Chapter 28
The chandelier in my father's dining room cast everything in harsh light, making the crystal glasses sparkle as if mocking me.
I drummed my fingers against the polished mahogany table, counting down the minutes until I could escape this farce of a family dinner.
I had been here two hours already and could tell that my bastard of a father was trying his best to bait me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, probably Logan with an update on the Damien situation.
I knew that he was meeting with Killingham tonight.
But I couldn't check my phone, not with my father's hawk-like gaze tracking my every movement.
"Thomas Blackwood is proving difficult," my father announced, slicing into his steak with surgical precision. "His lawyers are threatening a full investigation into his son's death." I rolled my eyes, unable to contain my contempt.
"Shocking. Who could have predicted the father of a dead psychopath would be upset?" My father's knife stilled.
"This isn't a joke, Ryder. The Blackwood family has considerable influence, and your involvement has complicated matters unnecessarily."
"My involvement?" I laughed, the sound hollow in the cavernous dining room.
"The guy was beating his girlfriend black and blue.
What happened to him was karma." Luce shifted uncomfortably beside me, her eyes fixed on her barely touched plate.
She had always hated these dinners as much as I did.
Her father, Stephen, shot me a warning glance across the table.
"Perhaps we could discuss something else," Stephen suggested, his voice carrying that carefully diplomatic tone he always used around his brother. "Business matters aren't appropriate for dinner conversation." My father's lip curled.
"Everything about this family is business, Stephen. Something you've never quite grasped." He turned his attention back to me.
"The Trivium expected better from you. From all of us. Your recklessness with the Blackwood boy has cost us significant political capital."
"He was a girlfriend-beating piece of shit," I repeated, stabbing a potato with unnecessary force.
"The world's better off without him." Luce's knuckles went white around her fork.
I knew that look; she was trying desperately not to speak, not to draw my father's attention. Smart girl. Safer that way.
"Your moral crusades are irrelevant," My father continued, swirling his wine with practiced nonchalance.
"What matters is the fallout. The Trivium doesn't appreciate having to clean up your messes.
I know several members of the inner circle who are not pleased that you went beyond your assigned actions.
“Funny,” I said with a smirk, ”Because I know a High Lord who didn’t seem to care that the world is down one more arsehole."
“Keep smiling, boy,” my father snarled, “Old snakes have good memories.”
I bit back a retort about the weird phrase.
There was no point in antagonising him further, not when I needed to get back to Cade.
My chest tightened at the thought of her, alone at Covenant House with only Cole to watch over her.
I was apprehensive, not knowing what was going on, and every minute I spent in this hellhole was a minute I wasn't protecting her.
Stephen, ever the peacemaker, cleared his throat.
"Luce, how is Max doing? I heard he’s looking at joining his father’s company over the Summer." I snapped to attention, my protective instincts flaring. "Max? As in our Max?" Luce shot her father a betrayed look.
"Dad, seriously?"
"You two have got close?" I pressed, half-rising from my chair. “Do I need to have words with him if he thinks he’s gonna be your boyfriend?”
“Geez, Ryder, no.” Luce’s face went bright red. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
"Damn straight he’s not," my father interjected, his voice dropping to that dangerous register I knew too well. "No niece of mine will be whoring herself out to some campus nobody."
The room went still. Luce's face drained of colour, and Stephen's expression hardened into something I rarely saw there, pure, unfiltered rage.
"That's my daughter you're talking about," Stephen said quietly. "And she's an adult who can make her own decisions." My father waved a dismissive hand.
"She carries the Purcell name. That comes with responsibilities, expectations. We have standards in this family."
"Standards?" I couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped me. "That's rich coming from you." My father's eyes narrowed, but he didn't rise to the bait. Instead, he turned his attention back to Luce, who seemed to be trying to make herself as small as possible in her chair.
"Your cousin understands the importance of our family's reputation, even if he occasionally forgets himself," my father said, his tone falsely paternal.
"Which reminds me, Ryder. How is that damaged whore of yours recovering? What was her name? Katie?"
The room temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.
My vision tunnelled, narrowing until all I could see was my father's smirking face across the table.
I was halfway out of my seat when Luce's wine glass shattered against the wall behind my father's head, red liquid dripping down the cream wallpaper like blood.
"Don't you bloody dare call her that!" Luce was on her feet, her entire body trembling with rage.
"Cade is my best friend, you disgusting pig!
She was kidnapped, tortured, raped, and you have the audacity to call her a whore?
" My father's face contorted with fury as he rose from his chair.
"How dare you speak to me that way in my own house? I'll teach you some respect, girl."
He moved toward Luce with frightening speed, but Stephen and I were faster. We formed a human barrier between them, my body humming with adrenaline and barely contained violence.
"You touch her, and I'll break your fucking arm," I snarled, every muscle in my body coiled to strike.
"Luce, go," Stephen ordered, his voice brooking no argument. "Wait in the car."
