Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Navy Achebe
I pressed my lips together, trying to swallow the lump climbing up my throat. The city lights started to smear together the longer I stared at them. At first, I blamed it on the speed of the car. Then I blinked, realizing my vision was blurring from tears.
"Navy, are you okay?" River asked.
"Yeah," I quickly answered.
She side-eyed me but didn't press. I hated lying to her, but I couldn't bring myself to say the thing that scared me the most out loud.
My breathing turned uneasy, and my chest felt tight like grief had found a permanent place to live.
Twenty-plus years of loving the same boy, growing with him, breaking with him, healing with him, choosing him over and over, and now I was sitting in a car on the way to celebrate the very thing that felt like the final nail in our coffin.
"Navy."
I did my best to blink back the tears, but then my voice cracked. "I can't—"
River reached over and grabbed my hand as she slowed at a red light.
"I can't watch him become that," I whispered. "I can't sit at that table and pretend I'm proud because I'm not. I won't!"
River squeezed my hand tighter.
"You love him."
"I do," I sobbed. "That's the problem. I love him enough to know I gotta let him go so he can be who he thinks he's supposed to be."
The light turned green, and River drove on, her hand still holding mine.
"I feel like tonight is the beginning of the end."
"You don't know that."
"I know my father. There's a reason he wanted all of us there."
"What would the reason be?" River asked.
"I don't know, but Honor's bracing for war," I mumbled. "How am I supposed to stand beside him when he won't even tell me how any of this is supposed to play out?"
River pulled over onto a side street and parked. Before I could ask why, she unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned across the console, wrapping her arms around me. I broke. Ugly, shaking, and gasping.
"I wanted it to be us forever," I cried into her shoulder.
"I know you did," River murmured, rubbing my back. "Maybe when everything settles, it still can be, but for right now, Honor needs you. The man who locked him in a basement is asking him to bring everyone he loves to sit at his table. That can't be a coincidence."
My crying slowed as her words settled in. "For all we know, Honor's walking into something dangerous, and whether he says it out loud or not, he needs you beside him. Tonight, be his strength. Show up for him, then tomorrow let it hurt."
"You're right," I sniffled, pulling back from her embrace.
River switched the car into drive and drove off. For the rest of the ride, I worked to clear my head, making sure when I walked into my father's house, the Navy who had always stood beside Honor would be the one who showed up.
The house looked the same. Tall black gates, a long stone driveway, and towering windows that used to make this place look like a castle when I was a kid.
Now I saw it for what it really was, a cage Honor couldn't escape.
River pulled into the driveway, parking behind Honor's truck, and killed the engine.
"You ready?" she asked.
No. I nodded anyway.
We walked toward the front door, and before I could lift my hand to knock, it swung open. Lucian stood there like he'd been waiting on me.
"Navy," he said, his smile warm but falling short of his eyes, "welcome home."
River shifted beside me, and Lucian's gaze slid to her stomach.
"You must be River or Four, as I hear Crown likes to call you."
River gave him a polite nod. "River is just fine. The outside of your home is beautiful."
"And you are doing a beautiful job at creating life." Lucian stepped forward, his hand already lifting toward her belly.
River instantly stiffened, and her shoulders locked. Before his hands could reach her, I stepped forward and slid between them. Lucian's eyes flickered to me.
"What happened to Earl?" I asked coolly. "I don't remember you ever opening your own door for guests."
Lucian grinned. "Honor killed him."
River blinked rapidly, her eyes widening before she forced them closed again in slow, steady blinks.
Lucian continued, almost amused. "Right before he killed the men who shot at you."
I stayed quiet. A reaction was exactly what Lucian was fishing for. When he didn't get one, he chuckled softly and stepped aside.
"Come in."
The house smelled as it always did of cedar, overbearing cologne, and eeriness.
Lucian led us down the long hallway toward the dining room.
When we stepped inside, everyone was already seated.
The moment River came into view, Crown rose halfway from his chair.
His eyes swept over her quickly, checking for signs of fear or tension.
I then noticed Honor. He sat at the far end of the table beside Lucian's chair.
His gaze locked on mine, and the tension in his shoulders eased the moment he saw I was okay.
