CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
SAINT
When I appear from the elevator on Friday morning, Bernard stands primly by the car.
Guilt grazes over my skin as my eyes settle on him.
He was in the hospital for over a week because I questioned his loyalty.
Because I was stupid to trust a man I had known barely two months over a man I had known for twenty years.
I chose warm skin over two decades of loyalty.
Every time I look at myself in the mirror, I want to rip off my skin because I believed his lies.
I believed his deception. And what makes it worse is that he looked me in the eyes and withheld such information from me.
I fell into his trap. I let myself feel something instead of burying those sickening emotions the same way I have done all my life.
Bernard holds the door open, and I enter the car and give him a nod along with a tight-lipped smile.
He shuts the door, and he circles the bonnet to the driver’s seat.
The entire drive to the King’s mansion is in silence.
He keeps his eyes plastered on the windshield while I battle with thoughts in my head.
I have been dreading this day since I sent Mason away.
I should have killed him. I should have offered him a kiss of my bullet. Father would do worse if he learned I gave myself to a man. If he knew how my recklessness almost cost us everything our family has worked for, he’d get rid of me.
I don’t stand a chance of being the successor. Not when I still feel what I feel, even when he’s gone. Even when I promised to kill him, and I hate that I feel.
I hate that every time I close my eyes, all I feel is him.
His touch on my skin. His kisses. His dick inside me.
I hate myself for giving into him.
But I can’t change what happened. I can’t change that I’m attracted to him. I can’t change my feelings for him. What I can change and focus on is my family. The goals my father has set for me. The things he wants. The things my family needs.
That’s all that matters. That’s what should have always mattered.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. I expect a call from my father, but it’s not. It’s Ali. I pick up the phone, and he says, “Hello, boss.”
“It’s been weeks.”
“Sorry, I’m running late. I’m gathering as much information as I can.” Ali hums on the other side of the speaker. “I have almost everything you need, and I’ll be in Kingston by Tuesday.”
“I’ll be expecting you, Ali.”
“Hmm.” He grunts before he hangs up.
As I lift my gaze, the King’s mansion comes into view.
My heart hammers against my chest in anticipation of my father’s cruel words and jaded stare.
He’d have questions. He’d ask why I haven’t given him answers.
Why I’m acting like an incompetent leader.
If I’m ready to succeed, or if Virgil’s a better candidate. But I can’t give him answers.
What would I tell him? That I lost myself in comfort and almost jeopardized everything we have. Even after all this, my thoughts haven’t moved on from that night.
The lies and the truths entangled.
“We are here, sir.” Bernard announces.
“Thank you.” I say and hop out of the car, heading into the building.
My brothers are already waiting outside my father’s office when I arrive. Virgil doesn’t even let me get close before he storms toward me. “What’s taking you so long?” He demands. “And why did you not bring that bastard in?”
“Mason’s not your business.” I seethe and meet his cold gaze. He retreats a step back and scoffs.
“Did you at least get answers before you let your bedwarmer go?” He spat, lips curling into a taunting smirk.
“It’s handled.”
“Do you have the pictures?” Cross leans off the wall and moves toward the altercation.
“I burned them.” Father didn’t need to know about Mason. Not when we’d both bear the consequences. There’s no point anyway because he’s probably long gone now.
“What are you going to tell him?” Cross asks.
“About the contract with Kane Enterprises. About the private investigator I hired weeks ago.”
“You hired a private investigator?” Cross lifts his brows.
“You’re so fucking selfish, Saint. You never think of anyone but yourself.
You think you’re the only one father asks questions.
You think I haven’t been torturing Oliver and his guys to get more information for them.
” He closes the gap between us. “Fuck you, and I hope you have a fantastic sit-down with our father.”
Virgil wasn’t wrong.
I have been selfish, stupid, and reckless.
And I still am. I could have easily handed Mason over to my brother, and he would have gotten all the information he needed. But I didn’t. I let him go.
Virgil bumps into me as he strides away, leaving me with Cross. “Do whatever it is you need to do, Saint.” He pats my shoulder as he walks away.
They didn’t need to be here. Father would ask them to leave anyway.
I straighten my spine and take a sharp breath before I enter my father’s office.
He doesn’t acknowledge me even as I sit opposite him.
The man barely had months to live. He was dying.
Losing his life to a sickness he hasn’t disclosed to any of his children.
Yet he still holds the fort. He made a smart move by moving our ledgers out of the city.
I wouldn’t have done that. I would have been so busy trying to get into a man’s pants.
“I need answers, son.” He utters.
“We are working on it.”
“We?” His eyes snap to me, voice remaining still. “You have been working on it for almost a month. Our shipments still haven’t left the city. Our associates are getting worried, and I don’t have my fucking money. We haven’t caught those culprits. Apparently, you are working on it.”
I try to remain as calm as possible, even when every part of me lights with a quiet rage that slowly chips away at my soul.
“I have been working on a solution.” I didn’t spend the past three days sulking in my apartment. I have been speaking with Prince Kane, strategizing for the perfect solution to all our problems.
“Do tell.” He reclines on his throne and brings his hands together.
I lay out the plan to him. Every move I’ll make on the chessboard, hoping that he understands me. That he sees me as a worthy successor. His successor. That’s the literal summary of my entire life.
Tobias’s eyes soften only for a beat, and he hums insignificantly. He leans forward, placing his hand on the dark, polished surface as his lips curl into a smile. “I have always known you’re my son.”
“Ali, the PI I hired, will come in on Tuesday, and we’ll have all the answers.” I promise him in a firm voice.
“Alright. We are done here.” He returns his gaze to what he’s been working on. I excuse myself and shut the door on my way out, letting out a sigh of relief once I’m on the other side.
I’m not supposed to protect Mason, but here I am. It would kill me if I had to pull the trigger on someone who matters mattered to me.
Bernard and I leave the family home for the Seven Stone in the city.
When I arrive at my office, I don’t expect the hollow in my chest to double ten folds.
I don’t expect to stare at his office, part of me wishing he were on the other side.
Hell, I didn’t think I’ll spend my entire day thinking of him, knowing full well what he’d done.
He’d put my family at risk. Put everything that belonged to me at risk. If it were any other man, I would have killed him on the spot, but I gave him my mercy. I let him off the hook easily.
Halfway through the day, I call my brother and speak with him about Prince Kane’s proposal for security in exchange for helping me execute my plan, which will help lure Neo and whoever he’s working for into my trap.
He doesn’t give me a definitive response.
Only a grumble and I’ll think about it. I need him on board if any of this works, and he doesn’t have a choice in the matter.
We have all been forced to do things by our father, anyway.
Playing Knight for Prince Kane wouldn’t change a thing.
When I return home, I spend the rest of the evening in the living room, drinking from a recently uncorked bottle of wine. I haven’t been sleeping in my bedroom all week, merely because a part of me still wanted to keep what happened between us that night intact. All of it, including his betrayal.