Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Two challenges ago, I would’ve written the bastard off and been done with it.
But I’d seen some shit since then.
I’d been around the block. Attended my first rodeo, as they say. And I’d learned nothing at Camelot Court was what it seemed. Especially the three broody assholes I’d claimed as mine. Mine to choose, mine to care for, and mine to do whatever the fuck I decided came next.
No matter what anyone else thought.
I’d vowed to fight for the life I wanted.
And witnessing Max Dread be the complete opposite of Max Dread?
I called bullshit.
Bull. Shit.
I vaguely heard Drake D’Arthur announce that Camelot Court would get with the times and remove the Ultimate Female Virtue statute from over our heads. Rah rah.
But past that, I barely listened to the rest.
As soon as the Nobility Introduction ended, Landon steered me out of the parlor. “Are you okay?”
He probably didn’t want me to lose my shit in the parlor, but his tone didn’t contain the appropriate concern for that. Safely away from everyone, his dark amber eyes studied my face. But he wasn’t eyeing me like a bomb about to go off.
His sharp gaze held mine like the White Knight he was, holding everything together, and waiting for me to tell him what I needed.
So, he knew it, too.
“That was suspicious as fuck, right?”
Before Landon responded, Kingston appeared. He jerked his head in the direction of his office, signaling to Landon. With a gentle grip on my arm, he pulled me inside as Kingston checked around to make sure no one saw.
A moment later, he joined us.
He shut the door behind him and spoke quietly, “I have one minute before I have to get back, but I needed to do this.”
He strode forward, captured my face in his hands, and kissed me as his whole body shook.
Then he pulled back, he pressed his forehead to mine. “Please don’t do that to me again.”
My brow creased with a mix of worry and concern. “What do you mean?”
“You are fiercely stubborn, incredibly prideful, and unapologetically reckless. And I cherish that about you. I genuinely do. I never want you to lose those qualities, especially when it comes to the three of us.”
He glanced at Landon, and the tremor in his fingers had me covering his hands with mine.
Kingston snapped his gaze to me. “But Drake D’Arthur is stubborn, prideful, and completely heartless.
He’ll get rid of you for sport, Quinn, almost as quickly as he’d do it to hurt me.
He eliminates anyone he suspects is a threat.
Vivian and Max’s spectacle in the parlor?
It put them on that list. And I can’t, for the life of me, understand why they did it now. ”
“We were just talking about how weird it was.”
“I’ll see what my father knows, but until then, I don’t believe it was a move made lightly. Vivian’s parents are as cunning as my father, so if they’ve decided to make that move, they have a plan. So, I need you to remember something. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded without hesitation.
“When it comes to my father, sometimes, the bravest thing you can do—the only way to beat him at his own game—is by staying on the board. Your greatest strength, for now, will be convincing him you aren’t an obstacle in his path, while we wait for a chance to strike.”
As I tried to process that, Kingston ran out of time. He kissed me again, gripped Landon’s arm, and left us as quickly as he’d appeared.
“What happened in the Quorum?”
Landon took my hand, rubbing his arm where Kingston had grabbed him.
He led me out of the office as he filled in details.
“The families argued over the statute, whether it should be invoked or not, and Percy Valencourt, Vivian and Peter’s father, called out whether other by-laws should be called into question if the statute wasn’t upheld. ”
“So, they wanted to invoke it?”
“It seemed that way. But then Drake put the decision to a vote. One for each Knight, and he gave everyone time to discuss with their parents and their Maiden’s family before deciding which way they wanted to vote. When it was Percy’s turn, he voted for the statute.”
“Which way did Max vote?”
Landon grimaced and paused at the top of the stairs. “He voted to invoke it.”
I frowned, even if he’d been trying to protect me, it stung.
With a nod, I went into my bedroom and grabbed my things to bring them downstairs. “I guess that fits with the way he acted on the patio.”
“You saw him?” Landon took my suitcase, while I grabbed my backpack and crossbody. “Before the vote?”
