“I’m ready to reconsider the murder option,” Sebastian growls, dragging me closer, pinning our bodies together until we’re as close as we can be.
“Seconded,” Evan hisses.
“My dad is on his way to pick up Bunny and January. They’ll be spending the next week on vacation with my mom and Bunny’s Nana,” Hunter says, his tone cold and dark.
“Sammy and Starling can have a sleepover at your place,” Sebastian tells Evan. “I’m sure Dawn would be happy to make a load of junk food for them while we go surfing.”
“Stop,” I yell. “No one is getting murdered.”
“She wants to hurt you. This is about so much more than money or a fucking divorce,” Sebastian growls.
“We need to think about this. Has Tom responded? Has he told her how insane an idea that is? Before we start talking about homicide, we all need to remember that we have the upper hand,” I say, trying to sound calm when I feel anything but.
“We should go to the police?” January says quietly, her expression pale and worried.
“No, not yet,” I say.
“I don’t understand. Why would you wait?” Bunny asks.
“I don’t understand either,” Sebastian drawls. “You better explain just exactly what your devious little mind has come up with, Little Bird.”
Inhaling sharply, I nod, then turn to Clay. “How close to getting kicked out of Kingsacre is she?”
Clay’s brow furrows. “She’s not doing well, but she’s not even on academic probation, so she’s nowhere near to expulsion. But what the fuck does school have to do with her trying to coerce her boyfriend into killing you?”
“It has nothing to do with it. But I don’t think we should rush into anything just yet. Instead, I think we should start to disrupt her life. She thinks she’s running the show right now, so let’s take control of the narrative and throw her off center while we figure out what to do next.”
Humming unhappily, Sebastian eventually nods. “Her life starting to crumble would definitely derail her murderous thoughts for a little while,” he reluctantly agrees.
“Clay, could you help with that? Perhaps she should get caught cheating, or propositioning the dean’s son, or offering sexual favors for grades to a professor or something,” I suggest, fighting to keep my voice calm and level.
“Leave it with me, I’ll see what I can do.” Clay nods, clearly concerned.
Collaring my throat, Sebastian turns me to look at him. “I won’t allow you to get hurt,” he warns me.
“I know. But if we call the cops on her now, and all we have is a few threats and a failed attempt at getting me to divorce you, she’ll get a slap on the wrist and a stern talking to. If she’s actually a threat to me, then we need to make sure that when we hand her to the police, it’s with enough evidence to make sure she won’t get near me ever again,” I say, pushing into his grip like I’m trying to assure him without words that I won’t do anything to put myself at risk.
“What about him?” he asks.
“I don’t care what happens to him as long as he never sets foot in our home again.”
Nodding, Sebastian lifts me off his lap, motions to his brothers, then marches into the house with the guys following after him.
FOURTEEN
SEBASTIAN
Rage poursthrough me as I think about that fucking cunt, trying to convince Tom to hurt my wife. I might have promised to allow Starling to take the lead on this little revenge plot, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a backup plan in place. One that I intend to activate right now.
Tom, like all of our other employees, signed an NDA, and everything he’s done to aid Courtney has been in serious fucking breach of it. It’s rare that I fight fair, but then my opponents are usually my equals in terms of wealth and privilege—except for Starling, but then she isn’t an opponent. She was, and always has, simply been mine—but sometimes using the law is the easiest path to ruination. Which is why after making a few phone calls, I text James and ask him to come to my office.
He arrives a few minutes later, eyeing me and my brothers skeptically as he enters the room. “Is everything okay? Mrs. Lockwood, is she…” he asks, genuine concern on his face.
“Starling is fine; however, a situation has occurred that I want you to be aware of,” I tell him, assessing him closely. If I get any indication that he was aware of, or helped his nephew to betray us, this will become a very different conversation.
“Okay,” he says, relaxing into an at-ease stance that reminds me of his military background before he started protecting Starling.
Tapping at my computer, I spin the screen around so that he can see the video, which shows Tom walking cautiously into the security room and scanning his surroundings before taking a seat at the desk and pushing a USB drive into the server.
