Chapter Fourteen
Bash
I watch them from the second-floor window, those smug little bastards, circling around her like wolves sniffing at something sweet.
Athens.
She’s nothing but a golden ticket dressed in vulnerability. And they’re trying to fucking steal her. My property. My prize. My legacy .
If they think they can slide in, play hero, and walk off with everything I bled for, they’re out of their goddamn minds.
I dig my phone out of my suit jacket, teeth grinding as I dial.
Archie picks up before the second ring, his voice already pissed. “This better be about my money, Bash.”
“Money comes after I get what’s mine.” My tone’s cold, clipped. “Your boy and the rest of them are here. They’re about to fuck up everything we built.”
We.
He laughs, a slow, mocking sound that cuts down my spine. “ Our mess? No, Bash. This shitstorm is yours. You couldn’t keep it in your pants long enough to wait.”
“You’re still an Elder of Cliffside, aren’t you?” I snap.
“Yes. Are you?” The venom in his voice makes my blood boil.
“Don’t fuck with me, Archie. Just get your ass here. Bring the others.”
I hang up without waiting for an answer, wishing it were a rotary phone so I could slam it down and shatter his eardrums through the receiver.
I stare down again.
The boys are entering my house.
My fucking house.
I scroll to another number. This one is worse. Dangerous in a way I’d hoped to avoid unless I absolutely had to.
The line doesn’t even ring.
I hear the breathing first, slow, thick, animalistic.
“I know you’re there. No need to speak.” I lean against the window frame, voice low. “She’s here. It’s time to start your part of the deal.”
A pause.
Then, “ Do not instruct me, boy. You forget your place. Shall I rip your spine out and show you?”
“No need.” I exhale through clenched teeth. “We’ll be in touch.”
I hang up.
Downstairs, the door crashes open.
“We know you’re here, old man. Might as well crawl out and face us,” Wyck’s voice echoes like a promise of war.
I don’t hide. Never have. Never will.
I smooth my cuffs and take the stairs slow, deliberate, letting each step crack beneath my heel like I’m walking toward judgment, and not the other way around.
At the landing, I see her.
Athens.
The source of all this madness. My fire. My ruin.
I tilt my head, sneering. “Athens, darling. Come here and give your husband a kiss.”
She rolls her eyes like she’s forgotten who the fuck I am.
She’ll remember.
“Don’t you dare speak to her,” Wyck snaps, stepping between us. “You’ve got a lot of nerve after the shit you pulled.”
“Exactly. I pulled it.” I stay calm. I always stay calm before the kill. “This isn’t recess. My wife and I have matters to reconcile.”
“There’s no reconciling shit, old man,” Karter bites, all sharp teeth and juvenile rage. “She doesn’t belong to you. She belongs to us now. Five real men who make sure she forgets you ever existed.”
He smirks. That smug little stain of a child. “Don’t look at me like that, you limp-dick motherfucker.”
“You fucking-” My hand twitches at my side.
“How dare you,” I hiss, my gaze snapping to Athens. “And you. You ungrateful bitch. After everything I did for you-”
The slap comes before I even register it.
Blood runs down my cheek as I touch it, stunned.
“Call her a bitch again,” Wells growls, “and I’ll bash your fucking skull in, rip off your dick, and force-feed it to you.”
The silence is volcanic. I know what’s coming next even before I hear the click of shoes behind me.
“Ah. What do we have here?” Archie enters, flanked by Branson, Desmond, Dallas. The other Elders. Wolves in aging suits, pretending they still run the pack.
He looks at Karter. “Son. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Don’t call me that. You’re a sperm donor, nothing more.” Karter spits.
Archie doesn’t flinch. Bastard’s ice cold. “That any way to treat your father?”
“There are other ways. You wouldn’t survive them.”
Fucking punk.
Wyck steps forward. “Why are you here?”
“Our business is our own. You’d do well to remember your place,” Branson snaps.
“Oh, fuck your place,” Dash growls. “We didn’t come for you. I came to find out what the hell my father thinks he’s doing threatening our girl.”
“Our girl?” Dallas bristles. “Bash, you’re really gonna let these little shits piss on your legacy?”
“No.” I raise my voice, fury tightening my throat. “Athens, get over here. Now.
She flinches.
Then she spits the words. “Fuck you, Bash.” She rips the ring off her finger and throws it at me like it burns. “You married me without my consent. You used me.”
And with eyes blazing, she adds, “If I had a mean bone in my body, I’d slit your throat and let Wells bathe in your blood.”
She turns and leaves.
Wyck’s laugh chases her out.
“Looks like you lost, Father.”
“Wells, go with her,” Wyck orders.
Wells brushes past me like I’m nothing. Like I’m a memory being erased.
And then Desmond steps forward. “We are your Elders. You will obey.”
Wyck scoffs. “You’re relics. Fossils choking on your own rot. The Devils of Cliffside deserve better.”
“You don’t know what’s at stake,” I say through clenched teeth. “There are forces beyond your-”
“I don’t care,” Wyck snaps. “You built this empire on blood and fear. We’ll burn it down and rebuild it in fire and truth.”
He steps close enough to feel his breath.
“You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”
Then he turns, eyes gleaming with something unholy. Something earned.
“The next time you see me, Father… it’ll be from the floor. As I watch you die.”
And just like that, they leave. One by one.
Devils reborn in ash and flame.
Branson steps beside me, voice cold. “What’s your move, Bash?”
I stare at the doorway. The air still crackling with their threat. With his threat.
For the first time in my life… I don’t have an answer.
And it terrifies me.
Because my son just buried me with words. And the worst part?
He’s not bluffing.