Chapter 17
ROMAN
My blood runs ice-cold, disbelief and fury colliding in a single spike, and it’s all I can do not to put a bullet straight through her fucking skull. Then, I remember that Bailey is upstairs, and that’s her mother.
“What the fuck are you doing here, and why do you have a gun?” Jace says, and my heart feels weak at the thought of him not having a weapon on him.
He’s slowly moving further and further into the kitchen, trying to get as close as he can to Cole.
There’s a gun in the second drawer, and if Jace can distract Alice long enough for Cole to grab it, we have a chance of sorting whatever the fuck is going on here out without any blood being spilled.
For Bailey’s sake.
“Oh, cut the shit,” she spits, and my jaw clenches at her disdain toward my Jace. My instincts are screaming, and every move she makes has my finger brushing the trigger.
“Put the gun down, Alice,” Jace says, his voice a lot fucking calmer than we’re feeling in this moment. Her eyes dart to Jace, though her gun doesn’t leave Colton’s head. She surveys Jace’s body, realizing he doesn’t have a weapon on him, before turning back to face Cole.
Cole stands stock still. He’s calculating her every movement, and so am I.
Why the fuck is she in our house, and why is she doing this?
The Order.
They know.
“Drop the gun, Alice,” I growl, my voice low and lethal.
I don’t have the patience to be calm right now.
Alice’s honey-colored eyes flick to me, eyes that resemble Bailey’s, her expression smug and confident.
When she sees the Glock in my hand, she falters slightly, though I don't miss it. The problem is, if she panics, it might cause her to act out of recklessness, and with her gun facing Cole and our woman upstairs, I can’t afford this to go south.
“You’re such a moron, Roman. I thought you were the smart one, but it turns out you’re just as foolish as your pathetic father,” she laughs, lifting her chin, forcing control back into her facade.
“Where is my father?” I question, because if he has something to do with this, I will kill him, The Order be damned.
“Probably freezing to death,” she says flippantly, like she's talking about the weather, and not her husband. My brows knit together in confusion.
“Where. Is. My. Father?” I repeat, each word a warning, and if she wants to keep her fucking brains, she won’t ignore me.
There’s nothing I hate more than when I have to repeat myself.
My finger twitches on the trigger, my eyes narrowing into slits, as I adjust my aim.
She doesn’t even bother to speak. She just rolls her eyes and points in the direction of our front door.
Jace looks at me, and I give him a slight nod before he runs to check on whatever mess is waiting for him outside.
I, however, do not move, and this seems to irritate her.
“Why are you here, Alice?” I say, a little calmer this time.
“God, you’re just like him,” she says, and I am all out of fucking patience. I fix my aim, and she flinches.
“Your father knows. He knows everything. What you’ve been up to.
Who you’ve been screwing. By the way, I’d congratulate you on your taste in women, considering you’re fucking my daughter and everything, but you see, we’ve run into a little problem.
” She takes a step closer to me, her gun still pointed at Cole, and I pray to all that is fucking holy that Bailey doesn’t walk out here.
“What fucking problem?” I seethe, overcome with unrelenting rage, as she smiles, my pulse pounding in my ears.
“My daughter can’t be with either one of you. Unfortunately for Bailey, her fate is set. Fortunately for me, so is yours.”
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” Cole growls, and I shoot him a look that I hope conveys Not now, baby. His jaw flexes, but I know he understands.
“I suppose there’s no harm in you knowing. He’ll be here soon.” Who? I want to ask, but decide against it. This woman loves to talk in riddles, but I’m counting on her slipping up.
My mind is going every which way. Jace, who just ran outside in nothing but sweatpants. It’s fucking snowing out, and if someone catches him, he'll likely freeze if he's not killed first.
“Your father has been protecting you. With all your indiscretions and sneaky little rendezvous, he’s been covering your asses for fucking years, and I’m tired of it,” she says, her leopard print fur coat ruffling with each shrug of her shoulders.
I decide that I’ll unpack that bit of information later, but for now, what the fuck does she mean Bailey’s fate is set?
“Why are you here, Alice?” I say on a sigh, feigning indifference.
“Oh, I’m here for Bailey. You selfish pricks, on the other hand, are irrelevant.”
“She’s not going fucking anywhere with you,” Colton snaps, and my heart sinks straight into my stomach because I know that tone.
He has that edge to his voice that tells me he’s teetering on the brink of blacking out.
He’s seconds away from acting on nothing but raw emotion, and reason doesn’t stand a chance.
We can’t have that. Bailey will never forgive him, forgive us, and we’re finally at a place where we get to call her ours.
If we kill her mother, we’d be as good as dead to her.
“Oh, Colton. You always were the irrational one. You never could see the bigger picture. Maybe that’s why you stayed so caught up in Roman.”
