51. Conrad
“ Y ou took your damned time.” Magnus growls as I get out of the car.
“I had things to do.” I say as I walk up to meet him.
“More important things than this?” Antonio asks.
My lips curl at his tone. “You’re the ones who set a deadline, remember?”
Magnus reacts. I see the way he bristles, as if he hasn’t kept me waiting hundreds of times while he fucked and tortured his now wife.
I guess they’re not in the mood for an argument, because they both choose not to respond.
I look up at the house so far up the hill. We’re currently in the trees, hiding out of view. Our men have already ensured the security system is not operating as it should, so they have no idea that we’re coming.
Our target is another member of the Esau. He’s been brazen enough to threaten anyone who he thinks is backing Magnus. I guess tonight, he’s going to learn what his stupidity will cost him. Tonight, he’s going to realise what it truly means to come up against the Blakes.
Antonio looks at his watch and mutters that we need to wait a few minutes more. He has this thing timed to perfection and as much as I dislike him, I’ll admit he’s damned good at his job.
I glance at my brother, and for the first time I can see the strain of this on his face. It’s subtle, but it is there. He looks back at me with that zero fucks fury in his eyes. I wonder if he might just tear the bastard to pieces when we get hold of him.
“We go now,” Antonio says.
We feel like an army, a plague descending upon the house as we make our way in the darkness up the gentle slope. Antonio has already been on the inside, so the gates slide openly silently, welcoming us in like Greeks going to destroy the city of Troy.
We already studied the blueprints so we know the layout, and we’ve got a good guess what part of the house Lord Holsten and his family will be in. The heavies go in through the basement. They’ll be doing the worst of the fighting.
Ordinarily, Magnus and I would be with them. Neither of us are the kind who like to hide at the back while the hired hands do the dirty work. But tonight is different. This entire fight is different. Magnus has a target the size of Manhattan on his back, and if anyone gets the chance, they will pull the trigger and eliminate him. We can’t afford for that to happen. We cannot afford to fuck up, even once.
“Clear.”
The gruff voice crackles out through my earpiece.
I take one last look around before I saunter in behind my brother as the sound of screaming starts to fill the air.
“Please, please…” A guard’s hand beasts the words from her lips and she falls hard, landing on her face. Her children surround her, crying more and someone mutters for them to shut the fuck up.
“You’ll pay for this.” Holsten snarls as he’s dragged out in his pretty navy silk pyjamas.
I can’t help but snigger back. Did he really think we wouldn’t come? Did he really think he could get away with challenging us, like we’d just do nothing?
As Antonio steps in front of him, his eyes widen. “You bastard,” He snarls. “You traitor…”
“The only traitor here is you.” Antonio replies. “You and all your Erau’s scum.”
Holsten starts spluttering, ranting. “You won’t get away with this, enough people know…” the sound of the gun echoing around the stark room silences the last of his tirade.
Antonio pockets the weapon as the man slumps forward with a gaping wound at the back of his head where the bullet clearly exited from.
“He could have gone to Oblivion.” I state. I would have enjoyed watching him being degraded and tortured until he no longer resembled a person anymore.
Antonio shakes his head. “Man was a liability.” He states. “Some things are better taken to the grave.”
My eyes narrow, and I wonder not for the first time what Antonio’s secrets are. He definitely knows far more than he’s letting on, at least to me. I look over at my brother, and he’s barking orders to ensure everything is set up the way we want it. That this scene will be left as a nice little warning for those still opposing us.
Does he know? Does he see who Antonio truly is? Magnus is not so na?ve as to think Antonio is backing him out of the goodness of his heart. No, he must know his motives. And yet, he hasn’t shared that with me, has he? No, he’s blocked me out, kept me at arm’s length. Me, his own brother, his own flesh and blood.
A wave of jealousy hits me, anger too. How dare Magnus treat me like this when all I’ve ever done is sacrifice for this family. He treats me like I’m a joke. Like I can’t be trusted. Yet our future lies in my hands, with my child, not his.
I clench my fists, realising that Magnus can be Chapter Lord but soon enough, my child will inherit everything. Afterall, Magnus has no offspring of his own and Devin, well, Devin is Devin. Fuck knows what he’ll do with his life. For all we know he’s already put a bullet in his head to silence all those voices he’s always whispering about. No, I am this family’s future. Me.
“Please…” the screams of the wife break me out of my thoughts. I look around to see her now grabbing the leg of the nearest guard. “It wasn’t me, I haven’t done anything.”
“But you did.” I state, getting her attention. “You were married to him.”
“I did as I was told.” She gasps. “I did what any good Brethren Lady does. I married the man my family chose. I didn’t know about, about, any of this.” She stammers before clutching at her two small, ashen faced children. “I haven’t done anything wrong. They haven’t done anything either.”
I bat my hand, bored of her hysterics. “Put her in the van.” She’ll be off to Oblivion. That will be her fate. I guess we’ll see then how good she is at following orders, won’t we.
The guard grabs hold of her and starts dragging her away. She screams more, this time pleading for her children.
They stare back at me, their eyes wide, as if they’re looking at the devil himself. Well, I guess for them, they are. I pull my gun, wondering whether the simplest answer to this would be best.
But they are Brethren. That means something.
The girl is pretty, the boy, well, it’s hard to tell. They must have only just started school. Too bad for them that their parents were pieces of shit. I can’t let them go, but they can serve another purpose.
“Take them to the House of Eden.” I order. Yes, that feels fitting. Appropriate even. Lord X tried to fuck the Brethren over, now his children will be brainwashed and groomed into providing heirs for those unfortunate enough within our ranks to be unable to produce their own.
“Conrad,” Magnus says, walking up to me.
I turn, facing him, realising we haven’t said a word to one another in hours. Not since I arrived.
The air seems to bristle, and I can feel the irritation coming off of him. Is he pissed at me, or this entire situation? We never anticipated this would be such a fight. But then, we never anticipated the Esau’s would have been nearly as entrenched into our world as they are.
“Any news?” He says, tersely.
“News?” I repeat. What news is he wanting from me?
“The girl.” He snaps, losing his patience as if I’m a bloody mind reader. “Is the girl pregnant?”
God, how much do I want to say yes. How much do I want to beat my chest and prove that I’m just as worthy as he is.
“Not yet.”
The disappointment shows in his face as his lips turn into a sneer. “Do you even know what you’re doing? How hard is it to impregnate a twenty-one-year-old?” He growls.
I turn on my heel, deciding not to bother with replying. My job here is done now, I can head home. I can go enjoy the placidity of my wife.
“Where are you going?” Antonio says as I walk past him.
“Home.” I snap, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Home, to fuck my wife.”