Chapter 25
The office felt too small for the storm brewing inside it.
I watched Logan as he paced like a caged predator, his phone pressed to his ear, jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth.
He had been on the phone with his father for the past twenty minutes, growing increasingly frustrated with each step.
The pen between my fingers flipped back and forth, a nervous habit I'd picked up years ago.
Better than my usual plan of punching walls, which was what Logan looked like he wanted to do right now.
"I understand that, Father," Logan bit out, each word clipped and precise. "But we had decided-" He fell silent, listening, his face darkening. “Yes, but this is Regent-” His fist clenched by his side as he stopped in his pacing.
"Yes, sir. Of course." Another pause. "I'm aware of the consequences of the Blackwood situation," he gritted out. Oh fuck, it wasn’t good if Logan’s father had brought up Blackwood. Not that I regretted anything that we did. That bastard deserved to die.
I caught Logan’s eye, raising an eyebrow in silent question. He just shook his head slightly, continuing his restless circuit of the room.
"Fine. I'll be there." Logan's knuckles were white around the phone.
"Yes, I am aware of my responsibilities, I just said I would go, didn’t I?
" A muscle jumped in his jaw. “No sir, I am not giving you cheek.” He paused and his eyes widened a little. “And the dinner with Cadence? I’m not sure that is-” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“When exactly-” He stopped mid-sentence, listening again.
"I'll make the arrangements. Goodbye, Father.
" He ended the call and hurled the phone onto the leather couch with enough force that it bounced and nearly hit the floor.
"Fuck!" The single word exploded from him as he raked his hands through his hair.
"I take it Daddy Dearest is calling in the troops?" I kept my tone light, though there was nothing light about the situation. Logan shot me a look that would have withered a lesser man.
"It looks like I am going to the Alumni Dinner after all.
Dad can't attend, Trivium rules, alumni only, so I have to go in his place.
" He dropped heavily into his chair, the leather creaking beneath him.
"Apparently, Aaron Purcell will be introducing me to a potential new client after we 'fucked up with Blackwood the other week.
'" His impression of his father's Cockney accent was savage.
"Blackwood deserved what he got," I said flatly, memories of the man's blood on my knuckles still fresh.
"Oh, I know. Dad knows it too. But to him, it's a 'complication' we didn't need."
“Maybe if you explained what Blackwood said,” I said with a shrug, “And everything that is going on.” Logan looked at me in disbelief.
“Are you, of all people, defending him?” he asked, “after the threats he makes to you.” I laughed dryly at that.
“Fuck no, your father is a bastard,” I said. “But I’m starting to worry that we are taking on the entire world here.” Logan pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Yeah, I can’t argue with you there,” he said, “It’s getting harder to figure out who we can and can’t trust.”
“I was just under the impression that we couldn’t trust anyone,” I shrugged again, “but if we want to keep Cade, and ourselves, safe, then we might need to be strategic about who we shut out completely.” Logan nodded, almost lost in his own world.
“Yeah, I get it. At least dear old dad isn’t in the Trivium,” He laughed, “at least he has that going for him.”
“And he wants Blake gone just as much as we do,” I pointed out.
Nicholas Bale had only a minor interest in the Trivium until one of their High Lords allowed his wife and sons kidnappers to take shelter in his establishment.
That was a grudge that fuelled daddy Bale’s anger and hatred for the last thirteen years.
“I still think we should be cautious,” Logan said “He's still insisting on that private dinner with Cadence. Says he wants to 'assess' her himself." My stomach tightened at the thought. Nicholas Bale assessing Cade was about as appealing as throwing her to a shark. “When?” I asked.
"He didn't specify. Just that it needs to happen soon.
" Logan's eyes met mine, and I saw my own concern mirrored there. "One problem at a time, I guess." We had been putting that one request off for the last month, ever since we had claimed Cade over that vapid bitch Latters. We knew that Nicholas thought the right Legacy woman was a sure way into the Inner Circle of the Trivium. The closer we got to Blak, the easier it would be to stick the knife in his back. Since Cade wasn’t Legacy, or so we originally thought, then Bale wanted to make his own mind up about her, and probably pressure Logan to give her up as our Consort. That was something I knew wasn’t going to happen, but I didn’t trust Bale to deal with Cade in his own way if he decided she wasn’t fitting his plans.
The door swung open with enough force to rattle the hinges, and Ryder stalked in, his usual easy grace replaced by tense, jerky movements. He threw himself into the chair opposite mine, slouching down with his legs stretched out, a thundercloud expression on his face.
"Well, someone's in a mood," I couldn't resist saying. "Let me guess, Cade is still freezing you out?"
"Fuck off, Cole," Ryder snapped, but there was no real heat behind it. Just exhaustion and frustration. I suppressed a smile. After his night with Cade, Ryder had been strutting around like a peacock for days. But then all this shit with the Alumni Dinner had happened, and when Logan had said that we were not going, she had turned to Ryder. He had also shut her down and apparently they had done it in a brutal way. Cade hadn’t spoken to Ryder, or any of us for that matter, since.
I could handle being frozen out, I was used to it at this point, but Ryder had managed to get into her good graces for at least a little bit, so it hit him harder.
