ВойтиShare
Chapter 46
Последнее обновление:
2025-02-25 23:21:52
Related chapter
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 47
Chapter 47RAYANA POV“Please tell me we are wrapping this HAL thing. My mind can’t handle working in circles.” Charlotte burst into my office before walking straight to my desk and dumped a large folder containing undoubtedly, a bazillion files I was supposed to look into. “The money was deposited into their bank account, the ribbon cutting was a success, and the construction has already started, so I tell you, we are wrapping the HAL thing,” I responded with a smile as I watched her plop on the chair in front of me, leaning back. “How are you, baby sis,” I asked, taking her fully in with her movements. There was no denying it, something had changed inside of her that night, something that killed the innocence in her heart and opened her eyes to the ugly world we lived in. A pang of guilt stabbed my inside at how I failed to protect them. She and Charles did not deserve any of that. My fight was with James and they didn’t need to get involved. “Winter is almost over, I can’t wait
Последнее обновление : 2025-02-26Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 48
Chapter 48RAYANA POVAs It Was by Harry Styles poured out of the speakers of the Lexus SUV they picked us up with from the airport, and my hummings accompanied the tune while I continued bopping my head back and forth. Alejandro was clearly unfazed by my choice of music, and a snort of laughter bubbled out of me. He just shook his head and continued scrolling on his phone, not saying a word to me. The men who came to pick us up were more of the stuck-up Suitsthan Alejandro ever and nothing like Kaito, and I figured that it was a Russian thing. We drove for less than half an hour before we came to a heavily guarded black gate. The driver rolled down his window before leaning into the eye-detect security system. The green light flashed across his eye before a soft ping went by, and the gates whooshed open. I sat there, mouth hanging open while taking everything in. Not even the queen’s palace was THAT guarded. Heck, and the palace was known to be the most guarded place in the world
Последнее обновление : 2025-02-27Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 49
Chapter 49ALEJANDRO POV“Call me as soon as the conference ends, you hear me?” I growled out the window at Rayana who stood there looking feverish and so excited about this whole new thing. She looked like a kid on her first time trip to Disney Land. And the mere look at her calmed the storm inside of me. “Yes sir. Even when I want to let out a stinky fart, I will surely reach out to you.” She teased with a wink, then laughed at her own joke before peeking through the window and stealing a kiss on my lips, then rushed into the gates of the big guarded gates. Kaito chuckled at her joke as well. I realized I had one hell of a dry humor when that little joke didn’t faze me. “She is such a character.” Kaito commented with a shake of his head, and I couldn’t agree more. We waited until she was further inside before we pulled back to the road and drove away. I hated this place. Every nook of it reminded me of all the horrible things that are in this world. Yet slithering down the stre
Последнее обновление : 2025-02-28Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 50
Chapter 50 ALEJANDRO POVThe throb on my side was slowly making me lose my mind. The drive back to Odintsovo seemed to be longer than usual, and somewhere along the ride, I felt my vision giving out. I ground my teeth, hating how weak I suddenly felt. Fuck. The knife must have been poisoned. That’s how shady the Russians were. “Hang in there.” Kaito rattled as he shifted gears and literally threw the car into sport mode. The roar of the engine and the exhaust pipe filled the streets, tires screeched, and all the side-to-side swaying made me even more dizzy. “Fuck. I told you we should get out of here.” He banged the steering wheel. “I am fine. This is nothing a medical patch won’t fix.” I said through clenched teeth, my skin growing hotter and hotter with each passing second. I could feel bids of sweat dripping down my spine, and I knew that if this continued, I might not make it. And fuck. My Rayana!“The Russians are going to come knocking at our door. Hard.” He took a sharp
Последнее обновление : 2025-02-28Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 51
Chapter 51RAYANA POVThe conference was utterly unlike anything I have ever been to before. The topics were long dragged, the arguments never ended, people called out each other with horrible names and the shit hit the fan way sooner than one would expect. But at the end of the day, everything was brushed off in such a formal manner I failed to understand how these people functioned. It was during this conference I realized that my life had really pivoted. And I am talking real ass change. From drafting the budgets for the archduchy to representing the whole of the UK and the crown was something I never dared to even fathom in my entire life. And it looked like it was just the beginning. Just as Alejandro had said.I knew there were many more conferences like this one I would attend, and I wish my aunt, the queen was here for a quick hug. This was such an eye-opener. I smiled from where I sat, alone and assessing everything before my eyes. Ambassadors smiled and chatted about ho
Последнее обновление : 2025-02-28Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 52
Chapter 52RAYANA POVThe twenty-minute drive to Odintsovo seemed to be taking an eternity. The President and Melanie had tried convincing me to stay behind while the Mossad took care of the criminals, but I kicked the idea straight to hell. I was not going to stay tucked safely in the white house while Alejandro fought for his life. Like he did with me, I was going to stand in front of bullets and carry them with my back instead. The tension was thick and cloying in the truck as we neared the base. I barked directions to the driver, and he patiently listened to my ramblings while swerving the car expertly until we arrived at the gate. Somehow we managed not to get lost and made it to the base. My prayer knew no end as I asked god to keep him alive until backup arrived. Alejandro needed to live.My heart leaped into my throat when I realized the giant gate was torched to the ground. I covered my mouth to stifle the cry that followed. There was no hope. There really was no hope.
