Page 52 of Sinful Storms

He laughed humourlessly. “I run this town. I’m not afraid of threats from a silly boy who doesn’t know his place.”

Fuck, it hurt that my own grandfather was talking to me with so much disdain, but it meant he was feeling threatened. I’d never been so fucking fearful about confronting someone before, but I couldn’t falter now, and I couldn’t allow myself to show even a hint of weakness in front of him.

I swallowed, reminding myself of why I was here and who I was doing this for. It was enough. My resolve strengthened, I met his gaze without flinching. “You did run this town, but you don’t anymore. The new generation of Smith-Chamberlains has taken your place. And you know what? One day, this ‘silly boy’ will be the one in charge.” I squared my shoulders, folding my arms across my chest as I stared him down. “Are you going to do the right thing?”

He stared at me. “If your father could see you now… I’ve said this before, but you do remind me of myself, you know.”

Next to me, Aria exhaled unsteadily, sliding her foot over to press her ankle against mine. I allowed myself a small, private smile. I fucking adored this girl.

Holding my grandfather’s gaze, never allowing myself to falter, I spoke again. “Grandfather. Frankly, I don’t care whetheror not I remind you of yourself. What I want is for you to do what’s right. We already know everything. You owe us the truth, and we’re not going to leave until we hear it from your mouth.”

“I…” he began, his composure shattering right in front of me. “Y-you must understand. The Brotherhood was exclusive. The members were hand-picked. The elite of the elite. The cream of the crop. I was their leader, and it was up to me to preserve and maintain the status quo. When Michael—your Professor Watkins—came to me after he’d become friendly with the scholarship boy and said he wished for him to join us…well, I immediately dismissed him.” His mouth twisted. “He wouldn’t be dissuaded, though. He managed to get to several of the other members and convince them we needed new blood. I was outvoted, and John was to join.”

“Would it really have been that bad for him to join?” Aria had regained her composure, outwardly calm, although I could hear the sadness in her voice.

“Yes, Aria. You must understand that. It would have diluted our legacy?—”

I had never tried harder to prevent an eye roll than I did right then. Diluted their fucking legacy. Who the fuck cared? Okay, I was probably being hypocritical, given my position in the school and family status, but?—

Wait a minute. This was why I had separated myself from Aria in the first place. My parents had made it clear that I was expected to make friends with the right kind of people, and even though Aria was their goddaughter, they had never viewed the two of us as equals. I might have done it for my own reasons—keeping Aria away from my parents’ scrutiny and judgement of the elite—but the fact was, I’d still separated myself from her.

Cutting my grandfather off mid-sentence, I turned to Aria. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry for everything. I should never have listened to my parents back then.” I knew she’d understandwhat I was referring to by “back then.” “You deserve fucking everything. I just…I’m sorry. I know it’s not enough.”

She sighed. “You were a child, Tris.”

“Yeah, but so were you. You were one of my best fucking friends, and I discarded you like you meant nothing to me when the truth was, you meant everything to me.”

“Tristan—”

“Well, this is all very touching.”

I tore my gaze away from Aria, masking my expression as I returned my attention to my grandfather. “Continue.”

“Really, you can’t?—”

“Con-fucking-tinue. Now.”

His lip curled, but then he sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. “It appears you know everything already. To cut a long story short, I was against John joining the Brotherhood from the very beginning, and I remained against it until the end. I had to protect our society, and so I did what I had to.”

“To kill him?” Aria whispered.

“Kill him?” The shock on my grandfather’s face was genuine. “No. No, no, no. I only wanted to give him a scare. I loosened the rope enough to make him fall. I hadn’t…I hadn’t planned on him making it so far up the tower before he fell.”

“You might as well have killed him,” Aria snarled. “You loosened the rope, and he fell to his death.”

My grandfather shook his head. “Aria. When he fell, the rope remained connected. We thought…I thought perhaps the inclement weather had caused the accident.”

“You’re lying to us, and you’re lying to yourself.”

There was a long, long silence. His head bowed, and his body seemed to fold in on itself, suddenly seeming so small. When he looked up again, I was shocked to see tears in his eyes. “I am an old man now. What can they do to me?” He met Aria’s gaze. “I do not know for certain whether John would have managed thatclimb in the storm, but had I not loosened the rope…well. I am deeply sorry. Truly. There is no way I can ever justify my actions. I’ve done my best to make it up to your family, and I’ve ensured you have a bright future ahead of you.”

“I would have had that with or without your blood money,” Aria snapped. “Don’t think you can take any of the credit.”

“She’s right.” I glanced over at her, pride filling me at her defiance as she stared my grandfather down fearlessly. “Aria Harper is a fucking incredible woman, and none of that is thanks to you.”

“I…well…”

“I think we’ve heard enough.”

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