But I have two things they don’t: a killer’s mentality, and a broken man’s apathy about whether he lives or dies if he can’t have the one woman he’s always wanted.
They want to take Lucy away from me. I don’t even know if I still have her, but if it was up to them, I wouldn’t.
I should’ve known that. When the deadline for my so-called wedding came and went, I was expecting them to start their bullshit. They wanted to see the mighty King bow his head. Theysaid take a bride if I wanted the crown, and they expected me to do it.
By invoking Lucy’s name, I’m betting they all know why I haven’t—and, oh, they don’t like it.
Like I give a shit.
I stride into the room, moving around the desk, plopping into the King’s chair, and glare at all of them with all of the malice I have in me.
Every man here served under my father. Every man here thinks he can control me.
Good fucking luck.
Because he’s the one who called this meeting, it’s no surprise that Matthew speaks up first..
“So the girl finally realized what a ticking timebomb you are and ran. Is that so, Dallas?”
The casual cruelty in his voice makes my fists clench. Add that to the easy way he confesses that heknows,like he has a mole in the Fortress because Lucy sure as hell didn’t share her escape plans with this prick… plus how he specifically disrespects me by using my name instead of an honorific… yeah. They’re done, aren’t they? They’re here to do what they’ve been trying to do since I took over for Jack: get rid of me.
Let’s go.
I don’t get up from my casual lean, though I do point a warning finger at him. “You watch your mouth.”
“Oh?” Matthew raises his eyebrows. “I don’t know why you’re so worked-up. It’s not like we would ever let you Claim her. Not when she belonged to another Owed. As a mistress… I don’t see the harm in keeping her around… but as the queen? No.” He glances at the other members. “We couldn’t have allowed that.”
Not everyone murmurs their agreement, but enough do that it’s obvious that Matthew has the numbers. I try my best to pinwho is on his side—Stephen looks uncomfortable, but he’s the only one—and decide it doesn’t matter.
“You say that like I give shit what you will or will not allow. I’m the King, remember?”
“Not necessarily. Not according to the charter. Remember, Dallas. There’s the little matter of you still being thirty and not having a bride.”
I glare at him. “I have one. Her name is Lucy Wright.NotLucille Fairchild.”
Another man—Kelvin Rourke—clears his throat. “She’s not your wife.”
My finger points at him. “Fuck you, Kelvin.”
He winces, but another man moves to take his place. “We have a duty to the Order to make sure that our leader plays by the rules.”
Matthew takes what the other man says and decides to add his two cents: “We’ve abided by them for two hundred years, young man, under better Kings than you. Kings come and go. The Order remains. You will listen to us on this.”
“Fuck the Order.”
Holy shit. I’m worried, I’m scared, I’m panicked, and, deep down, I’m almost positive that Lucy isn’t coming back but, in the moment of clarity that follows that, I realize something:fuck the Order.
I didn’t want to be King. If I had my choice, I never would’ve joined the secret society, either. For years, I’ve been jealous of Bas. Of how he could live his life, not caring what any of the Owed think. He wore his outcast label like a badge of honor while I skulked behind Jack like a trained guard dog, wishing I could snap at him, but always coming to heel.
Jack is dead.
My mom is dead.
Lucy could be dead…
I brace my hands on Jack’s desk, shoving myself to my feet. “Fuck the Order. I’m done. You hear me? Iquit.”
Voices erupt in the room, nonsense that I’m not listening to. God, it feels so good to just wipe my hands of this bullshit and walk away. That way, when I finally accept that there’s no going back for Lucy, I can take care of what I have to without worrying about close to five hundred members relying on me to lead them as the most powerful man in Harmony Heights.
