“What is going on here?” the older man beside Lex asks, eyes moving around the room as he starts putting two and two together. “She shouldn’t be here.”
“You are so full of yourself,” Cillian spits as if the question was directed to him. “Do you really think your sons gave her up for you? They are obsessed with this fucking whore. Everyone is always so obsessed with this fucking whore!”
Well, that’s exceptionally rude.Every single eye turns to me. It feels hot under my skin being the recipient of their scrutiny, but I tip my chin high, as if there isn’t a deranged possible cousin threatening me with a knife. And really, after my dad drove me off a bridge and my sister tried to drown me, what is this?
“You’re willing to betray me all because of this whore, Alexander?” The man who spoke turns his gaze to Lex, and I realize they do bear quite a resemblance.
“Sit down, Father.” Lex places a firm hand over his shoulders and pushes him down.
He obliges since Lex is stronger, but the families are getting restless, finally realizing something is wrong. Fucking Cillian ruined everything, and now this is about to be a mess. My eyes find Lex, Soren, Orion, Hadrian, and finally Parker. They guard each section of the room, and we have seconds before the families start forgetting about dinner altogether. Parker steps my way, but I shake my head quickly. Cillian is too busy watching everyone’s reaction to his claim to even notice anything about me.
I can overpower him. Parker showed me how, and Cillian’s a third of Parker’s build. Plus, it’s clear he’s scared of doing anything. His grand reveal is going down the drain. He blamed my family for ignoring his status as the male heir, but he forgot that rich people don’t like to share. I bet the moment they pushed the Colefaxes aside, they started to fight who was going next.
Shifting into position, I show Parker I can do it. He’s not happy, of course he’s not, but he needs to take care of his family so that I can take care of mine.
“They are still fucking her?” an older man closer to Hadrian asks. “Fuck this generation. The Offering is just a whore, not a wife!”
“She’s a Colefax!” Cillian yells in response. “You brought a Colefax as the Offering! That’s simply not done!”
“What do you know about what is done?” A man beside Parker scoffs. He’s the older version of my stalker boyfriend, and I instantly know it has to be an older brother. “You’re nothing. Please kill the whore. What are you waiting for?”
My eyes flick to Parker. This is my chance. Cillian is shaking with anger at being called nothing in front of all four families. Sure, he’s weak and stupid, but he might go for the kill if they all goad him into it.
“Shut the fuck up, Arthur,” Parker says as he slices his brother’s throat in one fluid movement.
Screams fill the room as his blood sprays. Chairs drag against the stone floor, and people quickly get up to run for the exit. I don’t have time to appreciate the terror in every asshole’s eyes. I use the distraction to elbow Cillian, as he stumbles out of my reach. The knife cuts my neck, but it’s not a fatal wound. Cillian folds in two from the assault, and as his head aligns with mine, I headbutt him quickly. His hold is loose now, and I don’t miss the opportunity. I turn around and put space between us. Before he’s even over the first hits, I knee his balls, and he stumbles once again, the knife falling from his hand. I take it quickly and put it against his neck.
“You fucking bitch!” he whines.
“Me? You’re the one looking like a little bitch from where I’m standing.”
He can barely hear the words over the screams behind us. My guys are efficiently following their plan, and bodies are falling one after another. Cillian can see now how crashing this banquet was the worst decision of his life.
“You’re going to kill me?” He laughs.
I press the knife against his neck, drawing blood like he did to me. The only difference is that I don’t shake. “Look around, cousin. Do you see a way to leave this room alive?”
He swallows a lump in his throat, but before he can answer, Soren arrives. They struggle for a moment, but my man quickly overpowers Cillian and ties his hands behind his back with a rope.
CHAPTER 75
SABLE
“Are you okay?”Soren asks me, touching my face and kissing me like he was really scared.
“Yes.” I nod. “Don’t worry, he was easy enough to deal with.”
Cillian sneers, but I just laugh. “What did you think was going to happen? These guys are assholes, and none of them care about you!”
“I deserved my place, the perks. I should have had an Offering!”
He might have had more to say, but before he can, Soren drops him to the floor and kicks him in the face. Cillian crumples, blood seeping from his nose. “I imagine that we want to interrogate him later.”
“Yes.” I nod. “There are quite a few things he needs to answer for.”
My eyes go to the rest of the room, where the pandemonium is spreading before us. The servers are gone as agreed, turning their backs on the massacre, but this is way messier than we thought it would be, and the smell is not something I had accounted for. I thought death took time to stink, but no.
“I need to go help the others,” Soren says. “Please stay away?”
