"A king only bows down to his queen."
~ Unknown

...♗...

Sitting at the end of the table, her hands set on top, are intertwined as we wait for Vincent, her oldest brother, to show up.

She's not who she looked like before. Instead, she resembles someone completely different. Her dark eyes remind me of my own, but the only difference is the colour of my eyes change depending on my emotions. Her's maintain a dark complexion no matter what. Her long blonde hair now replaced with the natural darkness of her roots, she resembles the exact girl in my memories.

But that girl is dead and the one here, is just an imposter.

The one here, has no mercy. She has no need to look back at what she had. The one here, is sitting at a table with all of her blood family supporting her, yet she still lacks to acknowledge such a luxury.

The girl in the basement who this girl resembles, looked back everyday. She'd remember her past so that she could move foreword. Her blood is what helped her then and what will help her now, but she will never admit it because she's no longer the girl in the basement.

She is a woman who provides herself with her needs and wants at any cost. She's a a killer, an abuser. The aftermath of Nick's service.

No longer being able to look at the lifeless soul she is, my eyes roam the table we're at.

Her other brothers, Dean and Anthony, are sat closest to her followed by some of their top members.

Her father is sitting at the opposite end of the table, across from her, and at the moment, I'm the closest one to him sitting on his left side. Beside me are Amelia and then Alec while Cole and Dakota are sat on the other side.

As far as I've been informed, I was unconscious for about three days before I regained consciousness. It's been two weeks since then and with the help of physical therapy, I'm able to walk around on my feet again.

It's been more than difficult to comprehend what has happened in the last three weeks. She sent Luciano away, she isn't the person any of us thought she was, Brody is running my gang and Nick is controlling most of the states.

I have money and men, but no power. Everything I worked for, is gone because of one silly mistake. It's all gone because of her. It's all fucking gone, but here I am, sat as if I still have a part to play in her game.

"He's not coming," she states.

"Five more minutes and then you may start," her father answers.

For the past two weeks, I haven't interacted with anyone in this house except for Cole, Alec, Amelia and Dakota. I've been around the house, but I've done my best to avoid talking to anyone.

Every time I encountered someone, I wanted to put my fist inside their chest and feel their heart pulse in my palm just before I ripped it out. This house is made up of men, and men only, and every single one of them hates my guts. Their eyes linger on me as if the second I make a wrong move, they'll be right there to slit my throat.

They think I did something to her. They think I have a hand in her kidnapping with Nick, but I don't. She knows that, but with her, who knows what she'll fucking say now. This should be between her and her family, but she's pulling me in between everything.

I stick out like a fucking coffee bean in a bag full of marshmallows. I don't want to be here, but this isn't my roof and when the owner of the roof your staying under, requests for your presence, you do as your told without question. I lead as an example for the people in my gang and if I don't show respect, then I'll receive no respect. It's as simple as that.

"Can we start? We all know he doesn't give a fuck anyway."

"Summer, I think you've had enough time to adjust so I'll warn you now. The rules are still the same. Mind your language in the house, we're not illiterate."

"Fuck is a synonym for he doesn't care and many other words or phrases. I don't see what's illiterate in that, so I'll continue to use whatever language I'd like to use in and out of house. If you have a problem, then no one's begging to stay under your roof."

"Summer," Anthony's eyes are full of warning.

"Let it go, Anthony. We have much more to discuss and I'm sure you can't tell us where your sister has been for the past three two years." Xavier steps in before Summer can reply and makes things worse. "Sum-"

"Sorry I was late, the meeting took longer than expected and the traffic jam wasn't much help," Vincent walks in. A briefcase in one hand, he unbuttons his coat before he pulls out the seat from across me and sits down. He sets the suitcase on the floor, next to his seat, as a servant walks in with a glass off ice water.

The fucking man is the size of my brother and beat me to a pulp two weeks ago. If I wanted to, I could've put up a fight, but I didn't. Not because I was scared, but because I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of breaking me. You can beat a person to death, but that will never give you the same satisfaction you get when someone is truly broken on the inside.

We can beat people. Leave physical scars on their body's, but never get what we want so we torture to the point where a person can never pass out and we endlessly make them feel pain. We hit where it hurts not physically, but mentally and emotionally. Everyone in this field plays by those rules unless their only motive is to kill.

