Heretic: The Clans Book Ten Read online

  Heretic

  The Clans Book Ten

  Iris Sweetwater

  Elizabeth Knox

  Contents

  Available Now

  Coming Soon

  Available Now

  Coming Soon

  Playlist

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Next Up

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.

  Heretic. Copyright © 2020 by Elizabeth Knox & Iris Sweetwater. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief “s used in articles or reviews. For information, contact E. Knox & I. Sweetwater.

  https://www.facebook.com/elizabethknoxbooks

  Cover design by Clarise Tan, CT Cover Creations

  Editing by Raven Heidrich, Hydra Productions

  Formatting by E.C. Land, Knox Publishing

  Proofreading by Jackie Ziegler, Knox Publishing

  Photography by Melissa Deanching, R plus M Photo

  Modeling by Alice Isabella

  Created with Vellum

  Available Now

  By: Elizabeth Knox

  Series: Skulls Renegade

  Reign

  Redemption

  Revenge

  Relentless

  Reckoning

  Reclaimed

  Regret

  Reckless

  Reclusive

  Retribution

  First Generation: A Skulls Renegade MC Boxset

  Series: The Clans with Iris Sweetwater

  Promised

  The Trade

  Cherished

  Deceit

  Love is War

  Defiant

  Shattered

  Covert

  Heretic

  Series: Steele Bros.

  Tough as Steele

  Stripping a Steele

  Protecting a Steele

  Steele her Heart

  Series: Reapers MC

  Scarred

  Blackjack

  Here Kitty, Kitty

  Booger

  Widow

  Hawk

  Bull

  Cobra

  Sin City Fets with Linny Lawless and Aubree Valentine

  Switched

  Full Throttle with Erin Trejo

  Against All Odds

  Coming Soon

  By: Elizabeth Knox

  Guns Blazing: A Mafia Anthology

  Stolen Hearts: The Steele Bros Complete Boxset

  Rocked to the Core: A Rockstar Anthology

  Mouser

  (Reapers MC #10)

  Venomous

  (The Clans #11)

  Available Now

  By: Iris Sweetwater

  Series: Brothers of Fang

  The New Alpha

  Blood Betrayal

  The Heart of the Pack

  The Power of the Hybrid

  Series: The Clans with ELIZABETH KNOX

  Promised

  The Trade

  Cherished

  Deceit

  Love is War

  Defiant

  Shattered

  Covert

  Heretic

  Series: Quarter Kings MC with Kasandra Sheckles

  Chains

  Doc

  Series: Red Crows MC

  One Way Out

  Texas Roze

  Nicodemus’ Master

  Coming Soon

  By: Iris Sweetwater

  Contemporary Romance Books

  Venomous with Elizabeth Knox

  Yetti with Kasandra Sheckles

  The Daddy Series

  Paranormal Romance Books

  Rebel Reaper

  Embracing Salvation

  Lilly of the Woods (Princess Harems #1)

  SciFi Romance Books

  Scifi Fairytales

  KEEP IN CONTACT WITH ELIZABETH

  www.facebook.com/elizabethknoxbooks

  www.facebook.com/groups/KnoxsBookBabes

  www.instagram.com/elizabethknoxbooks

  www.twitter.com/eknoxbooks

  www.goodreads.com/eknoxbooks

  www.bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-knox

  STAY UP TO DATE ON WHAT

  ELIZABETH IS WORKING ON

  https://elizabethknoxbooks.com/

  KEEP IN CONTACT WITH IRIS

  https://www.facebook.com/irisissweet/

  https://www.instagram.com/irisissweet1

  https://twitter.com/irisissweet1

  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/iris-sweetwater

  STAY UP TO DATE ON WHAT

  IRIS IS WORKING ON

  https://irissweetrh.wixsite.com/irissweet-author

  Playlist

  The Man – Taylor Swift

  Feels – Kehlani

  Everything I Wanted – Billie Eilish

  Die for Me — Post Malone, Future & Halsey

  Trigger Warning

  This content contains material that may be viewed as offensive to some readers, including graphic language, dangerous and sexual situations, murder, and extreme violence.

  Prologue

  Ivana

  Why is it such a big fucking rule that it always has to rain during funerals?

