Chapter 39
Callie
I walk by Sebastian’s side as the entrance of the compound comes into view. There are a few men eyeing me. Everyone knows why I’m here today. They don’t even glance at Seb, though. They probably think he's a random member of the guard escorting me to my trial.
I’m consumed by a mixture of emotions: excitement to finally be rid of this place, but also nervousness to get done. When I walk out of here this time, Rogue won't be an issue for anyone anymore.
Part of me is filled with a small amount of guilt over the wives and children who will lose loved ones, but all of these men know what Rogue has turned into, and they all choose to stay. They all deserve to die. If that makes me a terrible person for believing that, so be it.
As we walk through the front gate, a member of the guard eyes me and nods. Memories consume my thoughts as I look around at the place I spent most of my life. Not all of the memories I have are bad. I have my mother, Maxton, and those few years with Lacey before she was shipped off by her parents. I hope the life she is living has been worthwhile .
This compound was where I found love for the first time, and while that love ended in tragedy, it still happened. I'm beyond thankful for Maxton. In a roundabout way, he led me to the Monroe brothers. His death brought us all together in a way I never expected. I smile over at Seb before glancing at the men walking into the center building.
The air around us becomes more tense as we walk further into the compound. I adjust the strap of the backpack on my shoulder, feeling the weight of it. We brought as many folders as we could. Blackmail on all of the council and several senior members of Rogue should create the distraction we’re after. If that’s not enough, I have a copy of the flash drive and the video of Damien and Gabriel we found. I didn't come here to take chances today.
Sebastian stays within arm's reach of me as we close in on the center building, his body language silently telling everyone not to fuck with him. No matter how many people are here on this compound right now, he will protect me, should it come to that.
It's one of the things that I genuinely love about him. I freeze in my tracks and look up at him because I think I might be in love with him. When did that happen?
"Is everything okay?" he asks with a furrowed brow.
"What if something goes wrong?" I don’t want to confess my feelings right now.
"Not now, trouble." His eyes dart around, making sure nobody heard me .
"What if Barrett and Ky need help?"
He sighs and closes the space between us before grabbing my hand. "Barrett and Kyler know what they're doing. If anything goes wrong, the bombs won't go off, and we will find another way to take Rogue down. Barrett has the kill switch. He won't activate them until we are all safely out of the blast zone. Everyone has a part to play today, and we all know what we're doing. I need you to stick to the plan, trouble," he assures me.
I nod and take a step back from him as I remember where we are. The people here know I'm married to Damien. Seeing another man holding me in any sort of loving embrace could raise unnecessary suspicion and trouble. Two things that we don't need right now.
"They will be fine," I say under my breath, trying to convince myself.
"We need to be focused on our part. There are too many moving pieces. Be prepared if things need to change on the spot," he tells me, and his head gestures toward the building ahead of us.
I clear my mind and focus back on the main objective. We need to get through this stupid trial. Once Seb gets the go-ahead from Barrett, we can put our distraction to use and get the fuck out of here, blowing them all to pieces in our wake.
Hopefully, we can pull Damien away from them while everyone is distracted. Seb has the same tranquilizer they used on me when they kidnapped me. Unfortunately for Damien, things won’t turn out for him the way they did for me. I can't wait to see how he likes being tortured. I'm going to make him beg me to keep him alive and then slit his throat.
As if the scumbag knew I was thinking about him, he steps in front of me. We're just outside of the main building, and he reaches his hand around my waist and pulls me into him. I go stiff in his hold and look over to shake my head ‘no’ to Seb. Rage consumes him, and he clenches his fists at his sides.
"It's so nice to have you home, wife."
I lean into Damien, catching him off guard, and grit out, "Get your hands off of me, you disgusting piece of shit."
He laughs while bending down to whisper in my ear, "You were supposed to come alone."
"You said I had to be here. You never said I had to come alone. Now back the fuck up before I cause a scene." I bring my hand to my waist to meet his, pulling one of his fingers back far enough to make him wince, and he reluctantly releases me.
"You better watch yourself. I could decide to be less generous." He glances at Sebastian. "She shouldn't have brought you. She won't be leaving with you once this is all over."
Seb's jaw tics, and I watch as an evil grin crosses his face. "The only place Callie will be when this is over tonight is in bed with me with my cock buried in her sweet cunt, just like last night."
Damien scoffs. "If you think the idea of my wife whoring herself around is going to intimidate me, you're wrong. I'm glad she had one last night to enjoy with you. It'll give her something to hold onto while I destroy her every day for the rest of her life."
Seb goes to advance on Damien, but I stop him. This is my fight and my time to stand up for myself. "You always did live in a place of delusion," I scoff. “Where are all the wives and children?”
“Don’t be stupid, Callie. You know women and children aren’t allowed to have any input over a trial.” He laughs like it’s the most insane thing he’s ever heard. “We sent them over to Mary Wayfeather’s farm since your mother decided to run away like the coward she is. They will all stay there like good little bitches until their husbands go and retrieve them.”
“Don’t talk about my mother like that. You’re all pathetic, you know. Every single one of you is afraid of what a woman might do if they have any kind of opinion.”
“Lucky for you, you won’t need an opinion. I am, after all, your loving husband. At least, that’s what every man inside that building thinks.”