Vincent's initial motive wasn't to kill me. He was questioning me, but I never answered, is earning a few lashes from him. After a while, I don't exactly remember, but he kind of just lost it. All I remember is a burning rage.

"Kai?"

"Huh? Sorry I -I have a dry throat." I make up an excuse as I reach for my water bottle and drink some of its content. All eyes still set on me, I lean back in my chair trying to get comfortable.

Noticing my flustered state, she clears her throat and begins to talk again taking the attention off of me. This time, I pay attention to her words.

"So, as I was saying, I just wanted to start off by saying thanks for not killing me or my friends and I know all of you had your doubts about if I'm actually who I claim to be, but the results to the DNA test should've cleared that for you. Today, I'm here to tell you about what happened during the past three years and why I chose not to come home until now."

"On the night of my fifteenth birthday, Vince was taking me to the venue when he had to stop somewhere. He said he had to meet someone and he'd be back in a couple of minutes so I sat, waiting in the car. I fell asleep and woke up to find out that it's dark out. I step out of the car as Vince and I start arguing and then all of sudden, a tip of a knife is sticking out of his stomach and I watched him fall to the ground. I thought he was dead and it took me a few seconds to react, but before I could do anything, I felt a pinch in my neck."

She takes a deep breath pulling her hands off the table. Leaning back in her chair, her eyes are focused on her lap instead of on the people in front of her.

I avert my eyes back onto my own hands fiddling a small die.

"I woke up tied to a chair and a cloth over my eyes preventing me from seeing my surroundings. He came in minutes after. I heard his voice first, but I didn't recognize it. Of course I was trained for the situation, so I answered his questions, but then he did what I hoped that he wouldn't. He took off my blindfold and made me look at him. I knew it at that moment, that it was either going to be life or death. When he was talking to you, I yelled it through the phone. I knew you heard me, but even after knowing that, you did what Nick asked you to do."

"After many days of starvation, sleep deprivation and torture, I gave in to him. He made me work for him. He took me to clubs where I would bait men at any cost, I served drinks during his meetings and stripped if that's what they asked for. I was fed two meals a day and was hardly every allowed out. My room was worse than our basement. I was punished for every mistake I made. He would let his guards do whatever they wanted to me, which was practically every night he didn't want me."

"I became a fucking toy: my emotions, my state of mind, my body, my words, my thoughts, my choice did not fucking matter. I was used and played with until one day, Nick decided that he didn't need me anymore. He threw me into one of his camps and I just couldn't taken it. I couldn't let him throw me away, so I set the house on fire and made it look like I died."

"I didn't come home because I didn't know what I would say or do. I was supposed to be this girl who was only taught about what our world was made of. I was supposed to be this innocent little figure who all of you would come home to and the innocence in me would make you feel better for doing what you did during that day. But I wasn't. I wasn't this innocent little girl anymore. I didn't want to become a surgeon, I didn't want to save lives. Instead, I wanted to take lives."

"So instead of coming home, I stole money and made my way from LA to Tennessee where I was picked up by the police. They asked me who I was and where I was from and I told them that I was an orphan. I was put into the system under Summer White and was adopted really quick. The family realized that I had problems, but so did their daughter. I fit right in."

"After two years, we moved to Chicago where I met Kai. He didn't know who I was and all I knew about him at the time was that he's the leader of a newly created gang called The Black Killers. A couple of days into meeting him, I found out that he's Nick's younger brother. We made a deal and there was no way I would've won so because I was going to lose, I decided that I'd use Kai to take down Nick."

"I was doing fine until Nick found out who I was. He showed up on the fourteenth and told everyone about my real identity then got us all arrested. Of course, no one missed that part since it was broadcasted on national news."

She finally looks up from her lap letting out a small laugh. Her eyes hold no emotion to them. It's like she's explaining everything without actually allowing herself to feel what she's saying.

"So for the part that interests me most," she brings her hands back on the table and leans in. "I came back here to bring Nick down. What happened with him is in the past and I can live with what he did to me, but I can't see him doing it to more innocent people. He's in control of all the states, has power, men and money, but so do we. We have power, men and money, but we also have Kai and no one knows Nick like we do. My deal to you is: in exchange for helping Kai and I destroy Nick, you'll be handed forty five percent of every business Kai decides to run."

