Chapter 12
twelve
brIAR
The cavernous room could be a cathedral.
Three stories high, with endless curved walls of books. Thousands. Or tens of thousands.
Like my suite, it’s another rare room of pure white, apart from the ceiling and the circular atrium at its core.
Overhead, the snowy stone is carved into large, overlapping scales, their edges gilded with flaked gold paint.
The dome over the center of the cross-shaped space has a matching golden frame, filled with stained glass.
Smoked gray, ruby red, the darkest pinks and lightest greens. Rose patterns, cosmic swirls of stars. Crescent moons and thorny vines.
I slowly step below it, turning in a circle as I admire the slant of morning sunlight through kaleidoscopic color.
Wow.
It’s incredible. Beautiful enough to rival the world-renowned basilicas and castles I’ve studied in books.
Violet used to make fun of me for that. She claimed I was the only person in the world who could spend twelve straight hours bent over a book and not even notice time passing.
She wasn’t wrong. Before I started dancing, escaping into fictional worlds or travel guides was my one way out of my father’s prison; the only time I felt the wild joy of being free.
I could live a thousand lives if I wanted to. Sure, they would exist in my mind, as ink on paper. But it was better than that dark closet.
And later, when I was all alone? The characters in my books kept me company at night. Especially once I got old enough to use an eReader I found abandoned in the ballet’s Lost & Found and started downloading whatever free romance books were featured on it…
I wonder if there are any of those in here. There must be. It’s statistically impossible for there to be so many books in one place and not have a single one with—
“Fuck.”
A low, vicious curse echoes from the farthest part of the library. My gaze leaps from the atrium above to the back wall, where a matching window spans all three floors.
I see him a second later, on the second-story’s curved landing, beside the great window. A flash of white-blond that blocks the rosy light.
My body freezes as Rhys groans, abandoning his prostrate position on the dark-purple chaise lounge. He’s still in his clothes from last night, the dress shirt rumpled and halfway unbuttoned when he sits up.
The venomous alpha doesn’t see me, thankfully, as he squeezes his eyes shut against the sunlight and bends over his knees, burying his face in his hands.
Pain, I realize. He’s in some sort of terrible pain.
Without lifting his head, he reaches behind himself and fumbles with something against the wall. I hear a bell trill in the outside hallway.
“LOUIS!”
His enraged shout has me diving for cover. I scurry around the corner, flattening myself into the shadows at the north side of the room. Thankful, once again, that I decided not to wear any shoes.
The omega attendant comes panting into the room, a silver tray rattling in his hands as he quivers. “Coming, sir!”
Shock stabs my chest when Louis casts me a quick glance, half apologetic and full of warning. I heed the caution there, shrinking until I’m hidden against a shelf of encyclopedias.
Louis clambers up the stairs tucked into the southern alcove and appears at Rhys’s side within seconds. “Tea and toast?” the alpha grunts, not bothering to move.
When Louis nods, he lets out a low growl, clutching his head. “Fuck me. Fine. Just set it there and leave me.”
Louis lays the tray at the end of the chaise, hesitating. “Sir, would you like me to call—”
Rhys roars, “I said leave me. Now.”
Louis immediately scrambles back, but Rhys gives another pained groan, snapping his hand out in a universal gesture for “halt.”
“Never mind,” he snarls, shoving to his feet. “I’m going upstairs. No interruptions. Especially from her.”
“I understand, sir,” Louis replies, dipping into a bow while Rhys stalks past. There must be an exit I missed up there, because he doesn’t come down or catch a glimpse of me before I hear a heavy door slam.
After a long pause, Louis releases an audible breath. “Coast is clear, now, Madame!” he calls, collecting the silver tray. “I have your tea!”
I clutch a hand to my chest, still trying to recall how to inhale as I drift back to the center of the enormous space. Louis descends the stairs, rolling his eyes with a friendly smile. “Mon Dieu, that man. He’s lucky he’s so fun to look at, no?”
At the moment, I can barely recall what the vicious alpha’s face looks like. I meet Louis at a small reading table positioned close to the southern stairs, leveling him with a deadpan look.
“No,” I repeat flatly.
He chuckles, setting down the breakfast tray with a flourish. “This was always meant for you, but I’m afraid the whims of our Mr. Rhys tend to come before all others. Or else.”
Frowning, I reach for a piece of toast and savagely rip a bite out of it. My eyes flick to exit Rhys just disappeared out of. “What does he do, anyway? Is he actually as smart as he thinks he is or just pretty?”
I may have blown it with Fiona, but her brother seems as keen to share his gossip as I am to hear it. His warm eyes sparkle as he sits on the other side of the chaise, keeping his gaze on me while he pours my tea.