“Yeah, I had to get away from the girls. Vivian, specifically. I was out on the lawn when he showed up on the patio. He was unreasonable, of course, and said I was stubborn. A bit of a stretch, if you ask me. Doesn’t fit with my personality one bit.”
“It’s like he doesn’t know you at all.”
Landon’s sympathetic smile only made me feel worse, but I appreciated that he played along.
“I know, right?” I bit my lower lip, recalling our interaction. “Then one of the parents came out and found us. Dark hair, ice-blue eyes, obnoxiously loud and fancy heels. Vivian’s mom, I assume?”
“Sounds like her. What happened then?”
“She told me I needed to go inside. When I didn’t because I’m so agreeable, Max started saying a bunch of weird stuff. I didn’t have a chance with him. Couldn’t pay him to slum it.”
“You know he didn’t mean that.”
“I know. It was like he’d been body snatched and his personality overridden by some Stepford Husband programming. Even in the parlor, what he said at the very end after all his way to go, bros, it doesn’t add up.”
“What do you mean?”
We rounded the corner into Camelot Courtyard, and I laid eyes on the man in question.
Max was about to walk past us with his jaw set and his eyes resolutely on his path forward. Anger emanated off him in waves, and I considered giving him a night to calm down. But he was definitely not on his side of the courtyard.
He’d come out of Vivian’s room at the far end of our row.
So, I did what anyone in my position would’ve done.
Pretending I wasn’t paying attention, I accidentally crashed into him.
Whoops.
I gripped his arms to steady myself, and his biceps flexed under my palm. The guy just couldn’t help himself.
He tried to step back and put space between us. Feigning annoyance, as if I hadn’t heard his sharp intake of breath the second we collided, he growled at the imposition my clumsiness had caused.
And maybe I should’ve let it go.
Maybe I should’ve let him go.
But—surprise, surprise—I didn’t.
“Congratulations, Max. I…” I swallowed down the bile that rose with my next words, noting the way his throat bobbed at the same time. “An engagement, that’s—”
“Thanks,” he said gruffly, and he flicked his gaze over my shoulder to Landon. “I need to go.”
Tightening my grip, I closed my eyes like everything hurt.
And it did.
But the crushing disappointment waiting to land on my chest wouldn’t help me if my suspicions about Max were correct.
With everything I’d learned about their families, and with the things Max had said, it couldn’t be that simple. And if the coming engagement was a lie, then walking away from Max wasn’t that simple, either.
We all deserved a choice.
I wouldn’t sit by if he didn’t have one, so I needed to get through to him before I gave into the alternative.
I needed to try.
I also needed a plan, and the first one that came to mind was getting under his skin.
Baiting him to react the same way he’d been baiting me.
“You can’t even talk to me now?” When I scoffed and narrowed my eyes on his, he skirted his gaze away with a huff. I didn’t appreciate that, so I pushed him a little. “Is that your decision or your darling Vivian’s?”
Max flicked his gaze to Landon. “Tighten the reins on your Lady, Golden Boy.”
My jaw dropped, but Max ignored it. He didn’t spare me a second glance, but he did turn and look over his shoulder.
I peeked around him right as Vivian walked out of her room. She glared at Max and gestured with one finger for him to come over to her.
Max clenched his fists at her silent command, and tension radiated up his arms while I waited for him to ignore her and turn back around, but he didn’t.
So, I pushed harder. “You know, Max, I think if she gets you to sit and stay, that makes you her bitch.”
Laughter tittered around us, fading quickly as Max glared at everyone in eyesight. And in hindsight, I probably overshot the mark on what I was trying to do, but Vivian ordering Max around and him kowtowing to it pissed me off.
“Says the one who wears Landon’s hand necklace like a collar.” Max faced me slowly as the courtyard fell silent. “Must be a nice change for a stray, though.” He smirked, and I gritted my teeth. “Hopefully, he does us all a favor and adds a muzzle.”
