25. Bishop
Something a lot like dread seeps into my veins the farther I get from Camilla’s room. It’s been happening more and more since she came into our lives, but it’s never felt quite so potent. Perhaps it’s because my father and Kaos still seem to be on the fence about her being here. Or maybe it’s the idea of throwing her to the wolves for our own gain that just isn’t sitting well with me.
That’s the part we left out. We’ve always wanted an inside man, so to speak. A leader who’s in our pocket, and therefore who will be able to thwart any attempt to overthrow our authority. We’ve toyed with the idea over the years, tried to work out how we can ensure loyalty, but it’s never been worth the risk. Until now.
If Camilla is more to us than just one of the people we rule over, then she won’t betray us. In theory, at least. We learned the hard way that anyone can betray you, and if you let them, they can tear your family apart.
We reach the living room and take our normal places around the room. I slide into the armchair under the window, my father takes his place across from me, while Kaos and Kovu flop into the three-seater. We used to spend a lot of time in here together, but the last couple of years we’ve stopped spending as much time together. All we do is work, and when we’re not working, we’re locking ourselves in our rooms and wallowing in our own self-pity.
“We should have talked before you did that.” Kaos breaks the silence. Honestly, he’s not as angry as I expected him to be, but then again, maybe he’s just realized he was lying to himself.
Crew’s hands fist on the armrests of his seat, his jaw set so tightly it tics under the pressure. “The moment Bishop brought her in from the alley, our hands were tied.”
“No, they weren’t. We could have dropped her off at a hospital, or better yet, we could have handed her over to Davenport,” he argues.
Anger flares to life in my chest, and it takes everything I have to remain seated. We’re not going to get anywhere by continuously being at each other’s throats, especially since we’ve set off a chain reaction that could bring us down. “He would have killed her,” I force through gritted teeth.
“And it wouldn’t have been our problem.”
“It would have been when Davenport had claim over the De Marco territory,” my father interjects. “I understand you think this is all Camilla’s fault, but she is nothing more than collateral damage in the deal her father made. She didn’t ask for this, and her being alive and independent of Charles is in our best interests, whether you’re willing to admit that or not.”
“So, you want to take advantage of her?” Kovu asks, his eyes mirroring the anger raging through my veins.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes, you did,” Kovu growls. “I should have known you would have an angle. You don’t do anything unless it benefits you.”
“That’s right. I do things because they benefit all four of us. I’m not saying Camilla’s being here isn’t partially selfish, but there are other perks.”
“She’s a fucking human being, Crew. An eighteen-year-old girl who was beaten in the alley behind our building and left for dead because she tried to run from the cruel man her father promised her to.”
“I’m not saying what happened to her is fair, but it does have its perks. Of course we could do as Kaos has suggested time and time again and hand her over, but that would be to our own detriment.”
“So you’re saying if Davenport wasn’t after her territory that you would hand her over because it would no longer benefit us?” I snap. I wish I could say I can’t believe what I’m hearing, but that would be a lie. I’ve watched my father drag us out of the gutter, pull us up through the ranks, and get us to the highest position we could possibly be without being actual royalty. There’s nothing he won’t do to come out on top.
He pauses, and his intense gaze settles on me. The mismatched blue and green is overwhelming sometimes, so intense that most people can’t stare him in the eye for long, but I’m immune to it. “I don’t know,” he admits. “I can’t say what I would do in that instance because I…I see what you and Kovu see in her. I see it, and it interests me in a way no one has in a long time.”
“The three of you have lost your fucking minds,” Kaos groans. “Even if having her here wasn’t a huge issue because of Charles, there’s the little fact that she’s eighteen and inexperienced. What makes you think she’s going to want the four of us? Don’t you think she would find the things we like disgusting and depraved? We haven’t given her all the facts, and allowing her to stay here and giving her the false hope that we have tonight is cruel, even for us.”
I stare at him for long moments because I can’t believe those words have come out of his mouth. Out of the four of us, he’s the most cruel. He never used to be. In fact, before we rose through the ranks, he was arguably the kindest of us, but she changed him. Her betrayal destroyed us in many ways, but none more than it did Kaos, and I’ve often wondered if we’ll ever see the kinder side of him again. But his soft spot for Camilla, whether he’s aware of it or not, is the first sign of the old Kaos we’ve seen.
“Just because she’s inexperienced doesn’t mean she won’t like what we do to her,” I say, but I hear how stupid I sound. It’s wishful thinking. The things we like are…dark, and everything I know about Camilla De Marco is light.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe tainting her with our darkness is sick and twisted. But maybe I just don’t care. My need for her is strong, and perhaps I’m just selfish enough to break her so we can build her back up to the perfect woman for us to share.
“The plan hasn’t changed,” Crew says. “She will remain here until she has healed. In that time, you may see if she would fit with us on a long-term basis. If she does, we will make an arrangement that is mutually beneficial for everyone involved. If not, we will set her up as head of the De Marco family, and we will leave her be just the same way we do all the other families. Either way, Camilla will be given her freedom once that cast comes off her arm.”
“But what if—” Kovu starts, but my father cuts him off.
“If it’s the latter option and Charles comes for her, there will be nothing we can do to save her. You are not to speak to her about these options. If we’re ever going to include another person in this family, we need to ensure they are a good fit, and that means her not having any inside influence. If Camilla is to become our queen, she needs to prove that she can hack it.”