Destroyed Destiny (Crowne Point 4)

I think no word was good, though.

If my grandfather didn’t know, then that meant she was somewhere out of his reach.

“Are you ready to stop moping?” My grandfather leaned against the railing. “Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious what I’m using these on?”

I slowly trailed my gaze to his.

He held the coins out, glimmering gold in the light.

I was morbidly curious what my grandfather had planned with his coins. He was now the most powerful man on the planet.

I know it had something to do with the du Lacs, with a revenge plan he’d spent decades concocting.

But the longer I didn’t give him what he wanted, the longer he wouldn’t use them.

“I’m more curious how the fuck you knew I had them,” I said.

He laughed. “How long did you really think you could keep it a secret? I have eyes and ears everywhere. I’ve dedicated my entire life to finding them. But…It was a year ago, when I missed the Swan Swell to punish your sister Abigail, and I overheard Arthur du Lac yelling…as he always did…” My grandfather trailed off, annoyed. “His son had thrown away a coin. Given it to a Crowne.” He narrowed on me. “For years, I had no idea where any of them were, but now I knew for certain where one was.”

He made his way up the rest of the steps, talking as he did. “I always suspected Josephine had the other three, but she was watched for years and nothing showed up. Then Christmas provided some much needed clarity.”

“When you murdered Josephine,” I said.

“When she had a tragic accident,” he corrected, stopping beside my bed. He leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, one leg crossed casually. “I knew Charles had stolen them, but what happened after was always fuzzy. Then I overheard Josephine talking…” His clay eyes found mine. “All these years I never would have thought to look at you.”

“You killed my father over fucking coins.”

He exhaled. “Another tragic accident.”

“You could have taken them at Christmas, then. Why did you leave?”

He adjusted the silver bar on his tie, like we were discussing the weather. “Everything in its due time. You know Arthur was following me everywhere I went. He thought he was so clever.” He shook his head. “Idiot.”

“If this is all for your revenge on the du Lacs, you could have just fucking taken the du Lac company when Lottie violated the prenup.”

He wrinkled his nose like he’d smelled something foul. “That is so…uninspired. I’m not using these coins to take a company—that company was given to me.”

That’s when I sat up, sitting off the bed to see him clearer. “Given to you?”

“Oh, did I finally get your attention? Yes, Grayson, given to me.”

“Arthur du Lac wouldn’t just give you his company—”

“Arthur du Lac didn’t make it back from Switzerland. His private plane went down somewhere in the Alps. Sad about West, too. No surviving heirs. In exchange for the du Lac empire, I simply had to promise Lynette a few things.”

I scoffed, bitter, finally starting to see all the puzzle pieces. “Like a dead husband, maybe?”

He grinned. “Do you have any idea the power these have?” He rolled the coins in his hands. “You could raze a country. Become a king. You used them on a whore and a bastard.”

I rolled back to bed, staring at the ceiling, waiting for him to just fucking go.

I had a plan for my grandfather. It wasn’t as elegant as his had been. My plan was simply to cross the line. End his life, end it when guards weren’t waiting at the foot of the stairs to rip me off him.

I was just waiting for my moment to end him, so wherever Story and our little lemon were, they could live forever.

Free.

Even if that meant I would be locked away.