Volatile Love (The Gilded Sovereign 2)
“That doesn’t make sense. Thane isn’t stupid, he wouldn’t toy with you.”
Fergus nods as if it should make sense, but it doesn’t. “He would because I was the one raising Rukaiya. If I told anyone about her origins, Abner would’ve and could’ve gotten a paternity test done without so much as a blink.”
Ares steps forward then before speaking, “And Thane wanted to be the good soldier.”
Fergus nods. “He did. And he was. He obeyed like the rest of us, but the moment Abner announced that you were taking a step up, along with your brother, Tarian, and Etienne, Thane lost it. He believed he was next in line.”
“Because my father was his brother, an Elder.”
“Yes, the line falls to the eldest male blood relative, but only to him if you weren’t alive. And he couldn’t very well kill you, because that would look suspicious.”
“Hasn’t stopped him before.”
“But he loves your mother, and if you were to die, he’d lose her.” Fergus offers a small smile as if the pieces falling into place is what he wanted all along. Perhaps that was his plan.
“I can’t believe my uncle is capable of love,” Tarian says to no one in particular because his attention isn’t even on us anymore. He’s looking out at the window, his back turned, and I wonder how he’s dealing with all these truths that are unfolding.
Tynewood has always been a town of secrets. It’s been filled with the darkest of twists that have taken lives, and I don’t know how much more we can deal with.
“Give us names, I want every single name, including Rukaya’s mother’s name. I want it all.” Throwing a notebook and pen at Fergus, I fold my arms in front of my chest, waiting for him to fill the pages with information.
“I want to go see him.” Tarian speaks, pivoting to finally look at us. “I want to see Thane and finish this for good.”
The door behind us creaks, and the heavy footfalls alert us that someone is close by. Nobody knows we’re here, but that doesn’t mean Thane didn’t follow us. But then again, if he did, why would he have taken so long to enter.
“Bastards,” Philipe smirks as he stalks into the space. “Oh, and a beautiful rose.” He grins as his gaze lands on my girl.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, pushing her behind me. He was meant to be here last night, but we got a call that he was delayed in New York.
“Sovereign business is my business. I like to know what the fuck is going on,” he says as he nears us. His eyes focused on Fergus who’s furiously writing on the pages.
“Thought you were stuck in the Big Apple?” Ares questions. I’m not sure why, but the tension between the brother’s is thick.
“Figured I needed to help take care of shit. Also, you said you needed a plane, I have one,” the eldest Lancaster brother says. “I take it that ticket out of here is for him.” He gestures with his head toward Fergus, and we all nod. “Fine. I’ll fly him out once you’re done here.”
Ares nears his brother, his gaze focused on the older man. “And then?”
Philipe shrugs nonchalantly, “Guess I’ll hang around, see how Billy is doing.” Philipe has never been one for that part of town. He’s always been the poised, elegant brother, always dressed in expensive suits rather than the black combat boots and rock band T-shirts we prefer. He pivots around, taking in the church that’s been abandoned. The only people who come here anymore are the three of us—Ares, Tarian, and me.
“I can handle this shit,” Ares confirms.
“Oh, I know you can brother, but I like to watch.” With a wink, Philipe leaves us inside the building just as Fergus finishes up his list.
Fergus’s hands are shaking when he hands back the pages to me. The scrawl is legible thankfully, and I already recognize a few names on this list. Those men will soon see their end. Once we clean the society of the traitors, we’ll be able to start fresh. Or, we could even shut it down.
“Are you sure you’re giving us everything?” I ask, waving the pages in front of him. For the first time since we walked in here today, I recognize fear on his face.
“This is all I know. I swear.”
“I want to see my father,” Rukaiya speaks.
Tarian nods. “And I want to see my uncle.”
I guess it’s time we took the fight to the man himself.
34
Rukaiya
Before heading to Thane’s house, Ares said we needed to stop at the Lancaster mansion to collect Dahlia. We needed time to plan what we would do when we got to his place, but I already knew what I wanted to do.
Killing him would be the final nail in the old Sovereign coffin, but we couldn’t just murder him because he has links to the names on the list who we needed to get rid of. Stalking into the office behind the guys, my body is tense with both excitement and fear. If things go wrong, we could all be hurt. Badly.