"No! I'm not done telling him what a monster he is!" Luce shouted over my shoulder, her voice raw with years of suppressed fury. "You've terrorised this family for decades. You locked your own wife away in an institution. You treat Ryder like a weapon instead of a son. You're pathetic!"
"Luce, now," Stephen insisted, physically turning her toward the door while keeping himself between her and my father. She went reluctantly, still hurling accusations over her shoulder as Stephen guided her from the room.
"You're a bully and a coward! Everyone knows it! Everyone!"
The door slammed behind them, leaving me alone with my father. The dining room fell into a silence broken only by our ragged breathing.
"That cousin of yours has grown too bold," My father said, straightening his tie as if nothing had happened.
“Sister,” I gritted out. “She’s my fucking sister.” My father waved his hand as if I were offering him a drink.
"Needless to say, something will have to be done about her attitude." Ice flooded my veins.
"What did you just say?" My father's smile was reptilian.
"You heard me. That girl needs to learn her place." I took a step closer, my hands curling into fists at my sides.
"And where exactly is that?"
"On her knees for whatever bastard I sell her to," he replied, cold and matter-of-fact, as if discussing a business transaction.
"Perhaps I'll call Dominic Blake. He's always had an eye for fresh meat. He could get me a fair price for such a sweet, young, innocent girl."
Something inside me snapped. The first punch caught him squarely in the jaw, sending him staggering back against the table. The second connected with his stomach, doubling him over. I grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the wall hard enough to rattle the paintings.
"Listen to me very carefully, you sick fuck," I hissed, my face inches from his.
"If you go anywhere near Luce, if you so much as breathe in her direction, I will gut you like a fish and use your insides for Christmas decorations.
Do you understand me?" A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes remained cold, calculating.
"You've always been weak, Ryder. Too emotional. Too unstable. Just like your mother." I tightened my grip on his throat, watching with savage satisfaction as his face began to redden.
"My mother was the only good thing in your miserable life, and you destroyed her. I won't let you do the same to my sister."
"You can't protect her forever," he wheezed. "And you certainly can't protect that broken little toy of yours. How long before someone finishes what the McIntyre boy started?"
The mention of Damien's name nearly sent me over the edge.
I slammed him against the wall again, harder this time.
"I'm going to find him, and when I do, I'll make what we did to Blackwood look like a fucking mercy killing.
And if you ever threaten Luce or Cade again, you'll be fucking next.
" I released him abruptly, watching with disgust as he slumped against the wall, coughing.
Without another word, I turned and stormed out of the dining room, slamming the door hard enough to crack the frame.
The cold January air hit me like a physical blow as I burst out of the house.
Stephen's car was already gone, good. The further Luce was from this place, the better.
I fumbled for my keys, hands shaking with residual adrenaline and rage.
My phone buzzed again as I slid into the driver's seat.
Three missed calls from Logan, two from Cole.
Whatever was happening at Covenant House, it couldn't be good.
I started the engine, tires squealing as I peeled out of the circular driveway, desperate to put as much distance as possible between myself and my cunt of a father.
But I couldn't outrun the cold dread settling in my stomach. I knew my father too well to believe my threats would deter him for long. If anything, they would only strengthen his resolve. My father never could stand being challenged, especially not by his own son.
"Fuck!" I slammed my palm against the steering wheel, the pain a welcome distraction from the panic rising in my chest. Luce was in danger.
Cade was in danger. And I was caught in the middle, trying desperately to protect them both while my own demons threatened to overwhelm me.
I pressed harder on the accelerator, watching the speedometer climb.
Logan needed me back at Covenant House. Something must have gone wrong in the meeting.
The thought of that monster still out there, still free, made my blood boil.
The memory of seeing Cade in that place, broken, bleeding, barely conscious, flashed before my eyes, and I gripped the wheel tighter to keep from veering off the road.
We'd made progress with her in the past few days.
The purple hair had been a breakthrough, a small but significant step toward helping her reclaim her identity.
She'd even smiled a few times, genuine smiles that reached her eyes, not the hollow, empty ones she'd been giving us since her rescue.
And now my father was threatening Luce, and Damien was still on the loose, and I was driving too fast down dark country roads with my thoughts spiralling out of control.
I forced myself to slow down, to breathe.
Losing control now wouldn't help anyone. I needed to be clearheaded and focused.
My phone rang again, Logan. I connected the call through the car's Bluetooth.
"Where the fuck are you?" Logan's voice filled the car, tense and urgent.
"On my way back," I replied, checking the time. "Twenty minutes, tops. What's happening?"
"We need to talk. Not over the phone."
"Is it Cade? Is she okay?" Panic clawed at my throat.
"She's fine. She's with Cole. Just get here.
Fast." The call disconnected, leaving me alone with the rumble of the engine and the growing sense that whatever awaited me at Covenant House was going to shatter the fragile peace we'd been building.
I pressed down on the accelerator again, watching the dark landscape blur past my windows.
Twenty minutes. I could hold myself together for twenty more minutes.
And then I would face whatever new nightmare had found us.