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Dorian held up his hands and chuckled. “Now, let’s not blow it out of proportion.” Apparently, he was going to try to gaslight me so he could absolve himself of guilt. Not fucking happening.
“Notice that you didn’t apologize once in that. Don’t you think you should be doing a little bit of groveling for harming the mate of your brother and your nephews?” I sat back and crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow.
His eyes shifted to the others, who just stared back at him, not giving anything away. He had no clue if they were ready to kill or forgive.
“I apologize for the misunderstanding,” he said, but the sarcastic undertones were all too obvious. The man truly was obtuse. This was his opportunity to make amends, and he was fumbling it.
“Do you have a genuine bone in your body, or do you lie to everyone’s faces and expect them to buy it? Surprising, if so. You’re a shit liar, Dorian.”
His face went from a pale beige to deep red. The guys shifted in their chairs and leaned forward a bit, almost as if warning him to watch himself.
“I won’t have an omega talk to me that way inmyhome!”
And there it was.
“So it’s because I’m an omega that you think you can disrespect and torment me? Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. What was the point in sending these guys after people in the trafficking ring if you view omegas the same way? Will we findyourname on that client list, Dorian?”
My question was met with more blank stares. He looked at Cyrus like he expected him to rein me in, and when his brother said nothing, his face darkened. I was expecting the man to have a heart attack at this rate.
“You have no idea what or who you’re dealing with. I would shut up now while you still can,” he threatened.
That had Cyrus moving closer to me. “Watch your tone with my mate.” His warning was slow and purposeful, each word punctuated with a pause for emphasis. The two men who stood behind Dorian put their hands on their guns but didn’t go any further. I noticed that they both looked conflicted. If he was like this all the time, I doubted he had as much loyalty as he thought.
Narcissists were often delusional.
“I believe our mate asked you a question,” Sterling said. His voice was hard, and he was gripping the edge of the table hard enough that it looked like it hurt. My mate was losing control, fast.
“Of course I’m not part of the ring, and you will not find my name on that list,” he finally answered. “I brought you here to eat, not to be interrogated by an omega who’s bitten off way more than she can chew.”
“Yet this omega survived your torture, and what did you gain from it? Not a goddamn thing,” I said. Now, I was livid, so much so that I reached over and took one of Cyrus’ guns, pointing it directly at Dorian’s face. The confident way I held it had his bodyguards pulling their own guns out, though they didn’t aim them at me, probably because my mates already had their guns trained on them. There was no winning for the poor betas who’d backed the wrong Shaw.
“Calm down. We don’t need all this drama,” Dorian said, fumbling for words again.
Cyrus cocked his gun. “I’m going to ask you one more fucking time. What else have you been lying about?”
Dorian lost his cool, his panic finally winning. “You have no idea what it’s like to run a Family as big as ours. You were never up to the task! How dare you question me. You don’t get to put stipulations on whatIdo. This is my Family now, not yours.”
It was so close to a solid admission of guilt, though of course he danced around it. That seemed to be his tactic. It was easy to read between the lines… He’d stepped into the one area his brother was adamantly against.
“What about Alvarez and Larkin…. Hell, even the senator?” Weston asked. “You had me demand answers and find a connection, but why, if you yourself was involved. And think before you answer, Dorian. Your life is on the line. As is the entire empire that we’ve built.”
“Alvarez was getting in my way,” he said simply. “Henry Burke seems to think he runs this town, but I assured him he had no real standing here.” Dorian spoke with delusional confidence that said he truly thought he was the king of North Harbor in his own right.
“So you’re trying to take over the trafficking ring,” Hayes concluded. Dorian’s face flashed through several emotions before it settled on cold detachment. He was caught in his lies, and it was all on the table now. There was nowhere to run.
Dorian didn’t deny it. “It’s untapped potential, and we need to make our mark there. Not being involved in this is a weakness on our part. The top members of this fucking city thrive there, and we need the connections. Plus, having an omega on demand to fuck and torture? Well, that’s a bonus.” He laughed and looked right at me.
“You’re a sick man,” I said with a shudder.
“Bailey, if you don’t do it, I will,” Cyrus said. “This man is undeserving of his position.” There was resignation in his voice. He’d made his choice and signed off on his brother’s death warrant no matter whose hand delivered the sentence.
I turned to the cook, who was frozen behind the counter, her shaking hand clutching a knife mid-chop.
“You need to go,” I told her.
“Don’t worry, she won’t talk,” Sterling said as the cook practically ran from the room. Her hands were on the back of her head like that could somehow protect her from a bullet.
“Choose your sides now,” Sterling warned the two guards. They immediately pointed their guns right at Dorian, no hesitation in the decision.
