Page 84 of Cruel Love
“Are they here?”I asked, turning to Cleo.
“Yes. And I’ve spoken with the twins. Everything is in place, thetargets won’t be able to move without us knowing about it,”she explained, confirming the surveillance I’d asked to be put in place on my father and Welch in case they got wind of what was happening and tried to flee.
“Good. Can you take Willow and clean her face up before joining themeeting?”
“Of course,”Cleo replied, giving Willow a soft smile.
Willow’s hand tensed in mine, and I turned to face her.“Cleo will keepyou safe,”I said, staring into her beautiful orbs. I gently stroked a thumb over her chin, her body relaxing at my touch.
Lightly, so as not to hurt her, I brushed my lips against hers, the tasteof copper hitting my tongue, and an air of finality about it. When I pulled away, she gave me a quizzical look.“I had to kiss you one last time, Mouse, because in a few minutes, you’re going to go back to hating me, and you’ll have every right to.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but I shook my head, telling her notto ask any questions. With a final kiss to her forehead, I walked away, knowingthatafter this, I’d have no choice but to let her go.
There was once a time when I didn’t give a shit if she hated me. Now,I couldn’t bear the thought of it.
Ethan Rivers, Harrison Stone, and Gabriel Evans were waiting in mymeeting room. They sat on one side of the table, a space next to Ethan where my father should be sitting; their usual seating order whenever a Legion meeting was held.
“About time, James,”Ethan snapped as I closed the door behind me.“Are you going to tell us what this is all about?”
“And why the hell you demanded we kept this from Eric?”Gabe, thetwins’ dad, chimed in.
I took a breath to ease the coilthathad tightened around my entirebody. If I couldn’t convince these three men of what I knew the truth to be, not only would I be putting Willow in danger, butIwouldn’t live to see another day. Not after what I’d done to Elijah.
“Firstly, I’d like to thank you for coming at such short notice. I assureyou, if this wasn’t such an urgent and sensitive matter, I wouldn’t have called you here. Yesterday, I learned of a betrayal by one of our own. My father. That’s the reason he isn’t here.”
The three of them blinked back at me, each one wearing the sameexpression.
Shock.
“That’s a serious allegation, James,”Harrison, Cleo’s father, said.“Iassume you have proof?”
“I do,” I replied.
I only hoped Ann fucking Milligan wouldn’t go back on her word to tellthe board everything she knew. I’d fully intended on burning her alive when I burned her mom’s house down to the ground in an‘accident,’but with the information she gave me, I knew I had to keep her alive.
At least for a little while longer.
A tense stillness descended as the three of them looked at eachother, a silent conversation taking place between them.
They had a strange relationship. Whereas the heirs to Legion - me,Jackson, Cleo, Zayden, and Brody - were firm friends, the current leaders were definitely not. At one point, they had been close, but over the years cracks appeared in their friendships, the pressure of ruling Legion breaking them apart.
I supposed it was somethingthatcould happen between me and theothers, but it was always something we’d been aware of, and we’d all agreed to try our hardest not to turn out like our asshole fathers. We wanted to be the best leaders Legion had ever seen.
“Verywell,”Ethan said.“We’ll hear you out, and if what you aresaying is true, your father will be dealt with for his betrayal.”
“Thank you.” I breathed a sigh of relief. That was the first hurdle done.
Before I could launch into everything I knew, the door opened again,and Jackson entered, followed by Cleo and Willow. In the short amount of time she’d had, Cleo had done a good job of cleaning Willow up. The blood smears were gone from her face, but the cut on her lip was obvious, and a bruise was forming on her jawline.
“Why is your wife here, James?”Gabe sneered, eyeing up Willow likeshe was a piece of shit on his shoe.“She isn’t Legion, she has no right to be at this meeting.”
“She has every right to be here. What I’m about to tell you involvesher,”I replied, letting them hear the authority in my tone.
Willow wasn’t going anywhere.
Gabe continued to sneer, but Ethan cleared his throat.“She can stay.Now tell us what the fuck is going on before I lose my patience.”
In the absence of my father, the head of the board, Ethan was the deputy.He would have the final say until my father returned to take his place. Only, in this case, I hoped my father would never be returning to his seat on the board.
