“The plan had been to handle her after the party, if you remember, and after we’d gotten Chad out, but she was a no-show. I’m sorry we didn’t involve you, but she was a loose end we needed to tidy up ASAP. Chad and I paid her a visit the night before last. We didn’t want you to have blood on your hands the night before our wedding. I’m sorry if that upsets you, but I don’t regret our choices. She was a nobody, Ash. Not worthy of any more of your headspace.”
“I knew nothing.” Bree holds her hands up, stabbing me with a pleading look.
I nod, believing her. It seems clear the guys did this themselves. I swing my gaze around to Jase. “You didn’t even fucking tell me! We agreed no more secrets.”
“We planned to tell you today.” He tips my chin up. “We didn’t want to tarnish our wedding day by mentioning that bitch.”
“I wanted to be a part of it. That cuntface helped Julia. She wanted to kill me.”
“Guys, we’re missing this,” Bree says. “Surely you can park this argument for later?”
Her words are a timely reminder. We have bigger fish to fry, and Anita Hoare no longer matters. The guys took care of it. I don’t want to fight over this. Not when we have a much bigger argument brewing over last night. “It’s fine,” I tell Jase. “As long as you promise never to exclude me again, and Ares and I get the next promised kill.” We all know who I mean without needing to elaborate.
Jase nods, and we refocus on the conversation happening in the boardroom.
Carter is still speaking. Still loving the sound of his own voice. “I received intel confirming James and Julia were trying to take Ashley out of the equation, to end the threat she represented, after James had arranged transport for her to Luminary HQ to receive medical attention. Except that’s not what he had planned. The first assassination attempt failed, so he planned to kill her himself. I sent a team out to stop them. There was an altercation on the street and some casualties. Douglas Shaw was one of them. Julia got away, and she had taken Ashley, Jason and Bree Stewart, and Ares Haynes with her.”
At the mention of Ares’s name, Walter Salinger bolts upright in his chair, a look of sheer panic crossing his face for a split second before he gets himself under control.
“He knows.” Ares takes the words out of my mouth.
“Fuck.” Jase scrubs his hands over his face.
“What happened?” Stewart asks.
“Julia took them to the crypt. I barely got there in time. She was about to shoot Ashley, but I shot her first.”
“What?” James jumps up, looking wild-eyed.
Carter presses a switch on the table and the door to the room opens. A line of armed guards piles into the room in single file, taking up position at the walls. Tension bleeds into the air down below, and you could hear a pin drop in here.
“He should start writing fiction,” I say, breaking the heaviness. “He’s so good at telling stories.”
“He has twisted everything,” Jase agrees.
“To the point where I can’t tell which is truth and which is lies,” Bree adds.
“He has had years of practice,” Ares grits out.
“And plenty of time to line this all up,” I supply.
“What did you do to my daughter?” James yells, lunging across the table at Carter.
Carter flicks his head at two guards. “Seize him.”
The other three Luminaries don’t stop him.
“Your daughter is dead. I had no choice but to kill her.”
“You lying bastard!” James yells, thrashing against the hold the guards have on him. “We only have your word for it!”
“No, we don’t.” Carter glances up at us, and that’s our signal.
We stand as the door opens, exchanging wary looks as we quietly leave the room.
ChapterForty-One
Ashley