The table that was barely used when I was a kid seemed massive now.
Dark wood polished so perfectly it reflected the candlelight like a mirror.
Crystal glasses sat beside gold-trimmed plates while the soft glow of candles danced across the room.
It might've looked beautiful if the air surrounding it didn't feel like a loaded gun.
"River, you can sit across from Crown," Lucian instructed. "And Navy, of course, you'll sit across from Honor."
Everything about the seating arrangement was deliberate.
Each woman sat across from her male counterpart.
Chosyn across from Wolfe. Kyree across from Rize.
River across from Crown. Only one pairing was off.
Kysre sat across from Choyce. Choyce was seated beside my empty chair.
Not directly across from Honor, but close enough that if he looked at me, she'd still fall into his line of sight.
Lucian watched the moment I noticed and smiled.
"Please," he said, "join us."
River took her seat, and I took mine. No more than a few seconds passed, and servers appeared from the kitchen carrying trays of food and bottles of champagne.
They moved swiftly, setting dishes down one after another until the table was covered in Italian cuisine.
Platters of chicken parmigiana rested beside bowls of creamy fettuccine.
A large dish of baked ziti bubbled under a layer of melted cheese while plates of eggplant rollatini sat neatly beside warm baskets of garlic bread.
A tray of shrimp scampi filled the air with the scent of butter and lemon, mixing with the heavy aroma of tomato sauce and basil.
Under different circumstances, without the presence of my father, this table would've been a feast for me and my family to enjoy, but tonight it felt more like a last meal.
The servers poured champagne into the crystal flutes, the soft clink of glasses echoing throughout the room.
None of us reached for a fork or lifted our glass, and Lucian seemed to enjoy that.
He watched each of us like he was measuring reactions instead of hosting dinner.
After the last server stepped, Lucian slowly pushed his chair back and stood, lifting his glass of champagne.
"I want to thank all of you for joining me tonight," he began, his voice carrying easily throughout the room. "Family has always been important to me, especially when we're celebrating something as meaningful as legacy."
His gaze slid to Honor. "My son stepping into his rightful place."
I cringed.
"To new beginnings," he toasted with a smile that didn't intend to reach his eyes, "and to necessary endings."
I lifted my glass slowly and brought the golden liquid to my lips. "It seems a little morbid to congratulate one son when you just buried your actual son last week."
"Talon's death was… unfortunate," Lucian said as he took his seat again. "But it was necessary. I had to kill him."
River sucked in a breath that couldn't be missed in the silence of the room. Lucian lifted his glass again.
"Did that make you uncomfortable?" he asked her.
Crown leaned forward. "Don't address her 'bout shit other than how beautiful she looks," he calmly stated, then his brows pinched together. "Matter fact don't address Four at all. I'm known to become a gravedigger 'bout her."
Lucian tilted his head. "Is that a threat?"
"Not a threat," Crown replied with a grin, "just lifesaving information." He winked at River, who looked like she'd been holding onto a breath she was too scared to release.
"Noted," Lucian said, waving the interruption away with a flick of his fingers.
"Now, back to what I was telling my ungrateful daughter.
" His gaze settled on me. "Talon's death was necessary to preserve the legacy of my family.
Despite him coming from my loins, he didn't have the gumption required to carry what I've built. "
Lucian took a slow sip of champagne.
"Talon was weak," he continued without an ounce of remorse. "Gay, reckless, a man who let his heart interfere with the decisions that keep empires standing."
My fingers curled against the table. Lucian's gaze slid to Chosyn.
"Chosyn, you understand, yes? You loved Chance, but his death was for the greater good of your legacy with Wolfe."
A low, cruel laugh seeped from Chosyn's lips, the kind you wouldn't expect from a woman.
"Chance died because he thought I was the same young girl pining for love," she coldly stated.
"He didn't account for the woman I'd become thanks to my husband loving me correctly. He died, and I wish I’d done it right the first time. "
Lucian watched them with open disgust.
"What a shame," he scoffed. "Love might be the most convincing illusion ever created. People believe it's real because they can feel it, but feelings are the easiest strings to pull."
His eyes slowly moved across the table.