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“They’re going to try to push your limits,” he warned.
“I know,” I said. “I’m ready for it.”
“I can’t do anything to stop them if it gets too tough, and I can’t step in no matter how much I’m sure I’ll want to. You understand that right?”
I patted him on the back reassuringly. “I won’t need your help, Dad. I think I’ve proven I can handle myself, and this Initiation isn’t going to be any different than the other challenges I’ve faced.”
Satisfied with my answer, he nodded, shook my hand, and walked to join the other members. I took the opportunity to make my way across the room and join my buddies who had just arrived.
When Emmett and Walker saw me, they both lifted their glasses in a toast. “To the Initiate,” Emmett announced. “Good luck, man.”
Raising my glass, I said, “Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll need any luck. Just some Trials to pass like every man who did it before us. We’ve all faced harder things in life helping build our empires and legacy.”
“Don’t be so cocky,” Walker said. “You’ve been too busy to hang out with us lately. You haven’t heard the stories Sully has been dishing. These Trials sound like something out of a sick and twisted horror movie.”
“I haven’t been hanging out with you assholes, because I’m still recovering from the last time I went out drinking with you,” I said with a slanted grin. “I damn near blacked out that night and had a hangover that lasted days.”
Emmett chuckled. “Not our fault you’re a lightweight.”
He was right about that. I rarely drank because I didn’t like to lose control. And whenever I went to have “just one drink” with the guys, it never ended as planned. And I hated things that didn’t go as planned.
A silver cloak approached, and it took me several moments to truly grasp that the man who stood before me was my good buddy Montgomery Kingston. The silver seemed to ghost his appearance. It seemed foreign on him, and yet, he was just as much a member of the Order as my father and the rest of the men clad in silver.
“I hardly recognized you,” I said to him.
“He’s one of them now,” Walker teased. “I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that he can still speak with us.”
“Whatever, shut up,” Montgomery shot back with a smile as he drank from his tumbler. “You’ll all have your very own silver cloak soon enough.”
“Unless you pull a Sully, that is,” Emmett cut in. “How’s Rafe doing in his Trials now?” he asked Montgomery.
I was curious about that as well. Rafe and I would be overlapping for a short time during my stay here. I had no idea if we would see each other or not, but it did give me some sort of comfort to know I wasn’t completely alone in the Oleander.
“He’s doing as good as one can in the manor,” Montgomery said, and I could tell that was the extent of the information we were going to get. I understood this. I knew that Montgomery danced a line between being a member of the society and being our friend.
“Are you nervous?” Emmett asked as I focused my eyes on the white grandfather clock and saw we were approaching midnight. The ceremony would soon begin.
I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head side to side slowly. “Only thing I’m concerned about is my business. Even though my dad has been the CEO, I’ve really taken the lead on the day to day the past year. I’m worried about just how much I can do while locked in here. I don’t want to walk out in 109 days and see Radcliffe Jewelers in ruins.”
Walker huffed. “I don’t think you have to worry about RJ&I. When you own diamond caves, you’ve reached a completely different level than the rest of us. I think you have the luxury of taking some time off without worrying about the bottom line. I don’t see your rich ass ending in the poor house anytime soon.”
“Agreed,” Montgomery said. “As someone who tried to work all the time while I was going through my own Initiation, I can tell you it’s hard to keep your head in the game. This place is going to take a lot out of you. And it’s not just you that you have to worry about. Your belle is going to consume every waking moment while you’re here.”
I released a deep breath, realizing that the mention of a belle didn’t sit well with me. I wasn’t one for girlfriends because I just didn’t have the time in my life. I also didn’t want anything—especially female energy—adding chaos to my order. I understood I would have to work with a teammate, but that fact wasn’t something I looked forward to. I liked to perform difficult tasks alone. I was a solo artist. Me, myself and I. It worked best that way.
