Sebastian stands, nearly knocking over his chair. “Bullshit. You sleep with your flesh and blood’s fianc?e, and then again once she’s my ex to help impregnate her- if that’s what you call fatherly love to me, I’d hate to see what it would look like to O,” he snaps.
Theo turns his face up in disdain at his son’s words. “I was doing what was best to get you in the best position of power,” he snarls, dropping the facade of innocence. “I was passed over because my asshole brother was the favorite. That seat on the Council was supposed to be mine. Your position as an original was stolen!”
“Nothing was stolen from you. You lost it in your blind quest for power. When you betrayed your oath and sought to take a seat that didn’t belong to you- mine,” Mr. Calloway shouts, and shocked gasps fill the air. This is news to us- the heirs. We always knew something happened that caused Sebastian’s dad to be skipped and August’s to hold the seat.
“I did what was necessary, and I’d do it again,” Theo retorts.
Emma’s father slams his palms on the table. “Including aiding in the kidnapping of two innocent boys?”
“What can I say? Your wife has a pretty convincing cunt. Are you sure those kids are even yours? I fucked Elise so much I wouldn’t be surprised if your bitch of an oldest daughter was mine,” Theo taunts.
He doesn’t get to say anything more before Aaron Bradford whips out a dagger and throws it with such precision it embeds itself between Theo’s shoulder and collarbone.
Sebastian is across the room, pushing the blade deeper and turning it before anyone can stop him. “You were always a selfish shit. Tell me where the fuck Elise is, and I’ll end it quickly even though you deserve to dissolve alive in a vat of acid.” Theo screams, pleading for his son to stop, but Seb pushes deeper. “Tell me,” Sebastian shouts again.
“I don’t know,” Theo wails. “I’ve only been dealing with Vivian in the last year. I haven’t seen or spoken to Elise in nearly two years, and when I did talk to her, I was only given instructions on what to do next.”
He’s useless. Outside of finding out the vile asshole is part of the reason Liam and I were kidnapped, he knows nothing more than what we know. Over the bullshit, I pull Lizzie from my ankle holster and sink the blade into his neck.
“Enjoy hell with that bitch, Vivan,” Sebastian snarls, as I grab Theo’s pocket square and wipe the remnants of his blood off Lizzie before dropping it at his dying feet.
Closing my eyes, I bask in the gurgle of his last breath escaping.
“I’d ask why you did that, but we all know Theo wasn’t even on the last rung of the ladder. First, Elise used him and tossed him aside, then Vivian took advantage of his thirst for power,” Emma’s father explains, and I dip my chin in agreement.
“What now?” Rowan asks. “We still keep hitting roadblocks.”
Mr. Calloway clears his throat, signaling for clean up, before he states, “Elise will make herself known soon enough. If we can’t get to her- she’ll make another attempt to get to her daughter. With only two months left until the Choosing Ceremony, we only need to be patient while we continue our search.”
Rowan’s dad updates us on a few more items and then dismisses us.
We don’t speak until we’re outside. “I don’t like the way he made it seem like Emma was going to be bait,” August says, and I grunt, having felt the same feeling when he said to be patient and Elise would come for her daughter.
“We’re not waiting for shit,” Liam exclaims. “Colt, Coop, and I are going to double our efforts- triple them if we have to, and decode that fucking list.”
“Until then, we don’t leave Emma alone,” Sebastian directs, and we all nod.
Breaking away from them, I head to my car, “Dibs on first watch,” I shout, jumping into my Jeep and peeling out of the driveway. My phone buzzes, but I ignore them.
Snooze, you lose, assholes.
EMMA
I stand outside and bask in the May sunshine. We’re six weeks from graduation and the final part of this Selection process. It’s Friday. The school day passed without any real issues outside of Sam’s usual snide comments. She’s been extra cocky lately. Her attitude has become almost unbearable with each day closer to the choosing ceremony.
“Stop soaking up the sun and get your ass in the car. We have to get ready for the party tonight,” Shay says, poking me in my side.
Laughing, we hop in the back of the car, and Thomas drives us to my house. “You’re lucky I love you, or I wouldn’t be going to this thing at all,” I state as we enter my driveway.
Shay ignores me over my whining. “Do you finally know what you’re wearing? Since you didn’t want to get anything when we went shopping last time,” she grumbles.
Now who’s whining?
“My closet is full of clothes. So I didn’t need to buy anything new,” I retort.
Her eyebrow arches. “You have so much to learn.” she sighs as Thomas parks the car.
As we step inside, my grandmother informs me Dad wants to see me in his office. I tell Shay I’ll meet her upstairs then walk down the hall.
The door is open. “Ry, come in,” my Dad signals.
“What’s up?”
“Thomas won’t be able to come with you tonight. Instead, he’ll accompany me on a lead we got on your moth- Elise. So, Antonio and Erik will guard you. It’s of the utmost importance that you don’t go anywhere without either of them and don’t take off your pin for any reason,” he explains.
I nod in agreement. I wouldn’t go anywhere without them, not after the freaking Selection ceremony last year. “How solid of a lead do you have?”
“Visual confirmation in the last twenty-four hours. I think this is it,” he says, rubbing his fingers against his jaw. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling. She was our mom, but she was the love of his life, and she betrayed him the entire time.
My gut twists in anger and sadness at the trail of destruction Elise has left in her wake. “What will the Fraternitas do once she’s captured?” I secretly hope she’s killed instead of brought in because the alternative isn’t something I want for my father. I know him, and his subsequent response proves that point.
“I’ll kill her. She was my fuck up,” he states in a voice void of any affection for the woman he’s spent his adult life with.
“Dad,” I start, but he holds up his hand, silencing me.
“No, Ry. Whatever consequences she faces must be at my hand.” He gets up from his seat, steps around the desk, and hugs me. “I have to do this,” he whispers into my hair.
I hug him back, still grateful he’s home.
Releasing me, he says, “I love you, Ry. Now, go on. Go get ready for your party.”
“Love you, too, Dad.”
As I cross the door, he shouts, “Please be safe.”
“I will. I promise.” Then I turn and head to my room.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.