Page 26 of Black Hearts
And if the others weren’t willing to do it… I didn’t know what I’d do then. Quit? Turn in my resignation? I wouldn’t bring Juliet back into this house while she was still at risk. I wouldn’t do that to her, regardless of how badly she wanted to return to this house and pretend everything was normal.
No. I wasn’t going to let myself think negatively. I had to do this. I had to do it for Juliet.
I didn’t know how long it took, but by the time Stella walked down the hall to get me, fully clothed, my glasses had been cleaned about ten times, and I’d memorized the design in the carpet around my feet.
Stella had her arms folded over her chest, her long brown hair a little kinky due to her previous activities with Killian. “What is it, Doc? Make it quick. I have to go pick Tori up from school soon.”
“I spoke with Juliet,” I said, and her expression didn’t change. “She’s currently in the hospital, but she wants to come back here. This… she views this house as her home now.” The more I said, the less impressed with me Stella was, so I knew I had to get to the point quickly. “I also spoke with Johnathan.”
That got her to scowl a bit. “Oh, yeah? What did the old bastard want now? Is he bringing your father back here to take your job, too?”
“Not that I know of,” I said. I didn’t think my father would come back here, ever, unless the money was ridiculous. Money could do more than anything else in this world, it was true. Sometimes, it was more effective than threats and promises of violence. “He threatened me. He knows you and I are working together to get Juliet back. He basically said he’s willing to kill whoever he has to, even if it’s family, to get things back to the way they were.”
“Markus was doing just fine leading this family.”
All I could do was shrug, because technically, I wasn’t a Scott. I was merely their doctor, treating whatever wounds—physical or mental—they needed me to, whether it was here or out in the world.
“I’d rather have Markus in charge, too,” I said. “As does Juliet, I think. She doesn’t want to come back until Johnathan is gone, and I can’t blame her for that.”
Stella let out an annoyed sigh. “Yeah, I get it.” She leaned on the window beside me, the sunlight making her blue eye seem brighter. “Tori wants her back. She’ll be happy to hear Juliet is awake and doing better, but if I tell her what you said about Johnathan, she’ll try to kill her grandfather herself.”
“You think she could do it?” The question was out of my mouth before I thought about it, and once it was out, I couldn’t take it back. The thought of a ten-year-old girl killing her grandfather was both startling and kind of amusing.
Definitely wrong, though.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe, if only in that he wouldn’t see her coming, since she’s ten.” Stella grew quiet for a while, and I didn’t push it. She had to come around to this idea herself; I couldn’t force it on her. “I don’t like the guy, either. I’ve only dealt with Markus, and as much as I hated him when I first came here, he’s like a brother to me now. Johnathan’s just an arrogant, misogynistic asshole.”
I could agree with that. From what I’d heard, Johnathan Scott would be all too happy to have the men be the killers and the women baby-making machines. I could definitely see why Stella wasn’t fond of the guy.
“If we kill him, we’ll have an army of angry Scotts at the gate within days,” she whispered.
“I know, which is why we can’t do that. We need to get him to leave on his own.”
“How?”
That was the question of the hour, wasn’t it? “I’m thinking if we show him that we, as a house, are united against him, he might realize we don’t need him here. But I need to get Markus in on it, and I don’t know how he’s been, lately.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I haven’t even told him Jaxon and the others are gone.”
Stella frowned. “I’m sure he’s noticed.”
“If he hears Juliet won’t come back until Johnathan is gone, I’m hoping that’ll light a fire under his ass, but lately, Markus hasn’t been himself, so…” I stopped. I hoped Markus cared enough about Juliet that he’d fight his own father for her. He’d let me and the others be with her out of what I assumed was guilt over the whole Lincoln thing, so I had hope.
“It’s worth a shot,” Stella said. “Otherwise I’ll have to tell Tori, and she’ll try to take matters into her own hands—and I don’t trust her grandfather not to hurt her if she fails.”
Yeah, it was clear no one here trusted Johnathan Scott more than they could throw him—and that wasn’t very far. “I’m going to try talking to Markus. I might need your help convincing him, though. He’s… I’ve never seen anyone here act guilty of anything, but after what happened—”
“The brooding baby feels bad he scared his little girl,” Stella said, her tone mocking but emotionless. She clearly didn’t care about Juliet or Lincoln or what happened; she really did only care about her daughter in this situation. “Is Juliet willing to forgive him? Maybe knowing she wants him back will help.”
Hmm. She did ask for him during the call. And Juliet herself was a very forgiving person. Until very recently, I think she truly gave her father the benefit of the doubt. And then with what Will did, she didn’t hold any resentment toward him for it.
She truly was better than them. Better than me, even. She was on her own level, and I had no idea why she wanted men like the Scotts. Or me. Juliet was an angel, and we weren’t worthy to worship at her feet.
Stella checked her phone, pulling it out of the side pocket on her leggings. “I have to get Tori.”
“Any ideas where Markus would be in the house?” If things were normal, I’d find him in his office. He spent most of his waking hours there, unless he was out of the house. But with Johnathan taking over, I had no idea where the man had been spending all of his time, and up until now, I didn’t care enough to think about it.
“Other than his room, I don’t know. He’s always been so stuck in his work, I don’t think he has any other personality besides that.” Her slender fingers tapped on the back of her phone, and she took a step away from me. “I’m going to make some calls. You let me know if you need me to talk to Markus.”
With that, she spun on her heel and walked away, leaving me to wonder just who she was going to call. Other Scotts?