  I stand here, reaching out to hold my sister, Galina’s hand as I listen to the preacher drone on and on about our father’s life.

  Not that he knows anything about my father’s real— life or his accomplishments.

  My father used to be a part of the Clans; a group of elite families that ruled various territories in the mafia. The Romanian Mafia, to be exact. But then he was disgraced when he made the suggestion that we should forgo looking any longer for a woman, rather girl at the time, we couldn’t find, to be our queen, and pick a new ruler. Namely him, who I believe wholeheartedly deserved it.

  Our Clan had paid their dues for a long time and had great ideas. He could have done amazing things. But they just didn’t want to hear it because they took offense to what my father had said and banished all of us. Forever.

  They replaced us, and because of it, I had lost any future I had with the man that I was sure I was born to love and be cherished by.

  Now, as rain pelts down into the river here in Prague, our father is being lowered into a deep grave.

  Not that we didn’t see this part coming. He is getting older and has been ill for a long time now, as happens when you live a hard life. And there is no such thing for us other than a hard life now.

  Galina and I were determined to give him one last triumph, and we failed.

  But whether it be in Heaven, or Hell, or simply the dirt he’s being buried in where my father will remain from this day forward, he will get to see his triumph. I’m fucking determined to make sure he gets th
at.

  New grief strikes me, and I’m a bit surprised by it. Galina and I both were preparing for this day for a long time; over a year. That’s what you do when you have a loved one who is ill and aging and in bed. You prepare for the worst every day, knowing that it is coming. You don’t expect to still be so sad or shocked when the time comes. But I guess death is funny like that.

  Anger, though, overtakes any sadness that I do have. I’m angry at myself and my sister, which I should be considering a failure, however, I’m also angry at the Clans, at all of those who continue to ruin us and continue to thrive in our ousting so long ago.

  Very few are here at my father’s funeral. I have no doubt that it has something to do with the fact that he is no longer a prominent figure in the remaining criminal community as he used to be. I also know that it has a little bit to do with the fact that he was a ruthless man, a man after my own heart, if I do say so myself.

  I haven’t always been the most ruthless of women. I have always been ambitious, to say the least. But my ambition is about to change courses and maybe become like my sister’s; the kind that was passed down from my father rather than the crazy obsessiveness that my mother and her genetics gave to me.

  Galina and I walk away; no need to say goodbyes out loud. Any goodbyes of ours have already been said at his bedside many times, and to be honest, I don’t believe in goodbyes. I believe in results.

  “Ivana, sister, it is time to let go of your fantasy. This fantasy that you have that Phillipe Sala will ever be yours. You lost him long ago the same way that our family lost its dignity. It’s time to get serious about avenging our father, and ourselves, for that matter. We need to avenge what was done to our family, and it is time to put those childish things aside and be the best that we can be.”

  I look at my sister, and for the first time, I see a weakness, one that has never been there before. She was always the ruthless one, the bitch, the one with the great big plans. She’s never seemed to feel much of anything, but the one thing that she has is her love for our father. She had loved him in a way that I don’t think anyone, even his own wife, has ever loved him. They were always side-by-side, and she was his successor, and he treated her as such even though she was a woman. And she had to become like a man in woman’s clothing in order to make sure that she was prepared for what was ahead for our family.

  “Philippe is dead to me,” I say to her, knowing it to be true. No lies from me anymore on that front. “Believe me, he made his choice to be with an Italian whore; that Carla. So, that’s the end of that. Even this baby in my belly doesn’t seem to have convinced him of anything. He isn’t the man I believed he was if he could fall for a woman like her.” My hand instinctively rubs along my gigantic stomach, knowing that I’m about to give birth to this child that I thought was Philippe’s.

  Of course, I was fooled, and it may not be Philippe’s at all. But it isn’t like it matters at all anymore. There is no father that is willing to step up and do this. I will have to do this on my own. Now, I’m going to give birth here in Prague, and my mother and her staff are going to pamper this baby for me so that I can assist my sister, Galina, in her task. And when it’s all said and done, I will come back victorious and raise my daughter the rest of her life to know that she is part of a family of winners.