"Why only forty five?" Vincent questions.

"Because without Kai and I on your side, you won't even be able to get near Nick. Nick and I still have unfinished business and he will come after me again."

"Okay, say that we get near him. Is our goal to permanently terminate him?" One of the guys on the table asks.

"It's not our place to decide, it's Kai's. He has the right to do whatever he wants to Nick. Details can be dealt with later. My main goal with this deal is to gain power over the states back. All I need from you, right now, is an answer. Will you help? Yes or no?"

Everyone drops silent as they try to process what she's saying. When no one speaks and the struggle to choose becomes clear on everyone's face, Xavier naturally takes the lead.

"Sleep and think about it, we'll meet here tomorrow," Xavier gets up from his seat. "Summer, if you don't mind meeting me in my office, I have a few things I'd like to discuss in private."

She looks at him. Her eyes focused on Xavier's, I can tell she's trying to predict what he wants to talk about. I like that about her. She likes to be prepared for situations before running into them, but it's also a disadvantage when events don't go as planned.

"Okay," she scoots her chair back and gets up. Xavier and Summer make their way out of the room. Everyone remains seated. Slowly, I hear the screeching of other chairs followed by the sound of footsteps distancing.

"Are you coming?" Alec asks me.

"Uh- no. I'll come up later."

He nods knowingly and heads out with everyone else.

As I sit there, playing with the small die that I found lying around, Dean takes a seat in front of me.

"Dean White," he introduces himself.

"Kai Black," I say as I slide my hand in his.

His eyes linger on me as he decides what to say next. Dean is closest to Summer's age in the family. From what I know, they had a strong bond when they were young. As for now, it seems like they can hardly look at each other without wanting to kill themselves. Alec tells me it's mostly because Dean almost killed her when we first arrived.

"My sister is supporting you and in my opinion, I think it's naive of her to be doing so. If I find out that you're working in favour of your brother, I'll make sure that every single thought that enters your mind involves killing yourself."

"She's been on her own for the last three years and has done quite well. Maybe if you doubt her less and actually have some faith, she'll be more open. But, as far as her relationship with her family goes, that's none of my concern. Whatever Summer said today, about wanting to take down Nick is true, but her and I haven't discussed anything she claims to do. The deal she proposed might not even exist," I inform. "I owe her nothing and I sure as hell don't owe The White Dragon's anything. If I go through with it, I'll have my own reasons. Until then, I appreciate the hospitality and from my side, I assure you, no problems will be caused."

"Do you like her?" he questions with the utmost seriousness.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you like Summer?"

"I don't think my personal opinions are any of your concerns, so if you'll excuse me, I think it's time for me to leave," I stand up and take my leave.

Instead of going up to my room, I decide to head to the gym on the top floor. Once I enter, I pull off my shirt and head straight into the ring.

My mind too clouded to think, I go in raw. With every impact of my fist, the bag swings ever so slightly. I increase the force in my punch with each swing trying feel the pressure in my muscles increase.

As the stamina builds, I feel my thoughts becoming more clear.

I look at Summer and I still see her. I see the same thing I saw the first day I met her, but I shouldn't. I should see her as a traitor, as the woman keeping my son away from me or the girl who kills with such perfection, it'd be wrong not to applaud her ability.

But I see her.

A woman that does what needs to be done to survive.

A girl who never stops fighting.

A person who refuses to give up.

She's Summer.

No matter how many times I repeat it in my head, I don't see her as the daughter of Xavier White or a victim of Nicholas Black.

I see Summer.

Just,

Summer.

Why does she do this? Why does she reel me in and then move further away? Does she forget what she wants?

Is she that indecisive or does she do it on purpose?

I don't know, but it needs to stop. She needs to stop messing with me, because I don't know how much more I can take. The only reason I'm still hanging on is because of Luciano.

I need him back.

I've made mistakes. I've made countless mistakes. I know I can't let Luciano face the consequences for me, so for whatever it's worth, I'll fight.

I'll fight with The White Dragons in order to get my son back in my life. Not because I want revenge for what Nick did, but because I need my son. I need him because he's the only one left in my life to live for. I'll die fighting if I have to. I owe that much to his mother and him. I owe it to them both.

A/N: