I shift my position, moving so I can lay out on the couch—and put my head in his lap. As I reach for the button on his jeans, flicking it open, then unzipping him… I give him my most innocent grin as I look up at him through the fringe of my lashes.
“Sounds good. Now let’s see who can finish first…”
TWENTY-SIX
LONG LIVE THE KING
DALLAS
If there’s one thing I learned during my stint as the King, it’s that the old guardhatesbeing summoned.
You can see it in the way they gather in the King’s office, stiff-backed and suspicious, like a pack of wolves forced into the same cage. I’m sure they would’ve rather this meeting take place at the King’s Court or somewhere more open—especially after the massacre that happened when Adrian burst into this very same room, executing each member who were part of the coup to try and overthrow me,
I never did learn how he was able to identify the Owed who were in on the same plot that led to Julian Fairchild thinking his only way to keep me from finding out was to try and kill my sweet Lucy. Due to my being as distracted with her as I was, I passed the information I tortured out of that prick onto Adrian, then washed my hand of it. I wasn’t worried about any fucking coup, and if they tried, that part of me that was looking forward to death didn’t care.
Looking back on the last month-and-a-half, I realize that I’d turned Adrian into the acting King long before I finally askedhim pointblank if he would take the figurative crown. He let me, never complaining, and the only difference now is that any Owed who tries to rebel against the King isn’t just trying to take on a professional killer.
Oh, no. They’re taking on a ruthless, brilliant man who has a ledger full of secrets and intel on nearly every one in Harmony Heights, plus his enforcer who is, yeah, a professional killer.
There’s Bas, too. And Connor. The four of us are brothers, and together, we’re going to take the Order and turn it into something that Jack would never recognize—and I can’t fucking wait.
And, like my brothers, I’m going it because I have something so fucking important to me that I need to protect. My affiliation with the Order of the Owed lost me five years with Lucy once, and nearly cost her her life. As long as there is breath in my lungs, I’ll do everything I can to keep her safe, and the piece of paper I have in the desk drawer is my insurance policy that I can do so without retaliation from any other member.
When Jack died, I’d say there were about fifty members of the Order that I would consider the old guard. Those who were in the same age bracket as my old man, who had ruled comfortably over Harmony Heights for long enough that they didn’t want anyone or anything to change the status quo. Some were mentors, some were our fathers, our uncles, our teachers… but all of them chafed at the idea of listening to a group of men decades younger than them.
Shit, we only just hit thirty, the point where the Order starts to consider us full members. To them, we’re kids.
To us, they’re dinosaurs, and there’s one way to get rid of dinosaurs: one hell of an extinction event.
When I found Lucy missing, when I thought she was gone, that was like the big bang. The way that Adrian used his Tomcat to shoot four different Owed—each one that he later providedproof to show they were disloyal to the King—set it off. But there are still a few who don’t know when to give up the ghost, and if they think they’re going to still give us trouble, well… they won’t after this.
Adrian handpicked the men he summoned for this meet. Each of them are higher-ranked Order members who were very comfortable under Jack’s leadership. Mine? Not so much. As far as we can tell, they aren’t traitors—not like the ones that Adrian already finished—but they need to know their place and, in case they don’t, they need to be put in line.
Got it, boss.
From my position behind Jack’s desk, with Adrian standing right next to me, I look over the familiar faces. I’ve known them since I was a boy, but that won’t stop me from pulling the trigger myself if I have to.
I’ve got my Ruger in my lap ready to go, just in case.
As I look them over, I think about how my father knew how to rule each and every one of them. Through fear and secrets andblood.For more than two hundred years, the Order of the Owed has built the city of Harmony Heights with each of those things, brick by brick, life by life.
Tonight, they think they’re coming to hear how their newest King will solidify his reign after how he tried to walk away from it all only a few weeks ago.
Jokes on them. I’m not walking away, but I’m sure as hell introducing them to theirnewKing.
Sebastien is hanging out in one corner, arms crossed over his chest, his pretty features twisted in a flat look as he dares anyone to ask why he’s involved in the meet. None of them do. He’s here because he’s one of mine; to the old guard, he’s a member of a founding family, going all the way back to when his ancestor founded the fucking Order to begin with. His presence will lend this legitimacy, even though I know that Bas bullied his way intoan invite because he wants to be present when Adrian does the one thing he swore he never would: take responsibility for the whole damn secret society.
I glance at him. His hard mask cracks just enough for him to teasingly blow a kiss my way. I let go of my Ruger long enough to pretend to scratch my eyebrow. In reality, I’m shooting the middle finger to Bas from across the room.
He laughs, and Adrian clears his throat.
Right. We should get started, huh?
“Hello. Thank you all for coming by on short notice.”
Some of the men nod respectfully at my greeting, almost as though they decide it’s worth the effort if I’m going to actually start taking the whole ‘King’ thing seriously. Others barely hide their irritation, though I guess that can be expected. Not only did I thwart their whole ‘better get married before you’re thirty-one’ bullshit they were putting me through, but Adrian heard that Heather and the accountant he set her up with, Brady, were going to get married after next August’s Claiming ceremony.
Sure, their engagement was pretty fast, but that’s Harmony Heights for you. I was so relieved when he told me—so relieved that my screw-ups didn’t affect Heather too terribly in the end—that I teased Adrian, if the King thing doesn’t work out, he could be a matchmaker. Considering how things were going with Alexandre, Bas’s older brother, and his mystery woman from the Court, he might be willing to accept Adrian’s help.