“Give her time,” Logan said. “After the weekend, it won’t matter.”
“Yeah and she will find something else to be pissed off at us about,” Ryder whined. Logan smirked at him.
“You heard her,” he said, “We’ve already got under her skin, this is just a tantrum.” Although I could tell that even he was feeling the cold this time.
"Bad news, Purcell," Logan said, changing the subject as he leant back in his chair. "I've just been summoned to the Alumni Dinner by my father. Looks like I’m going after all." Ryder's head snapped up.
"You're fucking kidding," he snapped, “After all the fighting?”
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. “And it makes no difference to the fighting. I’ll go alone, meet this fucker my dad wants me to meet and then get the fuck out of there.” Ryder ran a hand through his blond hair, messing it up further.
“Not alone,” he said. “I got a text from my father this morning saying the same thing.” He grimaced.
“I was going to tell him to fuck off but my uncle wants me there to keep an eye on Luce. And to be honest, I actually want to.” That was understandable.
Ryder was super protective of Luce. Even if most of the time he didn’t let her know.
Although I was sure that she had noticed his attention increasing in the last month for sure.
Logan nodded and looked at me. The last thing I wanted to do was to go into that hellhole again.
The dinner was being held at The Palace.
Sure it was on the top level, where all the glittering lights and fancy people were.
But walking there, pretending I didn’t know of the sickness that went on just a few floors below, well that made me sick to my stomach.
Everyone knew about Risque, the biggest not secret sex club on the floors below, but very few knew about the Underground even further down.
Something must have shown in my eyes because Logan nodded and looked back at Ryder.
"So it's settled then," he said, his tone clipped. "You and I will go, and Cole and Cadence will stay here."
I felt a whoosh of relief. The Alumni Dinner was notorious for bringing together the most powerful, and most corrupt, members of the Trivium. Men like Dominic Blake. Men who had... I pushed the thought away, the familiar cold sweat breaking out along my spine. No, I wouldn't be going.
But something else in Logan's statement caught my attention.
"Cade won't like that," I pointed out. "You and Ryder going to the dinner without her, after all the fuss she's made about attending." Logan's expression hardened.
"I don't care what she likes. It's not safe for her there."
"Maybe it would be better to take her with us," Ryder said, sitting up straighter, a speculative gleam entering his eyes. "At least then I might get sex again." Logan and I exchanged a look. Trust Ryder to think with his dick.
"I'm serious," Ryder continued. "She was saying she would go with Luce anyway, so it'll be easy to keep both ladies under watch at the same time.
Plus, Luce's dad will be there too. He’d understand.
" He grinned. "Extra security, right?" I watched Logan consider this, his mind working through the angles.
I could almost see him weighing the risks of taking Cade into that pit of vipers against the risk of leaving her behind, angry and possibly planning some reckless solo attempt to attend.
"Fine," Logan said finally, his voice tight.
“We'll take Cadence, but only if she promises to behave and do as we tell her. No sass, no wandering off, no making a scene. She stays by our sides the entire night. She act’s like the good little Consort…” he looked pointedly at Ryder, “... with both of us. It has to look united.” Ryder laughed.
“You just want her to kiss you like that again don’t you?” I narrowed my eyes at Logan when I saw a slight flush to his skin. Geez, I had heard about this kiss, but maybe I underestimated it.
“Fuck off Ryder,” Logan snapped, causing Ryder to laugh again.
"And if she doesn't agree to those terms?" I asked, knowing how defiant our girl could be..
"Then she doesn't go," Logan said firmly.
"Those are my terms. I'm not risking her safety for her pride.
" I nodded slowly, my mind already racing ahead. If Cade was going, if they really were going to be taking her, and if men like Blake, and Killingham, will most definitely be there. More importantly, if she will be there, then I absolutely couldn’t sit at home clutching my dick.
"If Cade is going, I'm going too," I said, my voice quieter than I intended. Both men turned to look at me, surprise evident on their faces.
"Are you sure about that?" Logan asked, his tone careful. He, more than anyone, knew what those men had done to me, what that place did to me, what memories might be triggered. I nodded, a cold resolve settling in my chest.
"I won't let her go in there without me. I won't let her be harmed because of my... issues." The word felt inadequate for the years of trauma, the nightmares, the scars both visible and invisible that I carried. Ryder's expression softened slightly.
"You don't have to do this, man. We can handle it."
"I know," I said firmly. "But I'm going."
Ryder studied me for a moment longer, then his face split into a wide grin.
"Well, in that case, I'm going to tell Cade the good news right away." He bounded up from his chair with sudden energy, all traces of his earlier mood vanished. "We got some shopping to do. This is gonna be great!"
"Don't get your hopes up too high," Logan warned. "We all know that she doesn’t forgive so easily."
"Details, details," Ryder waved a dismissive hand, already heading for the door.
"Oh Caaaaade!" he called out in a ridiculous singsong voice as he left the office. "Guess what, Poison? You're going to the ball after all!" I turned to Logan as the door swung shut behind Ryder, rolling my eyes.
"Ten quid says this gets him laid again." Logan groaned, leaning back in his chair.
"Lucky bastard."