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“We’re aware The Order has a new leader.”
“Have you harmed them?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“When and where?”
“How many should we expect?”
“My council and I will be waiting.”
Thane ends the call and moves to the center of the platform. “The Order’s new leaders have requested a meeting with us. They want to discuss the feud between The Fellowship and The Order.” Discuss the feud?
I don’t care about the feud. “Are they returning Westlyn and Ellison?” That’s all I can care about right now.
“No.”
“It’s a setup, Dad,” Mitch calls out. “Has to be. The Order has never reached out to us with anything but malice.”
“I don’t think it is. These are new leaders—the husband and son of Arabella Grieves Hendry. Their interests differ from Torrence’s.” I have no idea who these new leaders are but they’ve joined The Order—the source of so much pain for my people. And now me.
“How do we know we won’t be walking into a trap?” Sin asks.
“Because as a sign of good faith, they are coming here for the meeting. They know we won’t harm them. If we do, it will mean certain death for Westlyn and Ellison. They’ll be here soon so I need everyone with exception of Isobel, the council, and the guards to clear the property.”
“Westlyn is my daughter. I’m not leaving.”
“You’re skating very thin ice with me, Torrie.” Thane’s patience is approaching an end with my mother.
“I have the right to sit in Abram’s place to negotiate for her return.”
Mum has always been one to force you into putting her in her place. And now is no exception. “No. You don’t have the right. I hold Dad’s seat now. It’s mine. I will be the one to sit beside Thane and Sin to assist in negotiating Westlyn’s return. Your job is to shut your mouth and go home to wait with Evanna.”
My mum opens her mouth to reply but I cut her off. “And in case you aren’t thoroughly pissed off, I love Ellison MacAllister. I’m going to make her my wife when this is over . . . if she’ll have me after all of this.”
“Love her? The American outsider? You’re a fool. You’re a doctor. You don’t fight. You bring no honor to the family. And now you want to enter into an unadvantageous marriage.” My mum shakes her head. “If you marry her, you will no longer be my son.”
My decision is an easy one with that kind of ultimatum. “You were always too concerned with being the wife of a leader to be any kind of mother to me. Ellison has loved me more in the short amount of time we’ve been together than you have my entire life.”
“You’re choosing her over our family?” Ellison will be my family.
“I’m choosing her over you.”
“Done. You’re dead to me. I renounce you as my son.” She turns away and walks toward the front door. “Thane, I’ll be at home waiting to hear from you about my daughter’s return.”
My mother just disowned me and oddly I’m not sad about it. I’m certain her absence in my life will not feel like a loss at all. It’s a relief. No more criticism. No more disapproval. No more judgment.
It’s freeing.
As is my announcement about loving Ellison.
I hear the murmurs about Ellison and me and I don’t care. I’m ready to do whatever it takes to make her mine forever.
Isobel comes to me and puts her hands on my face. “I’ll gladly be your mum if she doesn’t want to be. I’m very proud of all you’ve accomplished. You are not a disappointment to The Fellowship or me at all. Not even a little.” Those are the words a mother should say to her child.
“You’ll never know what that means to me. Thank you, Isobel.”
“All brothers should be in one place. I want you to go to the warehouse and await orders. This may not end peacefully. We could be forced to proceed with the takeover. Possibly tonight if this meeting doesn’t well.”
I hope it doesn’t come to that. Thane’s not fully recovered from his case of acute kidney failure. It took a toll on him. I see it in his skin color and the dark circles beneath his eyes.
Once the brothers are gone we go into the dining room to await the arrival of The Order’s new leaders. “They aren’t coming here for nothing. What do you think they want?” Sin says.
“They’re aware of our strong relationship with Dublin. I’m sure they’ve heard about The Guild’s new connection for arms and explosives. You know how The Order loves their weapons. They’re probably frothing at the mouth to make nice with The Guild. Maybe they believe they can do that through us.”
Thane throws out a few more theories but my gut isn’t feeling it. This meeting feels like more.
“What do you know about the brotherhood they’re from?”
“They’re called The Syndicate. Their brotherhood is referred to as the sleeping giant because they’re peaceful—with more allies than enemies—until you fuck with them. And then they’re nasty. Horace Grieves wanted their brotherhood as an ally rather than an enemy so he arranged a treaty to marry his daughter Arabella to Lennox Hendry, the leader’s second son.”
One of the guards calls out from the front of the house. “They just arrived, boss.”
“Show our guests in.”
I’ve never been part of a meeting with another brotherhood. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m desperate to come to some kind of agreement that involves Westlyn and Ellison coming home safely tonight.
Out of respect, we stand when the five Order members come into the dining room. “Welcome. I’m Thane Breckenridge. These are my sons Sinclair and Mitch. And my nephew Jamie Breckenridge—Abram’s son.”
I see a flash of recognition in the eyes of Lennox, and I wonder if my father ever committed any crimes against their brotherhood. It’s a definite possibility.
“I’m Lennox Hendry. These are my sons Kieran, Maddock, Calder, and Carson.”
Thane nods. “Come. Sit. Let’s have a drink.”
Isobel comes into the dining room with a serving tray of glasses and a large bottle of dark amber. “Every great meeting has always begun with a fine whisky. Don’t you agree?”
Lennox nods. “Aye. Indeed.”
Isobel begins with our Order guests and works her way around the table until everyone has a glass of whisky. Lennox’s eyes never leave Isobel. Not once. “Anything else, Thane?”
“That’ll be all. Thank you.”
Thane holds up his glass. “Here’s to a productive meeting where we’re able to come to a mutual agreement.”
“What’s this meeting about, Lennox?”
“You’re aware of my backstory with Arabella? How she came to be my wif
e as part of a treaty?”
“Aye.”
“At The Syndicate, our belief is to operate with as few rivals as possible. And The Order has far too many powerful adversaries to ever function at its full capacity. We’d like to change the way it operates to mimic The Syndicate. That means making you our allies rather than our enemies.”
“The Order has been a cruel group of people. What makes you sure that as a whole, they’re going to support this?”
I share Thane’s opinion. Those people behave as animals. I’ve seen up close and personal the work of their cruelty. And that’s the way they like it.
“The people of The Order enjoy brutality because Torrence did. It’s what they were taught. It’s all they know. They need to be retrained to enjoy something else. I can do that.”
“How do you propose to do that?”
“Only one way—rule over them with an iron fist they fear. Sure, it’ll take making examples out of some brothers but I’m prepared to do it. A few public executions always put people in their place.”
“Our people will be resistant to this.” I’m resistant to it now.
“I understand there’s been a lot of spilled blood between you, but the benefits of partnering with us outweighs any grudge you hold. It will do nothing but benefit you and your people once we get things on track.”
“If we do this, I would have to insist on some type of insurance.” Why the fuck is Thane even considering this?
“We’re prepared to give you that, and we want our own insurance. We’d like to propose a double treaty. We take Westlyn or Evanna Breckenridge or Ellison MacAllister as a wife for Kieran and as a sign of good faith I’ll give you my daughter, Shaw, to be married to Mitch or Jamie.”
No fucking way. That’s not happening. “We’ll never give a one of them to you.”
“You didn’t give us Westlyn and Ellison but we have both of them,” Kieran says.
“You’re not keeping Ellison or my sister.”
“Jamie, you sit on the council but this isn’t your choice. Dad and I will make the decision based upon what’s in the best interest of our people as a whole.” How I hate Sin’s dominant tone.