Последнее обновление : 2025-02-28Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 53
Chapter 53RAYANA POVIt has been a whole week since the UNDP conference wrapped up and came to an end. But the memory of all the happenstances that went down in Russia was running rampant and fresh in my mind like it was all yesterday. There was nothing I did or held without that little voice in my mind screaming at me when I remembered what had transpired.Every time I thought of all that, a shin of cold sweat ran down my spine; because there is no way in a thousand years I would have ever dreamed of doing what I did. But I just remember standing there after that phone call and thinking Alejandro was dead. That was the worst feeling in my entire life. And the way I reacted… Heck! Who knew I was capable of that? Negotiating with The President of Russia about dispatching the Mossad to aid me in the criminal aid? But then again, any woman would move mountains for the man she loved. That was just it. “Rayana.” My aunt- the queen- called out as soon as I stepped into her lounge room
Последнее обновление : 2025-03-04Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 54
Chapter 54ALEJANDRO POVI won’t lie and say I did not see it coming. I did! You do not raid the Russians THAT hard and sit back to enjoy the rest of your days with a bloody tea cup in your hand. That has never happened in all the history of the underworld. And my little angel may have known it, but she just invited us right to our doorstep, and this was it knocking. This was just the first of many!But fuck! The same day I acquiesced to her nagging about me always parading around her wherever she went; this kind of shit happened. “I am still trying to find out who could have planted the bomb,” Kaito announced from where he was seated, strapped in the passenger seat while typing furiously on his computer. I did not just promote him to being head of security because he was good as moving like a ninja and made no sound; the man was a fucking tech nerd and he knew all there was to know in the tech world. “Anything new?” “No! It’s like they froze all the cameras in the vicinity bef
Последнее обновление : 2025-03-06
Latest chapter
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 77
Chapter 77ALEJANDRO POVMy ears clogged on ascending. Luckily I had a little good human to keep my mind occupied. Viper had made it a deal to call us into the small office at the back of the jet, between the lounge space and the bedroom space, to fill us in with the happenstances that had occurred in my absence. Some of the things he hinted was that maybe, just maybe, we have been hunting for the traitor from the wrong huddle. His words haunted me even an hour later as I lay in the lounger with Rayana’s body on top of mine, her head snuggled in the crook of my neck and her breaths coming out in small pants. Everything about her was just so perfect. So natural. Even the way she casually touched my cheek here and there while looking into the small device in my hand, all made me believe my little notion that she was indeed the rib of my ribs!“Check this out.” I drawled in a small raspy voice. Her attention flew to the tablet in my hand. I scrolled a few before clicking onto the link
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 76
Chapter 76RAYANA POVI woke up curled into Alejandro’s side, his whole being wrapped around me like a warm comforter. I let my eyes take him in fully, let them wander on every single nook and crook of his face. I printed each detail to memory, and for the umpteenth time, I was awed by the beauty of this man. Long lashes, thick eyebrows that only models could get from terrible laser operations, lips so full and lush that the V dipped so down low. He had these beads of sweat on his forehead that I just wanted to lick with my tongue because that’s how much I loved him. When sleeping, he looked so beautiful. No angry grunts, no heavy sighs, no tiredness that weighed so heavily on him that it was all evident in his simple glance… Just peace. His scent was the soothing elixir I never knew I needed. I was never really a big fan of scents and personal odors, but Alejandro made me find out things about myself I never really knew I had in me. If it were a few months ago I would cringed at t
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 75
Chapter 75RAYANA POVAlejandro balanced me on one arm as he attempted to open the door, but I beat him to it and twisted the door hand. He pushed it open to reveal a pathway of roses and candles all around. My mouth fell open in a small gasp of surprise as my eyes took in every little detail. Somehow in a span of few hours, they had managed to turn my bedroom into a whole honeymoon suite. The entire room was filled with red and white, from roses to the white small throw on the red bed… And everything else reminded me of the time he first took me. The time he claimed me and destroyed for any other man, living or dead. My breath hitched at the memory and heat spread all over my body like wildfire.“Wow…” I breathed out softly. Alejandro simply le
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 74
Chapter 74ALEJANDRO POVEvery time THAT thought crossed my mind, my whole body shook. Shivers rattled my bones and an unknown force slammed right into my chest, causing goosebumps to erupt all over me and sheathe my body like a second layer of skin.At some point, I almost freaked out thinking I was scared, that I was regretting all of this… But then I figured it was because everything was all too surreal. All unbelieveable. A man like me didn’t deserve this much happiness. A man like me with a closet so full of skeletons that they couldn’t be hidden anymore, deserved nothing but isolation for the rest of his life. Cause as they all love to say, people in our world were all beyond redemption. Right now, I was starting to wonder if that was even true.