“Thanks for the suggestion, big guy.” I winked at Max before turning to Landon. “Maybe we can try that later while you do that thing to my ass I like so much?”
Max’s posture stiffened, his onyx eyes burning with anger.
It wasn’t even close to how mad I planned to make him.
“That, or you can bury your dick in my throat.” I smiled sweetly at Landon as the crude words left my mouth. Running my hand over his chest, I stared directly at Max as I let a nickname roll off my tongue. “What do you think, baby?”
Landon leaned in and kissed my neck, his eyes stern even as he played along. “You do take me so well.”
“Yeah, I do.” I dropped my head back as Landon’s tongue trailed a hot path up my neck. Closing my eyes, I parted my lips with a quiet moan. “You’re so worth it.”
Peeking at Max, I got proof my new plan would work.
He showed one flash of vulnerability, before he shuttered his expression. His teeth ground together, the muscle in his jaw working hard before he finally brought his eyes back to mine.
But they were empty and cold, emotionless as he stared at me, instead of filled with heat. No sign of the Max Dread I’d shared truths with hid in those black depths, as if he’d completely closed himself off.
“Are you done?”
My brow furrowed. “What?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and spoke slowly, drawing out each word, as if speaking to someone hard of hearing. “Are. You. Done?”
My anger flared. “No, Max. I’m not done. I want to—”
Heaving a sigh, he glanced over my head and spoke to Landon again. “Seriously, do me a favor and take care of your woman. I thought it would please me to have her chasing after my dick because you couldn’t satisfy her, but this is pathetic.”
Landon rushed forward to charge Max, but I turned before he reached us and stopped him, pleading silently with my eyes.
“Oh, and Quinn?”
Max’s use of my name in the middle of Camelot Courtyard didn’t surprise me, but I still hated it.
I turned to face him. With an impassive expression and a smirk on his face, I had no doubt I wasn’t going to like what came next. But I needed to hear it.
“What I told you the first night, it’s still true.
” He flicked his gaze down the path of doors, his demeanor bored as if dealing with a whiny child.
“Crybabies don’t belong here, and if I have to train you for the next week,” he scoffed, pinning me with his gaze. “I don’t want to be trapped with one.”
He pushed past us and walked away.
Landon came up beside me to pull me into his arms while I followed Max’s departure from Camelot Courtyard.
At least, he hadn’t gone back to Vivian’s room.
That inspired some hope.
Meeting Landon’s worried stare, I said stubbornly, “It’s fine. I know he didn’t mean it.”
“Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.”
Nodding into his chest, I gave him the truth. “It did, but it just means I need to be more strategic about how I approach him. I can get under his skin just fine, but an open courtyard where everyone can hear us? What was I expecting?”
“A sign, maybe? Some type of clue he’s still in there?”
“Yeah, and I feel like he’s trying to tell me something, but I can’t figure out what it is. I don’t know if I’m grasping at straws or not.” I released a heavy breath. “Much to what I assume will be your displeasure, I’m not sure Max wants me as much as I thought he did.”
He hugged me again. “Well, then he’s a fucking idiot.”
I soaked up the feel of him like a sponge, taking it in and holding onto it tightly. “Yeah, it’s his loss.”
But the resolute tone in my voice belied the gnawing feeling in my gut. One thing I knew about Max Dread: If he could get out of Camelot Court bullshit, he would. Unless the consequences for not going along with things were too great.
With everything he’d been saying to me about leaving, he had to believe there was danger. Whether it was actually for me, just in general, or for him, I wasn’t sure. But the need to confirm what was going on—if a threat was being held over his head—and to find a way around it, wouldn’t abate.
It was now priority number one.
“I take it you don’t want me to kill him?” Landon offered with a lopsided smile, the words lacking heat and meant to give me a way to deflect.
“Unfortunately, no.” I smiled back weakly, turning over what he’d said before storming away in my mind. “Because he may have just told me he’s protecting me.”