Page 100 of Tempt

I was going to pretend it was perfectly poetic and fitting that I was here because otherwise I would have to focus on the reality…and that was something I didn’t think I could do.

There is an awareness that comes over you when you’re a woman in a room full of men. It’s a survival instinct I’m sure, and it’s damn near uncontrollable. It just kind of takes over and forces you to see and feel everything differently. Kind of like a static charge surrounded everyone in the room and I was just waiting to see which one exploded first.

Nicki’s hand shot out, looking for mine. So I took it and gave it a squeeze. The dramatic smartass was now replaced by a girl frightened of what was about to happen. I didn’t like the idea of cowering behind a wall of guys, but I sure as hell didn’t want to be out in front of them either. So the least I could do was be useful and help keep Nicki calm.

I pulled her even closer and we locked arms, elbow to elbow as we looked between the shoulders in front of us. Higgins stood tall and straight. The big brotherly air that surrounded him was gone. Instead he looked much rougher and scarier. Just like Theo, Higgins seemed to have an entirely different man hidden inside that only came out when absolutely necessary.

Donald cocked his head to the side and gave Theo a once over. “Good to see you, son.”

“What can I do for you?” he said as if this were a board meeting in one of their skyscrapers.

Donald was severely outnumbered and I could only imagine he was here to deliver a message more than anything else. What he didn’t seem to realize was that Theo had set this up to deliver his own message.

“I just wanted to see it for myself. What the fuck are you thinking, son? All my hard work will be down the drain. For what? A woman?”

I flinched. I hated that I kept getting thrown under the bus or used as a pawn. I hated how our feelings for each other were constantly laid out as a weakness to be exploited.

“I’m doing this for me and for Nicki.” Theo said calmly. “And in doing so it will finally free me of all the things I never wanted so that I can pursue the things that I do want.”

“Pussy,” Donald said. “You wantpussy. You can have all the pussy you want, any time you want. You’re a Sutherland. You don’t need to go throwing away your life for something you can get anywhere.”

Aside from feeling like I wanted to vomit, I was really, really disgusted with the sexist prick standing on the other side of the room. Theo’s mother had been right to leave when she could. That man was a Grade A asshole. I didn’t even blame her for leaving the kids behind. I’d run as far and as fast as I could if I was under lock and key like she was.

“While I do understand that you believe your entitlement is an asset, Father, I do not.”

“That was always the problem with you.” He wandered closer to Toni and Dan. With the heavy construction equipment working above ground there was very little that we could do inside these four walls that would be heard anywhere else. “You don’t have that fire in your belly or that desire to take simply because you can.”

Donald kicked the feet of Toni who startled and sat up a little straighter. His eyes looked around wildly before he kicked Dan, waking him up, too.

It felt a lot like being trapped inside a tomb, now that I thought about it. We were in a dark underground room everyone seemed to ignore, and where no one could hear us. The hair on my arm pricked up and I shifted to get a better look. Theo immediately adjusted his stance, blocking me once again.

Donald turned back to look at Theo. “I was so proud when you ran off with these fuckers. Sure you picked fucking amateurs considering what your legacy was, but you did it. You earned your way, you worked your way up. I watched you the whole time. I was excited to finally get you back and put you at my side once and for all. I still don’t think I’ve recovered from the betrayal of your refusal.”

Theo’s voice was low and deep. “They were more family to me than you ever were.”

I had just enough room to see Dan’s eyes light up and then slide over to Donald. My heart rate kicked up a notch. Something was about to happen.

“How dare you insult me or your sister by calling these cock-sucking, bottom-feeding, pathetic excuses for men, your family? They had the potential to make names for themselves, and instead they lost it all…because they trustedyou.”

I could hear my heart thudding in my chest—that’s how quiet it was in that room. I expected Theo to lose his shit, get angry or upset, but instead he stayed calm. Actually, he looked pleased…as if Donald had just played into his hand.

“If only I’d known that was your plan all along. You used me to get to them. Dan was getting too big, too fast. He had encroached on your technology territory one too many times and you saw an opportunity. You practically arranged our marriage, but you did it so quietly none of us knew.” Theo wove his tale, detailing all the things he’d learned in the years since he left Edinburgh. How Donald had made sure Dan learned about Theo and Higgins, and when he needed a push to seal the deal, he conveniently made sure Dan was aware of the growing rift between father and son. He essentially hand delivered Theo to Dan like a Trojan Horse.

“All you needed was time and information, which I stupidly gave you when Nicki almost died. You used my love for my sister against me. It wasn’t my fault we went down and it never was. You took care of everything from beginning to end.”

The truth hung in the air for several seconds before Donald grinned—the disgusting pride dripping from every pore. Dear god I hated that man.

“Two birds, one stone,” he said with a shrug. “I vetted my son to ascend my throne while simultaneously eliminating my biggest threat—”

Dan leapt out of his chair and wrapped his loosely bound hands around Donald’s throat at the same time Toni rushed the bodyguards standing just far enough away that they couldn’t stop what was happening. Toni flattened one and started beating him in the face more brutally than I’d ever seen anyone attack someone—even in a gory action movie. I averted my eyes in time to see Martin level his gun and pull the trigger. I knew without looking that the second bodyguard was dead.

Joe dropped back a step and pushed Nicki and I together in the space behind Martin and Theo. The look in his eyes was as commanding as anything he could say.Don’t move.

So I didn’t. I stood behind Theo and looked up, listening to the sounds of Donald suffocating. I was never, ever going to forget those sounds. I was slightly surprised that Theo was standing there watching as if he were in the viewing room at a death sentence execution.

And that’s when it hit me—that was exactly what this was. Planned down to the last detail.

Suddenly the beating stopped and the strangling ended. Instead, the sounds were replaced by the panting of two tortured, exhausted criminals. Theo moved away and Joe took his place, shielding us from the violence.

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