44. Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Four
Dacre
So I’ve sat in silence, with the only light coming from the LED strips at the door and the console. These limos are usually stocked with snacks and drinks, but there’s a lone water bottle in the fridge.
As far as Emma knows, I left this morning after our first night together and have yet to check back in, so she’s either suspicious that something is wrong or, more likely, she thinks I’ve abandoned her.
Every time I think of that, I punch the window again.
To be productive during the long drive and save my knuckles, I make a list of a hundred things I know about my grandfather. And on that list, one of the first things that comes to mind is that he is not obvious. Which, in this case, is good.
He won’t outright hurt Emma while she has so many eyes on her, so I think, at least for right now, the only danger is to me. Another thing, maybe number fifty-four: he’s good at breaking people. And, maybe most important of all, the very first thing on the list: he always gets what he wants.
The door opens before I can break for it, and there’s a pillowcase placed over my head.
It must be from one of the estates, but it doesn’t smell familiar.
Even with the cool wind against my skin, I’m not picking up any smells to indicate a location.
Liam probably dusted enchantment over the cloth that dulls the senses and makes you “compliable,” because I don’t try to run again. I just walk wherever he leads.
There are only two sets of wooden steps as he escorts me through winding hallways.
I haven’t been to every estate my family owns, because it’s redundant to visit another mansion with another garden and marble floors.
There are some that my grandfather uses for business, and I imagine there are plenty he never tells anyone about, even me.
Only when I hear the slam of a metal door does the pillowcase come off.
There’s nothing to scan or identify. I’m at the threshold of a mostly empty room with one single overhead bulb, wooden floors, and a rusty metal door.
Liam pushes me to sit on the small bed pressed to the edge of the room. Next to it is a toilet that’s caked with hard water stains.
“Wouldn’t dream of being anything other than obedient.” I gather my hands in my lap as I sit on the bed.
There’s no way I’m getting past him to the door. Liam is a Were who may be past his prime, but I’m still no match for him if he shifts.
“You made all this for me? Or does my grandfather have some dirty business secrets I’ve yet to hear about?”
That part is obvious, but he won’t tell me anything.
“This is not an invitation to talk. You’re going to sit there while I fix your mess. You’re getting married, even if I have to drag you there unconscious.”
“I want to be with Emma. I don’t want to do this shit anymore. He can take my shares of the company because I’m done.”
“Is it that easy for you to give up everything?”
For Emma, yes. I’ve finally found what I’ve been missing. I never wanted to do my grandfather’s bidding, but I had no choice before. Or at least, I thought I didn’t.
“Why do you care what I do?”
“Because your grandfather cares! The paperwork has already been done. Everything has been set up for you, and you’re throwing it all away. You don’t understand how disappointing your betrayal is.”
“I don’t? Me, of all people? I didn’t betray him. He betrayed me. He’s so obsessed with his legacy that he forgot how to be a grandfather, and this is the consequence: grandchildren who hate him and want nothing to do with the Everhart name.”
This empire he’s been trying to set up has failed. He had only two sons, and instead of uniting them, he pitted them against each other. My uncle and his wife couldn’t conceive children, so they left my father and his children to bear the brunt of the Everhart name.
“So you want to turn out like your sister, then? Alone? No direction? No family?”
“She’s not alone. She’s always had me.”
“Well, maybe not.” He shakes my phone in the air. “Not if you mysteriously disappear. She’ll worry. She may even be so worried that she’ll come willingly back to the family.”
“Don’t threaten my sister,” I growl.
They’ve never wanted her back because they care about her well-being.
It’s all about control. Luckily, she already knows our family’s tactics.
Daniel will take good care of her, but I’ve created a fail-safe if not.
She’s got Parker’s number if she needs it and a burner phone for emergencies.
I know that asshole would help her in a heartbeat.
“I’m looking for her right now, and I will bring her back to where she belongs. Right where your grandfather decided.”
“You can’t earn his love, Liam. I don’t know why, after all this time, you still try. My grandfather has never cared about his family. What makes you think he’ll make an exception for you?”
Liam was packless, with no direction, when he met my grandfather.
I know exactly what he saw in him, a lonely, moldable weapon.
Someone who was easy to manipulate, with no strings attached.
It’s easy to buy love when you pair it with money and basic needs.
Liam worships the ground my grandfather walks on, and when I was a kid, I used to love him.
But as I grew older, I couldn’t ignore things I had ignored as a child, like the way Liam treated my sister.
He’s spent more time at my grandfather’s side than even I have, as the heir.
He scoffs. “You’re just like your father.”
An icy feeling tenses my core.
Liam’s never mentioned my parents to me. Not even a passing, “You have your mother’s laugh,” or “your father’s nose.” Even when asked, he kept a stoic disposition. I must have gotten under his skin.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He was trouble, and when he married your mother, that trouble grew. He had a whole future ahead of him before he met her.”
Dizziness blurs my vision. What’s happening?
What does he mean? Why is he bringing this up now?
He knows something he isn’t saying, and that’s not something that’s ever occurred to me before.
The story of my parents was sealed in my mind, but his words have cracked open the book.
I’ve never been given any indication that my parents were anything but the perfect, obedient pair.
“I’ve got to go. Hopefully, you learn your lesson, and this isn’t something we have to revisit in the future.” Liam reaches for my phone to place it in his jacket pocket, and the notification light flashes.
Emma.
“Wait. Emma is expecting me back today, and if I never show up, she’ll worry. Let me call her.”
“No.”
“You don’t know her, then. This mess you’re cleaning up will be even bigger than before. Surely you’ve heard of her father.”
“Fine. Text her, but I’m going to watch.”
He throws me the phone, and I search through her string of messages.
“I need to talk to you. Call me ASAP.”
“Luther and his family are targeting my sister. Where are you?”
“Did you know about the Donor Program contract they had her sign? I don’t know what I believe. But I’m still worried about you. What’s happening?”
“Please answer me.”
Contract? Oh, shit.
The contract Darien mentioned was for Evangeline, not Emma. I’m such a fucking idiot. How did I miss the bigger picture? I should have warned them.
“Type.”
He’s looking over my shoulder, so I make it brief.
“There.”
“Good. I hope you enjoyed your fun and got your fill of blood because this is where you’ll be for the next week. I’ll be bringing the papers in for you to sign shortly.”
As the door shuts, I start my search of the room inch by inch. The floors are dusty, and the light makes everything dim. It smells faintly of bleach. What did my grandfather use this for? Torture seems to be the only logical explanation.
If he locked me in here, what else would he do to me? To Emma or Florence?
I thought I’d known what my grandfather was capable of, that I knew him better than anyone else, but I’m beginning to think I haven’t scratched the surface.
I have to get out of here.