“Oh, he’s smart, alright. Smart and mean and absolutely lethal.
” The valet extends a steaming cup of tea, his smile conspiratorial.
“I know it probably seems like Dane is the one to watch, with that terrifying mask and all the scars… and I’m fairly sure he does handle most of the dirty work…
But Rhys is another kind of danger altogether. ”
Dirty work. A shiver streaks down my spine. A strange coil of heat settles low between my hips. “And Cillian?”
Louis’s grin widens. “Is the master of every single person in this house.”
Including you.
He doesn’t say the words, but he doesn’t really need to. I’m here, after all. Under Cillian’s command. Because he manipulated and moneyed-over everyone in both our lives to get me into his greedy clutches. To get his heir.
A child to inherit the company that made Dane into a mask-wearing probably-murderer and Rhys into some sort of evil mastermind. A weapons company, Father said. And conspicuously did not add any details.
I do my best to act innocent while I sip my tea. “All of them work for Blackwood Corp?”
Louis takes the bait, leaning forward eagerly. “Officially?”
I force a swallow, my brows arching. “Um… yeah?”
He glances toward the doors and drops his voice to a whisper. “None of them do, except Mr. Cillian.”
I feel my brows leap. Louis nods, his eyes just a bit too bright to match the solemn line of his lips. “He’s technically a vice president, along with his cousin, Gideon. They both manage the company’s biggest contracts, but the rumor is…”
He trails off, nervously looking around once more before his voice drops even lower. “The rumor is: Gideon and his pack handle the corporation’s big government and private sector clients… and Mr. Cillian handles their other clients. The ones no Fortune 500 company would want on their books.”
I’m embarrassed to admit that it takes me a full minute to understand what he means. Because aside from militaries and private security personnel, who else needs weapons?
Other than criminals?
My eyes widen. “So when you say Dane does dirty work, what is he doing?”
Louis purses his lips to the side. “We do not know. Only that he’s a mountain of a man who moves more silently than wind. And he used to be Special Forces, back when Mr. Cillian went off to college.”
“Ivy League?” I guess, “Business degree?”
Louis smirks as he nods. “Yes. Both Blackwoods went to Yale. Though, Mr. Rhys has a law degree.”
Great. The bastard really is as smart as he thinks he is.
And soooooo hot, my Omega adds. His face is insane. We should sit on it.
I nearly jerk in shock. My Omega has never talked like this before. Of the two of us, I’m usually the one lusting after alphas and their knots while she squirms with awkward shyness.
It’s like Invasion of the Pussy Snatchers in here! I practically scream. WHO ARE YOU?!
She settles down, embarrassed, and mutters, I’m just saying…
“He’s the one I’ll need to be careful with, then,” I say out loud, casting my gaze into my tea.
Louis pauses just a beat too long. A quiet sigh escapes before he reaches over and cups my free hand.
I blink at him, thrown by the solemnity covering his face.
“You need to be careful with all of them. But especially Mr. Cillian.” Utter sincerity fills his handsome scowl.
“If you think you know him, I promise you do not. And if you think you can outsmart him, then you are nowhere near smart enough.”
His words are harsh, but his voice is soft. He’s truly worried about me and trying to be helpful.
But he underestimates me.
They all do. And I have to use that to my advantage.
Being beautiful helps. Not because it will win these men to my side—because it distracts them.
A shiny flash of gold. The rainbow glitter of diamond. So pretty, they don’t notice the gold is a hilt and the diamond is a blade.
I’m not a sparkling bauble. I’m a knife.
And if they’re too stupid to see past all the glitter?
Their funeral.
I need my freedom and the means to find out what happened to my sister. But they want an heir in return…
That can’t happen for too many reasons to count. I have a birth control implant no one else knows about, for one. And I refuse to go from being a virgin to being pregnant in the space of a couple months.
Even if I wanted to have a baby, I certainly wouldn’t make one with these monsters. God knows how many people they’ve hurt. How many lives have been lost because they sold weapons to evil people?
Not to mention whatever fresh Hell they just purchased from my father.
No. I can’t actually give them what they want. But I could pretend.
It would be dangerous to try to fool them, I know. Louis is right—they are as sharp as they are ruthless. Deadly.
But this was my sister’s last wish. And I will do whatever it takes to make good on my promise.
Which really just leaves two questions.
“If I make a deal with Cillian,” I ask Louis, “will he keep his word? Is he honest?”
Louis gives my hand a final squeeze before he stands. “He will keep to his word,” the man says, shooting me what can only be described as a warning look. “But he doesn’t have an honest bone in his body.”