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 73
Chapter 73RAYANA POVGrowing up, I always imagined that my wedding was going to be the grandest of all times. I imagined it being the most iconic, even more grand than Princess Diana’s herself. I pictured the entire country going on a national lockdown to celebrate the holy matrimony of the Archducke’s older daughter.I imagined chariots, horse carriages straight out of Disney movies, cherry blossoms littering the ground I walked on. I imagined a literal fairy tale, straight out of the books and brought to life. I pictured myself wearing a beautiful princess gown, all white, my teeth brighter than the golden rays of the sun.It probably would have been like that if my dad was still alive, or maybe if Luke was still alive and it was him I was tying the knot to. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever pictured myself being pushed down the aisle in a wheelchair by my younger brother, while my family stood at the head of the chapel watching with eyes filled with tears. At that point, I j
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 72
Chapter 72RAYANA POVAwareness came in bits and pieces. I could feel it by the slow intake of breath and the blood thrumming inside of me that I was alive. But I was not in the world where the sun rose from the east and set in the west. That one was very much evident. Where I was, everywhere I looked, everywhere my eyes landed on was nothing but pure and raw darkness. It was cold, bone-chilling and there was this eerie sensation that kept on washing over me, like cold fingers caressing my skin and making it crawl. And the funny thing was, I felt like I was floating. There was no ground beneath my feet, and my whole body was lighter than a feather. But in this darkness, nothing else existed. It was just me and the deep nothingness that had swallowed me. There was no pain, no joy, and the entire place was void of any sort of feeling.That’s when I heard it. A low murmur of voices, like I was somehow inside a closed drum and they were coming from the outside. That would fucking explai
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 71
Chapter 71ALEJANDRO POVNausea and fury rolled inside of me like hot green acid. I had hoped that the solo drive after the damn ambulance would calm me the fuck down, but the annoying wee! Wee! Wee! Oof the bloody siren made me want to gut the steering wheel right out of its cradle. Every single sound of it meant Rayana was inching closer and closer to death, and that could only mean one thing. My days of pure and unsullied happiness were over!And no. That couldn’t fucking be. I couldn’t allow it. Rayana was not going to leave me because if she left, then she’d leave with the little remaining piece of my soul.And that would be the worst punishment any man cou
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 70
Chapter 70ALEJANDRO POVPain sliced through me. The kind of agony that made me weak in the knees.I’d fucking seen that bloody red dot as it danced around her. But I was fucking slow. Too slow to react and was not faster than a damn bullet. Horror landed inside of me in all its form as I raced up the raised deck, watching with eyes snapped wide as Rayana went lax in her seat. Her head rolled to the side, and her eyes found mine just before she closed them and collapsed. I caught her body before it could collide with the floor, then placed my hand on the reddened spot where her blood was coming out in gallons. The tether of her pain echoed all around me, and I could all bu
Claiming The Archduchess Chapter 69
Chapter 69RAYANA POVA rattling shudder rolled down the length of my spine as we rolled down the long, narrow, and carpeted hallway inside Buckingham Palace. It felt like forever since I had stepped foot in here and I hated the fact that I wasn’t so thrilled about being back to my office. If it were any other day, I would have been on the fucking cloud nine. “You alright?” Alejandro’s hand dropped to my lower back, and the heat from his palm seemed to permeate right through my skin and disperse the concentrated tension down there. I let out a huge puff of breath before staring at him in my peripheral, then gave him an unsure nod. I had wanted to carry out the press conference in my own time and on my own terms: when I felt ready to take over the world again. But that visit from my aunt had me sleepless for days, gnawing and churning me from the inside. The disapproval inside her voice had been deadly; but despite all of that, there was no way I would undo what I did. Yes, I und
