Chapter 38
Jules
I stare at the black car in front, knowing he wouldn’t be in that one. He’s never in the first car, but he can be in any of the other cars throughout the line.
“I count six,” Cash says, reaching inside the door for a shotgun. He tosses it to Oak before reaching for another revolver he tucks into his belt.
My eyes dance across the guns. “He’s a senator. You shoot at him, you go to prison.”
“We ain’t gonna shoot,” Oak reassures me. “Unless they shoot first.”
“It’s all being recorded,” Sawyer reminds me as Cash passes him his own gun, a rifle.
How do I tell them that won’t matter? Recordings can be doctored. Things can be erased. Government officials do it all the time. They get away with things no normal person could. My father has been playing this game for a long time.
As the black cars slowly come down the driveway, my heart beats wildly in my chest. They’re earlier than we planned, which means my father had already been close.
We don’t have any of the security measures in place.
We don’t have the backup we planned. We don’t have anything except the recording and a few guns.
“I shot off texts to everyone,” Cash announces. “Hopefully they’ll get it in time.”
“The Sheriff?” Sawyer asks.
“Him, too,” Cash answers. “The whole damn town near it.”
But I’m not listening to them. My eyes are on the six vehicles as they reach the end and drive around the circular driveway, parking one after the other along the edge.
The cars all have government license plates, their window tint so dark, I can’t possibly see anyone inside.
Still, my eyes go to the third car in line, like I can feel his horrible fucking aura.
Somehow, I’m not surprised when the doors on that car open first. I’m not surprised when the leather shoes worth more than most people make in a month step out onto the gravel.
But I am terrified.
My eyes flick to the cabin where Genie is with Bonnie and Ivy.
Stay inside. Stay inside. Please stay inside.
I pull out my phone and fire a text over to them, but Bonnie has a habit of leaving her phone in the kitchen to charge and Ivy has her phone permanently on silent.
If Bonnie is hanging onto Genie, she may not see the message in time.
Ivy might not check her phone and let her know.
My father gets out with all the grace of the family training we’ve all had, poised, powerful, a presence no one can ignore.
The secret service members he brought with him are already out of their vehicles, each of them looking around in their dark sunglasses.
They’ve already clocked the guns Oak, Cash, and Sawyer have, and they’ve definitely already clocked me.
“This is private property,” Oak announces. “You lot are trespassing. I suggest you turn around and go before we exercise our second amendment rights to protect our land.”
My father smirks at Oak. “I’m not here to start trouble with farmers. In fact, my campaign relies heavily on people like you, young man.”
“You ain’t got my vote,” Oak replies. “Sorry to disappoint you, Senator.”
My father’s smirk doesn’t flicker. Only when he turns it on me, taking in my changed appearance, does it fall into a scowl. “What have you done to yourself, Juliet?”
I tip up my chin despite my thundering heart.
I don’t answer. No answer would satisfy him.
Not when I’ve covered myself from my neck to my toes in dark ink.
Not when I’ve taken the blonde hair my mother gave me and dyed it obnoxiously loud purple and yellow.
I’d needed to look as different as possible and hair is easy enough to change. The ink though? The ink is permanent.
“Again, you’re trespassing,” Sawyer calls, his eyes on what must look like dark blurs in front of him. “We’ve called the police.”
My father tips his head toward Sawyer. “As have I, gentleman. Let us see which of us has more pull with law enforcement, shall we?”
Two more car doors open. The first man that steps out is one I’d like to never see again.
Augustus Harrington sneers at me as he steps out, his demeanor one of annoyance rather than anything else.
The man clearly doesn’t like having to chase down something he considers his.
I won’t be going anywhere with that man.
I won’t be marrying him. Not if he was the last man on earth.
But the second door holds someone I recognize very well.
One I haven’t seen for the same amount of time I haven’t seen my father.
Blue eyes meet mine as he slowly moves to stand at my father’s side.
There’s a slight limp when he walks, his balance off to compensate for it.
He holds his arm around his middle and he’s hunched just a little.
His face though is completely untouched.
“Oh, Albie,” I whisper, my fingers twisting together. Now I know why he didn’t answer. He couldn’t. Father already knew.
The only bit of hope in all of this is that Augustus isn’t here with his own Foundation buddies. Whatever Valerie did, she must have made sure they didn’t breach their contract, which means that Harrington has gone rogue. I’d rather take care of one asshole than a whole society of them.
“Senator Ward,” Oak starts, his eyes hard. “I can’t imagine the drama you’re about to create will look good for your presidential campaign trail.”
“Drama?” my father repeats. “A worried father coming to rescue his distressed daughter from a struggling dairy farm in the middle of Nowhere, Wyoming?” He raises his brow. “A group of sex workers who kidnapped my daughter and pimped her out for their own financial gain?”
Oh no. Not this. “I consented to everything. There are contracts that prove it.”
“Are there?” he asks. “Or were they lost in a fire?”
The threat is loud and clear. He’s powerful enough to cover something like that up. I can’t allow him to hurt them, but my main concern is that little girl in the cabin they don’t know about. As long as she remains a secret, I can keep them away.
“You’ve always been such a shame to this family,” my father continues, disappointment oozing from his words. “It’s time to come home and fulfill your duty. I’ll schedule a tattoo removal appointment immediately and—”
“That place isn’t home,” I say, taking a step backward.
My eyes flick to Albie where he stands just off center, doing his best not to look like he’s in pain. He shakes his head just a little, telling me not to worry about him, but I can’t help myself. How badly is he hurt?
“None-the-less you will come home,” Father continues, clearly angry that I’d interrupted him. His eyes trace down my inked arms. “We’ll start the removal process of those immediately. And the hair can be fixed. No daughter of mine will be seen like this.”
“I won’t be going anywhere with you,” I try again. “I’m no longer a Ward.”
He laughs. “Once a Ward, always a Ward, Juliet. You can’t outrun it any more than I can.
” He gestures toward Augustus. “I made a deal with the Harringtons, and Augustus here would very much like his wife despite your difference in appearance and the whoring you’ve been participating in.
Lucky for you, he’s reassures me he enjoys breaking stubborn horses, so you’ll be no different. ”
“If he needs a wife, you marry him then,” I growl. “Because I won’t be stepping anywhere near that asshole.”
My father straightens his chin. “Then you leave me no choice, Juliet.”
He snaps his fingers, and the secret service man nearest him flicks open a lighter. He takes a step forward, to do what, I’m not sure. There’s nothing that would be easy to set on fire near him. He’d have to come up to the house and I doubt the guys are going to allow that.
We never get the chance to find out.
Genie chooses that exact moment to come running, giggling, out of the screen door from the small cabin.
Bonnie is right behind her, frantically trying to grab her before anyone notices, but it’s too late.
Every eye turns to the giggling baby and when that giggling baby spots me and reaches out, she very clearly says, “Mommy.”
My father looks between me and the child, his eyes hard. When he meets my gaze, his face rips into a snarl that almost makes me piss myself.
“She has the eyes, Juliet,” he growls out. “Why the fuck does she have your eyes?”