The guy groans as Frost and Jasper both grab him by his arms and lift him from the car. He starts to come to, looking around but unable to scream with a scrap of magenta material shoved into his mouth. That explains the torn dress then. He also has an innocent-looking, but deceptively sharp nail filesticking out of his neck. The limo driver is nowhere to be seen, but we’ll find him and take care of him too.
I really think we all underestimated her and it’s impossible to keep how impressed I am from showing on my face.
Loud, slow, obnoxious clapping comes from the front of the building, and we all turn around to see what is going on.
Harold is walking down the stairs, his suit impeccable as always, his gold rings glinting so brightly in the light that they could be seen from space. Behind him, with a confused look on his face, our father follows.
Relief that Dad wasn’t in on it floods my veins. We don’t share the same agenda as Harold, but I was beginning to wonder if Dad did. The bewilderment in his eyes convinces me he doesn’t.
“I really didn’t think you could do it.”
We all go rigid. I grab Onyx by the arm because if anyone is going to do anything stupid right now, it’ll be him. He won’t care.
We’ve had the argument for years that only one of the twins will be on the board – the rules are one from each family – and Onyx appointed Slate because he is the more level-headed out of them both. Onyx was going to go into training instead, he said he wanted to lead in something that mattered. Like bringing in guys like this asshole and making sure they pay. Or the way we do it, just take them out quickly and quietly. No one would even know it was us.
“Don’t,” I whisper. “What’s done is done, we can’t ruin our chance.”
“You were going to sell me!” Amelie seethes, her tone surprisingly even. Crying or showing any form of emotion to this man would come across as weakness, and our girl has already realised that.
“Two birds, one stone, my darling.”
My blood boils when he calls her that, my own hands curling into fists like my brother’s.
“But I wasn’tgoingto sell you. I alreadydidsell you. You see, Christos here has been on our radar for a long time. When he popped back up just a week ago, I had a thought: I could lure him with a beautiful girl. One that my son and grandsons keep telling me is leadership material. It got me thinking, if that is the case, she should be able to get herself out of this easily enough.”
“We’ve been looking for him for years, how was it so easy to find him now?” Onyx asks from between clenched teeth. Good point, I’d like to know the answer to that myself.
“This year we have some of the best initiates in their fields…some kid by the name of Burrito…”
“Taco,” Amelie interrupts.
“Tomatoe, tomato. He really is a bright kid – wasting his talent on being a bookie if you ask me – but to pass his test he had to find him. What has taken us years and many failed attempts, that kid managed within twenty-four hours.”
I smell a rat. I know Taco, not as well as my brothers, but well enough. Something doesn’t add up. By the disbelieving looks my brothers are sharing, I’d wager that they agree with me.
“And you would have sent in an extraction team?” Dad asks, probing.
Harold turns to look at him. We all know he might have sent in a crew – at the end of the night when it was too late. Harold thinks he’s smart, but what he doesn’t realise is that by hesitating to answer, he just sent our father firmly onto our side of this fight.
Dad has always been a fence sitter, and I’m sure he had some kind of agenda of his own, but now we have the upper hand to overturn the entire Order. Something that should have been done a long time ago, except so many people from my father’s year mysteriously died. You can’t overturn a board without afamily member to replace them. My siblings are unaware, but when the time comes, I have a full board ready and waiting to support us. It wasn’t easy to find a couple, but it’s done.
“Of course I would have sent in a team! We have been looking for this man for years.”
“But not to help Amelie?” Kalen asks flatly. The small amount of faith he had in his grandfather is completely lost, I can see it in the slump of his shoulders and the hurt tone of his voice. I feel for the kid, but it’s time he woke up and saw Harold for the monster that he is.
“She clearly didn’t need our help. Let's all go inside and stop making a scene,” Harold dismisses.
“No, Harold,” Dirk Kessler announces, appearing at the top of the steps at the manor’s entrance. “The board members have decided that we will be postponing tonight’s events untileveryoneis able to enjoy themselves. Boys, take the girl home and we will do a small ceremony tomorrow at my country house to welcome everybody.”
“The entire board didnotvote,” Harold declares stubbornly, a mean set to his jaw and shoulders, icy fury burning in his eyes.
“You would have been outvoted,” Dirk replies calmly.
With that, we all race to Amelie’s side. She seems relatively fine, unharmed at least beyond the superficial. Surely she didn’t think the goon in the boot would need an ambulance? Even if she beat him to within an inch of his life, he wouldn’t be receiving medical care. Not after being involved in her abduction. Not that I think for a second that he was the one to actually pick Amelie up.
No, I smell bullshit in Harold’s story. I don’t think for a second Amelie’s “sale” was part of an initiation plot. I think it was real. The hatred burning in Harold’s eyes tells me he’s not done with her either. He’s going to keep coming after her unless we neutralise the threat.
Which we will. We just have to be smart about it and play the long game.