“What do you want with Bailey?” I say, before Colton flies well and truly off the handle.
“She’s getting married,” she says, casual as fuck. “For a pretty penny, I might add.”
“Over my dead fucking body,” Cole spits, and Alice just glares at him.
“Hush, child. That can be arranged.” She looks at me for a brief moment before looking back at Colton. It’s as if she knows there’s a weapon right where he’s standing. “With your father out of the way, the only living thing standing between us, and The Order’s leadership, is you.”
She’s talking about my father in the past tense, but now is not the time to think about that.
“You said we. Who are you working with?” I question, but I don’t bank on her telling me.
“Oh, Jack Whitman. He’s the most deserving of the title, don’t you think?
Your father is a weak, weak man, Roman. Surely it makes sense to you.
He chose you three over The Order every damn day, so much so, he didn’t report any of your…
extracurricular activities. And because Jack has this place surrounded, I am confident in telling you that he and I have been having an affair.
Well, Jack and I were together long before the Elders picked me to marry your father.
” I run through the million and one things flying rampant inside my head, remembering conversations, documents, literally anything that could support her claims, but I’ve got nothing.
Alice double-crossed my father, and she plans to sell us and her own fucking daughter out.
My father knew about the guys and me.
He knew about Bailey.
I’m not that surprised by that piece of information, nor do I really give a fuck.
Not anymore.
But it’s the fact that he knew and betrayed his oath just to keep us alive. That, I don’t understand. Did he do it because he cares about me? Or did he protect me to secure my position when I’m sworn in as the Leader?
Jack Whitman has betrayed my father and wants to take over in his place, and Bailey’s mom probably orchestrated the entire fucking thing. The rules are that only a blood legacy can take the title, and with me being the last one standing, I’m their only roadblock.
“What do you mean, Bailey’s getting married?” I question, because she’s got rocks in her head if she thinks I’m going to step aside and allow another man to put a ring on her finger.
“She has been chosen, and when Jack is Leader, he will make it legitimate,” she says, growing tired of the twenty-one questions.
She’s telling me this because she thinks she’s protected by whoever is surrounding our house.
I hate to break it to the bitch, but if they lay a single foot on this property, they’re dead, and I won’t even have to lift a fucking finger.
Thanks to Colton, our remote security will get the job done for us.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” I ask, showing my hand too soon.
“Money. Power. So that Jack and I can finally be together.”
“No, Mother.” My head snaps up, and I see Bailey standing in the doorway, pointing a gun at her mother, and I'm not even sure she knows how to fucking use it.
“Bailey, stay back,” I warn, but these fucking women are way too alike, it seems. Stubborn as all fuck.
“Bailey. Get your shit. I'll explain later.”
“No. I think I’ve heard enough. Where is Keith?” she questions, and my heart is fucking throbbing as she steps into the room, gun still pointed at Alice, before she stands between me and her mother. What the fuck does she think she's doing?
“Never mind about him. He was a means to an end. I played the long game. I did the shit I had to do, and now I can finally be with him, Bailey,” Alice says. Showing a little too much humanity for someone psycho enough to sell her own daughter out.
“Mother. I am not fucking marrying anyone. You have lost your goddamn mind, now put the gun down or I'll blow your fucking brains out for even thinking you could threaten my men.” My woman. Bailey’s nonchalant demeanor is admirable.
She should be upset, or at the very least stressed the fuck out, but instead, she seems bored.
I always knew there was something dark and depraved inside her, and I get to see her evolve into this powerful fucking woman in real time.
“Do you hear yourself, Bailey? All of this. This life. It was never ours. We played a role, like everyone else in The Order, and now I finally get to be happy,” Alice says, and I watch as Bailey's shoulders slump a little, realizing that her mother only ever really cared about herself, and no one else.
“Where is Keith, Alice?” Bailey says, her voice devoid of emotion, and I think she's already compartmentalized the role her mother has and still plays in her life.
“He's dead. I shot him. Now get your shit, Bailey. I don't want you around to see what happens next because—” Before she can fully get the words out, Bailey pulls the trigger without a second thought. Blood splatters across the kitchen, coating the walls and counter, dripping down Bailey’s outstretched arms. The look on Colton’s face is a mirror of my own shocked as fuck expression.
Bailey just killed her own mother.
My father is dead.
What the fuck!?
“Baby,” I breathe out, taking a slow, gentle step towards her. I don't want to startle her in case she's in shock, so against my better judgment, I keep some distance between us.
“She sold me out. My mother sold me out for her own happiness and betrayed all of us in the process. I did what I had to do,” she says blankly, turning to face a mortified Colton.
His eyes are almost bugging out of his head as he stares at a blood-covered Bailey.
“Find Jace,” she orders, taking control of the situation, before turning around to face me.
“Baby, are you—”
“Save it. Not right now. We have a mess to clean up.”