clothes to slip into something comfortable. She turned to look at me and frowned.

"Why?" She asked, and I sighed.

"He said the petitions the alphas raised made him look suspicious, and he came to tell me he had no hand in it. He was genuinely afraid I would suspect him. He believed someone was trying to set him up like they did Dominic," I said, and Tamia laughed.

"Is he stupid or what?" she said, and I wondered why she would say that.

"The uprising has no reason to set him up. Dominic was set up to cover the track of the people that attacked Brighton. Why would they want to set Vino up," she asked, slipping out of her undergarments, and I realised she had very valid points.

Vino was really stupid.

There was no reason for them to set him up unless they wanted me to waste my time investigating him and creating a problem between us.

"I think they have a motive, Tamia," I said, and she looked at me standing naked. Her body was gorgeous, and I was trying hard to focus on my thought and not drool.

"If I suspect him, I will investigate him, and we will have problems. Look at it like this, so far, Vino has somehow, in his way, given us liberty in those hearings.

With him working against us, those hearings would be more difficult. It would be easy to recruit him to their side if I start suspecting and tormenting him," I said, and she giggled.

"You are thinking too hard about this. The people who sent me cards today do not seem like they were thinking in that direction, Sylvester.

If anything, they seem desperate and boxed in.

He has no relevance in all this," she said, and I did not want to argue with her.

"I guess you are right. The things that have happened have put me in a position where I overthink things." I said, and she came to me and dropped to her knees. I knew what she wanted to do, and I welcomed it.

" Let me help you take the edge off," she said, and all I could do was a growl in response.

We spent a few hours in our bedroom, making love, and soon it was evening.

Tamia and I showered together and left for the dinning room to have dinner. Then we were to question Liam on everything he knew about the organisation he was working for. I was relaxed after making love to my mate, and I looked forward to learning what was happening from Liam's angle.

We ate dinner in silence, and the moment we were done.

Marcel, Theodore and I went to question Liam. Tamia wanted to question him, but we decided we would go first, and then the women would go after. That way, we would likely get more from him than if all six of us were present.

Marcel, Theodore and I headed to the interrogation room in the dungeons of the estate, and I was feeling a bit impatient.

We had been walking blind for a while now, and answers were needed to help us through the situation.

Liam was cuffed with silver and sat on a chair with his cuffed hands resting on the table. It was also clear that he had been crying. He was only seventeen and bound to crack sooner than an adult.

I looked at the boy and smiled at him.

"I know you are a minor, Liam Zakharov," I said, and he widened his eyes.

"I have discussed this with your father, and I am surprised that the son of someone as prestigious as Alpha Christian Zakharov would get involved with a terrorist group.

I will go easy on you if you tell me the truth. Still, if you don't, I will treat you like an adult and make sure you are dealt with mercilessly until you beg for death. Still, it will never come because those dealing with you would enjoy your suffering.

I am sure you would not want that, so I implore you, to be honest, and say everything precisely as it is.

Do you think you can do that, or would you need the motivation to come from our enforcers?" I asked, and he shook his head, tears streaming down his face.

"I will speak, your eminence. I will tell you everything. Please do not hurt me. I made a mistake; please do not hurt me," he said, crying, and my heart broke that someone would do this to such a young man with a promising future. As things were, he would be lucky to keep his life because he had committed treason. Even though I was willing to spare his life, he would never succeed in his father and would never be recognised as a Zakharov.

These people had ruined his life, and I doubted they cared. He was just another means to an end.