Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite #6)
Rina Kent
To the divine, raw chaos inside you.
Author Note
Hello reader friend,
Ruthless Empire marks the end of Royal Elite Series, and while there’s still an epilogue novella for all the characters, Cole and Silver’s book is the unofficial ending. Like you, this makes me so nostalgic and emotional. Like you, I’ll never get over these explosive characters who will live inside me for eternity. I hope that you find the light despite the darkness in every book and with every couple.
Most of all, I hope you enjoy the unofficial conclusion and that Ruthless Empire bleeds in you as deep as it bled into me.
If you haven’t read my books before, you might not know this, but I write darker stories that can be upsetting and disturbing. My books and main characters aren't for the faint of heart.
To remain true to the characters, the vocabulary, grammar, and spelling of Ruthless Empire is written in British English.
Ruthless Empire can be read on its own, but for better understanding of Royal Elite world, it’s recommended to read the previous books in the series first.
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Blurb
She’s off limits. He has none.
There’s a girl.
Beautiful. Popular. Fake.
And my obsession.
My fall.
Probably my damnation.
Did that stop me? Do I care? No and no.
There’s a line between right and wrong. Moral and immoral.
And then there’s her.
I cross every limit with blood-coated fingers.
She says she hates me.
I say I hate her too as I trap her, own her.
Make her all mine.
Playlist
No One Knows Us – BANNERS & Carly Paige The Black and White – The Band CAMINO
Medicine – Bring Me The Horizon The Last Of The Real Ones – Fall Out Boy The Sound of Silence – Disturbed The Drug In Me Is You – Falling In Reverse Why Are You Here – Machine Gun Kelly Call You Mine – The Chainsmokers & Bebe Rexha Castles – Freya Ridings Old Wounds – PVRIS
Somebody Else – VéRITé
Fall Down (Acoustic) – Zero 9:36
Maniac – Conan Gray
Empires on Fire – BANNERS
Move Me – Badflower
Time – NF
Colors – Kulick
Didn’t I – One Republic I Wish I Never Met You – Oh Wonder Bad For You – AKA George Tattoos Together – Lauv You – James Arthur & Travis Barker Monster (Under My Bed) – Call Me Karizma Another’s Arms – Coldplay Natural Villain – The Man Who
You can find the complete playlist on Spotify.
Part I
Cole
Age eight
There’s freedom in chaos.
When my father used to say that, I didn’t understand it much. Ironically, that piece of information remained in my head, floating around like a fact.
My father is a businessman. There shouldn’t have been any room for chaos in his life, and yet, he thrived on it.
He knew that humans are chaotic by nature and that nature comes before nurture.
That’s what the books say. I didn’t understand them at first, but after the kidnapping, I returned a new person.
One day, I was coming home with my two friends, Aiden and Xander, and suddenly, everything turned black.
Masks were shoved over our heads, and then we were separated. I remember the darkness so well. It’s not only about seeing the colour black. It’s about breathing your own air and thinking you’ll suffocate on it. It’s about freezing until you can’t feel your toes or your face.
The darkness isn’t just a sensation. It’s a phase of being.
That’s what the therapist Mum took me to has been saying.
Were you afraid, son?
Did they hurt you in any way?
Touch you?
I answered no to all. It’s the truth. The kidnappers didn’t do any of that.
They didn’t scare me, hurt me, or touch me. They just left me…alone.
It was a silent type of chaos. You can hear it in your head, but you can’t see it with your eyes or feel it with your skin.
It’s a deep suffocation that slowly but surely takes hold of you.
I didn’t tell the therapist that. He wouldn’t understand.
No one does.
Because no one knows what happened once the kidnappers released me on a deserted road. I didn’t think about removing the bag that was strapped over my head — even though my hands were free.
I didn’t think about my parents or home or my friends.
I didn’t think about asking for help, even though that’s the most normal thing anyone would do.
I did none of that.
Instead, I stood there, pulled my hands apart and drowned in the silent chaos all alone.
It was liberating, black, and so still. Nothing ruined it or interrupted it or ended it.