19 #2
“So now I’ll take yours. Now I’ll take your everything, and unlike you fucking idiots, I’m competent and powerful and will make it happen. You put all your chips on a lame horse thinking you absolutely knew the situation when none of you see Kole clearly—including himself—nor understand who I am.”
“Praise the gods, child,” Belinda chuckled, but also meant it. “Educate the blind.”
“Not helping,” Maple quietly chastised. “I mean, funny and accurate, but not helping.”
Neither was that.
I glared at Hanna. “I wasn’t the unpretty princess they sent away to transform into a model, you shallow cow.
I was the royal family’s golden ticket to get out from under the elders and put the Alphas in their places, but I needed time to grow into that role and not have bitches like you beat me up like you do every woman in Thovudin like my mother. ”
“Don’t,” Fraser bit out, his voice cold.
“Let him,” I snickered when I realized it was because he’d sensed something from Kole.
I smirked at my former lover. “Why not add one more charge? You hitting me after what happened in court—you’ll turn ancient in prison.
Fuck, please try it.” I laughed when he realized I could be right.
“Enjoy prison. You thought I was your bitch? You’ll see what a bitch really is there. ”
I turned to leave and could not believe what Vex had the balls to say to me.
“Please, Sagan, please just have this last mercy and settle the lawsuit with us and we’ll make Kole do the deal and serve a sentence,” Vex begged.
I blinked and Onyx was there beating on his brother until Fraser, Maple, and Kole dragged him off.
“You don’t ever use her name trying to play her,” Onyx seethed.
“You’re dead to me, Vex. Sagan is right and I should never have forgiven you threatening my life, but—I can’t forgive this.
You don’t care about the Conley family, just your immediate family and power.
You don’t even care about Applerest. Father and Grandfather would be ashamed. ”
That landed a blow, but there was one thing I needed to say before I answered Vex.
“It’s so unfair that you keep getting to beat their asses and I don’t,” I grumbled.
He was suddenly there, kissing me deeply, and I let it happen. Not a long one, and not over the top like his tongue down my throat just… Emotional. Him showing who he stood with and how much he cared.
I guess I was showing the same thing by allowing it? It was the message I meant to send.
Then I squared off with his older brother and someone I used to respect.
“You should have thanked me for still not going for the death penalty, but instead still demanded more after how—you didn’t care how anything played out and hurt me or my credibility, Vex.
You used up all your favors, goodwill, and chances with me. Choke on the result.”
Hanna grabbed my arm when I turned away, and I did what I’d been wanting to do since the first time I’d met her… Punched her right in the nose. It was glorious and she landed on her ass looking ridiculous in her pretty dress and shocked expression.
“No one in your family ever touches me again.” I pointed at Onyx when he opened his mouth. “Except you. When I say so.”
“Just wanted that clear for your family to hear,” he mumbled.
I walked out of there even when Kole’s parents called after me, Vex begging and Hanna demanding me to wait, that the discussion wasn’t over. I accepted when Onyx wanted to hold my hand and winked at Treena when I joined up with her in the hall.
I let out a slow breath as I met the curious gaze of the attorney who was handling all of this for me. “Release it all. Everything we have, even the stuff dropped in our laps. In a filing, but also to the police. I want those bribed media personalities and networks—all of them.”
He slowly grinned. “We’re going to war.”
I nodded. “We’re going to war.”
“Excellent to hear, Your Majesty.” He didn’t say it in a slimy way. No, someone who worked for Darren at the top wouldn’t ever be like that.
This was a man who wanted justice and fought for Darren to always be able to do more and better. He was one of the few truly ethical corporations and cared about their people.
Crazy, right?
But the attorney who was now helping me fought for that constantly, and as much as I felt bad for basically stealing him, I also hoped he could inspire a new wave of attorneys who wanted to do the same. Maybe that was asking too much, so one thing at a time?
The fallout was fast after my attorney filed the rest of our evidence. The lead prosecutor in Applerest was mobbed outside of his office with reporters demanding to know if charges would be filed against Vex and what he was planning to do about him bribing the media to smear the queen.
And once again, people constantly backtracked that they were always on my side and never thought Kole was worth shit… It just pissed me off and put me in the worst mood.
So I focused on what I could and coordinating with Queen Rani’s people and the first massive ships that brought more than the most generous estimates I had discussed with the Alphas.
I made it clear this wasn’t something to fuck with me about because I was done forgiving people and hiding people’s mistakes.
“Be careful taking that stance, Your Majesty,” Alpha Kael—Thorn’s uncle—warned me on the call with four other Alphas. “People will take the same approach with you.”
“Alpha, if people only called me on my mistakes instead of constantly making things up or trying to blame me for things that weren’t my fault, I would do cartwheels all over my castle for a week,” I drawled and moved on before he could reply.
I was exhausted when it was almost time for dinner and was debating just taking it in my room when Pearl came to find me. I appreciated when she led me off to a corner, always making sure to keep things private.
“You have a guest in your suite,” she warned me. “He made it clear he wasn’t removed from the list but knew he probably wasn’t welcome after what happened today.”
Onyx.
She cleared her throat when I nodded and went to move on, waiting until I looked at her. “The guards weren’t gossiping. People have heard you, and Benson is already making it clear the gossiping stops with his people or they will start having to beat you in sprints to receive their pay.”
I blinked at her slowly. “So never.”
“Exactly,” she chuckled. “I asked them if he said anything when he arrived and I would tell you directly. One hesitated but did say while he was on the list, that he wanted to check with you. Onyx replied that he just wanted to help with whatever you were going through and had a gift. If you weren’t in the mood for company, he wouldn’t push. He just didn’t want to make drama.”
And it was honestly beyond time for us to have a real conversation. I was… It was time.
“Thank you, and thank them for accepting that it’s…”
She huffed. “To grow up and stop acting like children who have good gossip to spread?”
I sighed. “Yes, it is a bit like thanking them for no longer being stupid.”
“So don’t, but also don’t beat me when I give you advice that he looks completely lost and I don’t think it’s about his family. It’s about you.”
I loved how she slipped that in, but she wasn’t one to push. “Can you please bring up a selection from dinner to my suite? For two.”
She beamed at me and promised to handle it. Clearly, she was rooting for Onyx. Or just for me to be happy?
Pearl had said several times that the man knew the right flowers to give and repeatedly showed care. Fair enough.
I nodded to the guards as one opened the door for me and went inside. “I asked for dinner to be brought to my suite. Enough for two.”
“Thank you, Sagan,” he whispered, his voice a tone I didn’t like.
“‘Sagan,’” I repeated as I set down my things. “I see.”
“No, I don’t think…” He blew out a harsh breath and stood from the breakfast nook and came towards me. “You haven’t seemed like you want to be my—for me to call you anything else. I wasn’t implying anything. I was trying to respect what I thought you wanted. Does that make sense?”
I rolled it around in my mind for a few moments and nodded. “You heard me that I needed you to stop pushing and that this wasn’t a defined relationship, so please…”