"Fuck you,” I grit out, not caring if I piss him off. “Are they all there? What about the ones who decided to stay home?”
“They didn’t stay home. You should know better than anyone else that when your husband tells you to do something, you do it. It’s apparently something I’ll have to be better at teaching you,” he says with a smug face.
I got the confirmation we needed. The women and children are all safe, and we know where they are. I can very easily get to them to make sure they understand what happened after the blast, and we can get them whatever help they need .
“Let's get this over with," I finally say as I push past Damien and walk into the front door of the main building.
Countless sets of eyes land on me, and I have to actively fight to keep the panic inside at bay. It's going to all be fine, I remind myself. I go through the motions of what Barrett taught me, digging my nails into my palms to try and ground myself in the pain and focus my thoughts. I can't let my doubts ruin any second of this.
The room is set up with a large stage on one end near the main door. On the stage, there are three seats and a podium. Below the stage is an empty row of seats, which I assume to be for the council based on the number of chairs. Behind that row is a few feet of space before chairs line the entirety of the room, going back as far as I can see. A mixture of people fill them; some I recognize as the guard and others I don’t recognize at all. I'm confident they expect me on the stage, so without instruction, I saunter up to it as Damien and Sebastian follow closely behind.
"He belongs with the rest of the members," Damien says, and while he may be right, I don't like the idea of Sebastian being so far from me.
"He will stand by the stage where I want him. Rogue is mine, not yours. I am Gabriel's daughter, which makes me the next person in line to rule. You may be in charge for now but don't get used to it. By the time this is over, your brief reign, which was only ever given to you by default, will also be over." I can see a sense of pride fill Sebastian. He's proud of me for standing up for myself.
"You realize most of the men in this room think you killed your father. Take into consideration that none of them want a woman telling them what to do, and I am fairly confident tonight will play out exactly how I want it to," Damien says smugly.
"I don't give a fuck what you think will happen," I say loud enough to gather attention. I turn toward the crowd and decide to address them myself. "Would you all sit down so we can get on with this ridiculous trial."
Men look to those around them as they try to decide whether or not to listen to me. They aren't used to being told what to do by a woman, and the whispers between them become loud enough for the noise to become distracting. The council chooses this moment to enter, and all heads turn toward them as they make their way up to the row of seats in front of us.
Austin Roberts splits off from the rest of the group and steps up to the stage, barely acknowledging my existence. Instead, he turns to Damien while pointing over to Seb and asks, "Who is he?"
"He’s Maxton’s brother,” I retort, making Damien laugh.
“Seems like my wife has a type.”
Austin rubs the back of his neck. "We will need to address this some other time."
He turns to face the crowd, reaching his arms out for them to be seated and quiet down. They all listen immediately. Of course, they listen to him and not me .
He turns back to me with a smug look on his face. "If you could please take a seat, Mrs. Michaels, I would like to get this started."
"You know damn well my name is Callie. Referring to me as Mrs. Michaels is blatant disrespect!"
I flop my ass down in one of the seats, strategically choosing the one closest to the edge of the stage. Damien fills the seat to my left, leaving the third seat open, as Austin steps up to the podium and leans into the microphone. I glance over my right shoulder to find Seb standing just a few feet away, eyes focused intently on me, and I nod at him. This should be interesting.
"Thank you all for joining us for this very serious matter. Today, we will determine if Callie Michaels is responsible for the premature death of her father and our late leader, Gabriel Ashford," Austin starts. "While the evidence in this case is a bit lacking, we will hear testimony from her husband, Damien Michaels, and review anything that is brought forward. If anyone would like to make a statement at any time, please raise your hand, as we're hoping to keep this as orderly as possible due to the sensitivity of the subject matter."
I scoff. Sensitivity of the subject matter, what a joke. The entire crowd is transfixed by his words, soaking them in one at a time. My eyes land on Damien, and he seems too confident. He thinks that he's going to get everything he wants by the end of all of this. The only one that will be winning is me when I burn this place to a crisp .
Austin continues going on with his stupid rant about how the trial will go down. "There will be a graphic video of Gabriel and his death shown. If you do not wish to see the video, please turn your gaze to the floor during that portion of the trial. Unfortunately, now that the doors have closed, nobody will be permitted to leave the building until after the trial has concluded."
A hand raises in the crowd and Austin gestures for them to speak. "How long do you expect this to take?"
"It will take as long as it needs to in order to determine whether Callie is guilty or innocent of her father's murder," Damien yells out.
"Thank you, Damien," Austin says before leaning back into the microphone. "Now, if we could proceed."
A screen behind the stage slowly lowers itself while the asshole continues talking. I tune him out, not caring about what is said. I know what happened to my father. The funniest part about this entire situation is the person they are actually looking for, my father's murderer, is standing right next to the stage.
Nobody will ever know if it was Seb who caused him to take his final breath because, with Soren's help, Barrett was able to delete the footage. The cameras miraculously started working again not long before Damien showed up to cut my father down and check his pulse. The only visible evidence attainable to Rogue is Damien finding the body. I plan on playing that off to be as suspicious as possible. Any seed of doubt I’m able to plant is going to be helpful for the ultimate distraction we need to get out of here.