Savage Queen (The Dark Elite 3)

“How did Brian get involved in this?” Grace asks suddenly, her voice steady.

I turn around slowly, glancing over my shoulder at her.

Grace.

No matter how much I might despise her parents, I have to admit they named her perfectly. She’s the embodiment of that word, beautiful and delicate. My heart does a strange skip in my chest as I take in the way she stands so confidently, so sure of herself. I know her well enough by now to know that’s not what she feels like on the inside.

Grace has a different type of strength than the rest of us, something I’ve never seen before.

She’d make a good leader.

The thought hits me out of nowhere, pulling me out of my own head for a second. I never thought of it before, but now that it’s occurred to me, it seems as undeniable as gravity. I can see it in her. She was born to be in command.

I know she wouldn’t believe me if I told her, but it’s the fucking truth.

I will tell her one day. When all of this shit is sorted out.

She watches Leland with a hard expression until he realizes she was the one who spoke. I hate the man even more than I already do for the smirk he gives her, the detached sort of cockiness that fills his tone as he talks to her. As if she’s nothing more than a woman who doesn’t belong in a man’s world. That’s outdated bullshit, as far as I’m concerned, and she’s already proven herself to have bigger balls than this asshole.

My fingers flex into fists, itching to plant themselves in his face, but I hold back.

“As far as I know, Brian has always been a dirty cop.” Leland shrugs, his breathing a little ragged but his voice gaining strength. “From day one. I don’t think that guy had a good bone in his body—he joined the force to manipulate it for his own gain. His own power. He was a fucking gangster in a uniform.”

He stops speaking, seeming to consider the question answered. But Grace isn’t done with him.

She takes a step forward. “That doesn't explain how he got involved with Camilla.”

Leland looks from Hale to Ciro, then to me and my brother. As if he thinks he doesn’t have to take her seriously, like he’s waiting for one of us to ask the question instead. He might not think Grace is a threat, but that just makes him a moron as well as a traitor.

Because if he doesn’t watch his mouth, I’m pretty sure she’s gonna hit him as hard as I want to right now.

“Answer her question,” Hale says from the corner, watching Grace with careful interest.

We all are.

This concerns her fucking mom, so she’s got a right to ask whatever questions she wants. None of us are gonna step on her toes here, but we’re all here as backup if she needs us.

“He’d been taking kickbacks, bribes, covering up shit, all of it,” Leland stutters. “Like I said, he was dirty.”

“I think we all know that,” Grace says dryly. “How long has he been working with Camilla?”

She doesn’t call the woman mother, and I don’t blame her for it.

Jesus. And I thought Lucas and I had shitty parents. Hers make ours look almost tolerable.

“It wasn’t until they kidnapped you,” he spits out, venom in his tone, as if we’re the bad guys. “He was offered a large sum of money to find you and kill you or deliver you to Camilla.”

He chose to try to kill her. His own fiancée. A woman he was about to walk down the aisle with, about to swear to love, honor, and protect. He chose money over Grace.

Which shows just what a sick man he was.

“How much?” Grace asks.

“What?”

“How much was he being paid?”

“Half a million,” Leland says. “Plus a bonus if he continued to work for the Rooks. Exclusively.”