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I step into him, ignoring the way he towers over me with that intimidating stare. “One problem, big guy,” I murmur, raising my chin and letting him see the challenge in my eyes. “I’m the rightful heir. I could take it all away.”
Zade scoffs. “You’d have to prove it first.”
“Honestly? That’s what you’ve got?” I question. “Someone stands before Empire and makes a bold claim like that and you don’t expect an organization like this to take a DNA sample? Really now, I’m disappointed.”
“In the real world, yeah. That’s exactly how it would work, but not here. I dare you, walk back into that compound and tell them exactly who you are. Tell them what Nikolai told you and see how fast you get a bullet between your eyes.”
I clench my jaw, anger burning through me. “Hear me when I tell you, Zade DeVil. I will take Empire from you. I will take your power and destroy you with it.”
He grins at me, taking my waist and pulling me in hard against his wide chest. He stares into my eyes, my defiance making something come alive within his dead eyes. “Go ahead,” he challenges. “But the only way you’re getting it is if you take it from my cold dead hands.”
Chapter 27
SAWYER
Leaningforward,Ibracemy elbows against my knees as Dalton, Cross, and I stare at the numbers on the elevator, impatiently waiting for Zade to bring Oakley back to us.
None of us could have seen just how hard it was going to be to keep this chick alive. The way she keeps escaping us . . . It’s as though she’s asking for someone to slit her throat. Does she not understand just how brutal this will be? Our world is not for the faint-hearted. It’s vicious, cold, and powerful, and she’s shitting all over it as though they’ll never be able to touch her.
I swear, Oakley Quinn is fucking hot, but if she tries to escape us like that again, I’ll make her remaining days hell on earth. Sitting in that bar and waiting for her to finish her shift, not knowing she’d slipped out the back door . . . Fuck, she made a fool of us all.
We split up. I went to the apartment complex, Dalton and Cross checked the streets, and Zade went to the compound.
We received a text from him forty minutes ago stating he’d found her, and now I’m itching for her to show up so I can give her a piece of my mind. I don’t know why I’m so worked up about this. I should’ve been able to calm myself by now, but the frustration keeps building. Keeps blasting through my system like a fucking hurricane.
In thirty days she’ll be gone, so tell me why the fuck the idea of her being in danger makes me feel like tearing the world apart to get her back? We don’t even talk. I fucked her a few times and it was phenomenal, but as far as our encounters go, that’s about it. It doesn’t make sense for me to be so messed up about this.
The elevatordingsits arrival, and we’re on our feet before the door even opens. Oakley walks out first, her gaze locked on the ground, and it’s clear she’s received some kind of hell from Zade. Out of all of us, she drew the short straw to be found by him. That motherfucker would have made her wish for death. I can only imagine the bullshit that went down when he found her.
Zade follows her out of the elevator, and step forward, ready to let her have it when Zade holds up his hand, cutting me off. “Sawyer, stop,” he says, a strange tone in his voice that has me pausing mid-step. “We gotta talk.”
The fuck? Talk?
My gaze cuts to Oakley, wondering if this has something to do with her before turning to Dalton and Cross, who wear the same confused expression. “What the fuck is going on?” I question, unease settling into the pit of my stomach. I’ve known Zade since we were kids, and he’s never once told me we need to talk.
He hesitates, and I see from the look in Oakley’s eyes that she knows exactly what this is about. But she wouldn’t dare speak a word, not when Zade has already made his intentions clear to take point on this. Neither of them look at Dalton or Cross, making it clear that whatever this is has everything to do with me.
“I found her at the compound,” Zade starts. “She was in the basement, tied up, wrists and ankles bound.”
“The fuck?” Dalton spits, his back stiffening and he looks over Oakley, making sure she’s in one piece. “Who?”
Zade’s stare remains on me. “Your father, man,” he says, a hint of anguish in his eyes. “He wanted to kill her to keep me from completing the ritual.”
My brows furrow and I shake my head. “Nah, that’s not right. Have you met my father? He’s a prick at the best of times, but he doesn’t make fucking power plays like that.”
Zade rubs his hands over his face and walks into his dining room, turning his back to us and bracing himself against the table. “There’s more,” he states, pain in his tone. “Something you all need to know.”
Oakley hovers awkwardly by the elevator before shuffling slightly closer, not wanting to miss whatever’s about to go down in here.
Zade takes a heavy breath before finally turning to face us, an acceptance that doesn’t belong flashing in his hard stare. “Despite everything we’ve been told and knew to be fact, I am not the heir of Empire. The blood does not run through my veins.”
“What?” Dalton grunts, glancing around to make sure we’re all equally confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Her,” Zade mutters, turning a filthy stare on Oakley. “She is the heir, the only living heir, and it’s why her name was put forward for protection.”
My gaze snaps to Oakley, taking her in with disbelief, trying to wrap my head around what Zade just said. Oakley is the heir. “How is that even possible?”
Zade shakes his head. “A secret adoption after my grandparents failed to conceive an heir. My father didn’t share my grandfather’s DNA.” He turns that stare back on Oakley. “But apparently she does.”
