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Chapter 2
Fox~
Not being able to sleep for shit last night, I’d gotten up early, getting ready for the day, ready to mainline coffee straight into my veins if I had to. While it was expected that Kincaid wouldn’t be at any of her classes today, the rest of us didn’t have an excuse. Even though the news of August Remington’s untimely death was sure to bring about all kinds of news vans, it would be Kincaid’s name in the news, not ours.
With an hour before my first class of the day was scheduled to begin, the knock at my door didn’t surprise me. In fact, I’d been kind of surprised that I had been allowed to come back to my condo in relative peace after last night. There was nothing like your parents coming down on you like the wrath of God to remind yourself that you still had people to answer to, even if you were grown.
Answering the door, I barely had time to move out of the way before Walter and Ireland Harrington were barging into my place. It was no secret that they were probably upset, my father for legal reasons, my mother for emotional ones. As a federal judge, the legal aspects for anything would always enter his mind first.
After shutting the door, I turned to face my parents, both looking tired as hell. They probably stayed up until early this morning conjuring all kinds of ‘what ifs’ in their head.
God bless them.
“I told you to stop seeing her,” my father hissed, not bothering to pussyfoot around.
“We’re not doing this, Dad,” I replied.
“She killed August Remington,” he stressed. “Jesus Christ, Fox.”
“Why is everyone so centered on the fact that Kincaid killed August, rather than the fact that he attacked her?” I snapped. “She didn’t kill him. She defended herself, and the sorry fuck got what he deserved.”
“Fox, it’s not that simple-”
“Oh, but it is,” I corrected.
“Kincaid is unpredictable,” he nearly roared. “That girl has a reputation that-”
“That would lead the fucking organization if she’d been born a man,” I spat. “You know it. Hell, everyone knows it. While a lot of the members might be intimidated by our initiating class, they’re actually scared of Kincaid, and the panel is on edge because of it. Right?”
“Fox-”
“So, answer me this, Dad?” I said, talking over him. “Why would a group of some of the most powerful men on the planet be afraid of a twenty-two-year-old college student?” I stepped to him. “What does she know, Dad? What does she have on you guys that you’re shitting your pants because she’s proven that she can kill a man and still sleep like a baby at night?”
My father’s back straightened, but we were the same height, so it went nowhere to intimidating me. “We’re not afraid of her,” he lied. “However, your commitment is supposed to be to The Order first, not each other. You boys are…bonding dangerously, and everyone sees it.”
“Then why put us together?” I asked, my voice full of ire. “If you knew that we’d be this formidable as a group, why initiate us all together?”
He let out a deep sigh. I wasn’t sure how deep his confidentiality obligations went, but while he was on the governing panel, he was still my father. “We knew that you boys, as a group, could take us to a new level of power,” he admitted. “We never imagined that Stone Lexington would enact a Hera contract, turning everything on its head, though.”
“Okay, I get that,” I conceded. “But why let Saxton select Kincaid if you guys were so wary of her.”
“Because the contracts and traditions don’t allow for it,” he answered. “The very foundation of what we are is based on trust. The bond between a sponsor and his supporter is so important that we don’t interfere in the selection. As long as they pass the background checks, there are no issues. The only time that we step in is if a situation such as Ross’, August’s, and yours occurs where you have to select a new supporter.”
I knew most of what he was already telling me, so it wasn’t anything new. I knew the rules when it came to selecting your supporter. The only thing that didn’t make sense was that The Order would give us any kind of power like that. For a group of assholes who prized control, they’d left a lot of loopholes in those contracts. Whatever came of our initiating class, I’d bet my left nut that some rules were going to be changed after this.
“Well, I don’t know what you want me to say, Dad.” I looked between him and my mother. “Last night doesn’t change anything.”
“Fox, you need to consider what all this means for you?” Mom said, finally adding her two cents. “While I have no doubt that Kincaid didn’t mean to hurt August, you cannot tie yourself to a girl who killed a Remington and think that it won’t affect your future to a Supreme Court seat.”
“Fine.”
“F…fine?” she sputtered.
“Fuck the Supreme Court,” I replied. “Let Cotton make you guys proud.”
“You know very well that Cotton isn’t…ideal for-”
“Ideal?” I mocked. “Oh, c’mon, Mom. Cotton’s a douchebag who wouldn’t know how to tie his shoes if you didn’t pay someone to do it for him, then turn around and tell him what a good job he did.”