  “Good, I’m glad that you finally see some sense. I let it go for a while there because I knew that you had strong feelings about this and that having Philippe on our side could do amazing things for family. But it’s over. And it’s time you let it go. The Clans are meeting together around next week for another celebration for the Salas’ union. I think we need to come up with a way to infiltrate that party and gain what information we can. You think you can handle this so soon?”

  I gaze down at my stomach, knowing that tomorrow is my official induction day. I’m having this baby one way or another tomorrow. It has been inside me too long, and I am anxious to meet her. And it’s dangerous for her to stay there anyway.

  I look at my sister and nod. “With all the strength that you have taught me and all the strength that our parents have taught me, I have no doubt that I can be back at it in a week. We would just have to catch a redeye,” I tell her with a grin.

  “We’re going to have to be more careful this time, more cunning, more intelligent . . . ” Galina trails off. I know she is right, and I believe we can do it.

  “What we need is a place to spy, a place someone might come to us or we might see things happening right there. Things happening without being inside. There may come a time we can go inside a Clan function again, but I think it’s too soon.”

  “I agree, I will plan this all out somehow’ you just worry about getting my niece here safely, and then we will begin our revenge.”

  Chapter One

  Elena

  I wear black as always. Black is such a good color for so many things, but is also often the color of grief and mourning. And that is what I’m doing today; I am mourning myself. The life that I would’ve liked to have. The life that I dreamed of when I was a little girl. The life that is mine.

  “Elena, dear, are you coming?”

  I look to Pavel, my father, who is peeping his head through the door of our cab with a wide grin on his face as if this is the best day of our lives.

  My father is not a typical type of man. He has raised me mostly on his own, and he is also a very important figure in the church. And by church, I mean the church. The Catholic church.

  Though, everything his life stands for, my existence seems to be the opposite of. He made a mistake, gave into temptation, as many men do. I have heard the story many times, and I can’t help but think that I am being blamed for all of his sins.

  The sad part of it all is he honestly believes he’s been raising me to be a perfect daughter. The old man thinks he’s done all these amazing things as a single father, but from my perspective, it is quite different.

  And on days like today, I’m reminded that just because he is a good Christian man does not mean that he is a good father and understands what I need or want.

  Today, we have been on the plane to Rome. Specifically, we have come on an invitation from a group of people known as the Clans. It’s a pretty ominous name, if you ask me, and also pretentious. Everything I know about the Clans is obviously pretentious. But it is that pretentiousness that makes them the target for whom my father believes might be my future husband.

  I’ve never been a part of the Clans, never felt like I would be. I have been sheltered from them and pretty much everything, most of my life.

  Or at least my father thinks I have been sheltered.

  He should try walking into an all-girls religious boarding school some time to see the shitshow that actually goes on behind closed doors. It’s not pretty, and it’s not all that innocent either.

  My father has been determined since the moment he became an honorary member of sorts as the priest to the king and queen of the Clans, outdated titles if you will, that I would somehow become one of them. And the only way that would be possible is if I married into it.

  I don’t know what it is about Europe and these elite underground groups, but there seems to be an awful lot of them with antiquated ideals, especially regarding women. I should be used to these ideals considering my very own father is a Roman Catholic priest. But having basically raised myself, don’t tell him that, I have a very different opinion of the world, of life, and of religion. And it does not involve being forced to marry a man that I have never met and will never love.

  But I know that today is going to be all about introducing me to the eligible bachelors in the Clans and trying to get me to agree to be with one of them. I just hope that my father is reasonable enough to accept a no if I say so. That there’s something left in him, a good heart, to tell him that his daughter does not deserve a life that’s forced upon me.

  I reluctantly slide out of the car and follow him in my all-black mourning attire. He says nothing about i
t and maintains his cheeriness as we walk inside the ritzy hotel where a series of rooms have been blocked out for this event.

  This event in particular does interest me, but only for the drama of it all. The Salas’, Carla and Philippe, are celebrating their union, or wedding. Union is the word used, probably to highlight the fact that it is a coming together of two entities that is advantageous to the Clans. To give them more power or some shit like that.

  My father tried to explain it a bit to me on the way over so I wasn’t lost when he forced me to make conversation with some man.

  But what’s the most interesting is the fact that this is happening a couple months after the fact for the sheer fact that in the middle of their wedding day, the church got bombed.