“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hiss, interrupting Bill when I see Adam standing off to the right. Can this night get any worse?
Bill pulls on the collar of his tux and clears his throat.
“We need to talk,” I say, ignoring the others in the room.
“I can’t tell you anything about Adam.” Bill glances at my brother and then back at me.
“I’m not here for him.”
Sin says, “We’ll give you two a minute?—”
“You can both stay,” I tell Easton. I don’t care if they are here or not.
“What, or shall I askwho,is this about?” Bill asks, sitting in his chair behind his desk.
He knows exactly why I’m here. “Everett Sinclair.”
He frowns and relaxes into his chair. “What about her?” He didn’t say anything to me when I took the photos with the family, but he knew I was there with her. He didn’t seem all that surprised that I’ve claimed her as mine.
“What do I have to do to make her my Lady?”
He sits up straighter and glances at Adam. Does Bill know that Adam and I have talked about her? That I’ve been following her? That I’ve inserted myself into her life? “I don’t know why you’d come to me?—”
“You once told me and my brothers that you could be whoever you need to be. I can too.” His face sharpens. “I want her. Tell me what I need to do.”
“Kashton, this isn’t something that can be negotiated.”
“Bullshit.” I slam my hands on his desk. “We all know that you’re herdaddy. I also know you have influence. I’ve seen you pull strings. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to make a deal with Adam. So make one with me.”
His eyes narrow on mine before he rises to his feet. After a second, they slide to Sin, who still stands off to my left. Bill turns, giving me his back, and shoves his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” Adam says.
I snort. “I don’t need your permission or blessing to marry Eve.” I didn’t come here to speak to him.
Bill’s shoulders rise and fall on a heavy sigh. “She’s been through hell, boy. Why would you willingly want to put her through that again?”
“Kash?” Sin grabs my arm and turns me to face him. His eyes search mine before he says, “They will make you hurt her.”
“She can handle it.” Eve is the strongest woman I know. Whatever it is, we can get through it. It might take a couple of days of sitting on the floor with her cradled in my arms, but I’ll pull her through it.
“But can you? Look.” Sin drops to a brown leather couch. “I was like you; I thought Elli could handle it. I took a Sharpie to her body, making tallies right before she was to have her pretend wedding to Chance. Told her that if he found out she was cheating, he’d make her an offering. My sister found her on the floor in her shower with bleach.”
“Sin—”
“My wife was going to douse herself in bleach to try and erase what I did so another man wouldn’t see that she had been with me.” He swallows and looks down at his wedding ring. “Putting her through that was hard on her, but it was also hard on me.” He looks up at me. “Bill is right. They will make you break her.” He stands. “What if you go too far and she’s not the same person? Or worse, what if she can’t forgive you?”
I run a hand down my face. “What if you had broken Elli?”
He doesn’t hesitate. Instead, he gives me a soft smile. “Wouldn’t have mattered. She was going to be mine no matter what, and I still would have loved her just as much.”
“This situation is not the same,” Bill says, and my jaw clenches. “Everett is a founder.”
“So is Ellington,” I argue.
“Eve—”
“Is different,” Bill snaps, interrupting Adam.
