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The only one I’m really surprised about is Ian. He normally takes direction well even if he’s an ass. The only time he’s ever popped off to one of us in a way that could get him in trouble has been directly related to Jade. So what is it now?
We should have brought Holden too. I didn’t think we would need another cool head to help keep the others in check.
“Am I interrupting?” I taunt as I walk further into the room.
Kade relaxes for a moment before he spots Charles behind me and is immediately back on guard. Practically vibrating with his anger. I sigh to myself. I knew this was coming. I study Luca to find him only marginally more composed.
All of a sudden, I’m thankful Declan and Noah both came into the room to check on me. I’m going to need all the backup I can get on this.
“Scar,” Ryder calls my name with relief. A smile gracing his face. I know they are all worried about me and tensions are running high but we need to continue forward. We can’t afford to get entangled in our pasts. Our mission hasn’t changed.
Romano first.
Then the four men who broke me.
All five of them will be erased from this planet and the world will be a better place for it.
As everyone spreads out around the room, Charles stays just behind me, almost not even in the room. Joe leaves his side to move across from me, while Declan and Noah flank my sides.
No one bothers taking a seat. Too revved up to even consider it.
Might as well jump into the thick of it.
“From this day forward, we will be working with Charles.”
As expected Kade opens his mouth to yell his opposition. “Scar!”
I hold my hand up. “No.” My stance is firm. There will be no changing my mind on this. We have a golden opportunity and while I may not fully trust Charles, I trust myself enough to know this has more pros than cons. Any trouble he may try to start wouldn’t come close to being enough to bring us down.
“Letty.” Luca tries next, his voice no more than a threatening growl.
“I said no,” I repeat, my voice harder. Rolling off my tongue with the grit of my agitation.
I turn to where Charles stands in the shadows. “Time to give me all of the information you can. But I’ll have you know, I’m not the girl you once knew.”
“I know,” he says almost silently.
“No, you really don’t,” I laugh. “You think you do. But I’ve spent the last eight years dealing with monsters just like your father. Turning into a monster of my own brand. I have my own claws, my own fangs now. Dripping with poison and ready to kill at a moment’s notice. You have no idea what I’m capable of. The blood I’ve spilt. The blood I crave. Just how creative I can get when someone even thinks about betraying me. Don’t make me provide a demonstration. Okay?”
Charles moves forward from the shadows, yet still the man shows no fear. It’s something I just can’t understand. He’s had guns trained on him, been kidnapped, threatened, and none of it has made him even blink.
Though, he isn’t wholly unaffected by my little speech. No, his demeanor shifted with each word out of my mouth. Just not the reaction I anticipated. He seems weighed down in his grief. It sparks tears in my eyes and anger in my veins all at the same time.
I don’t want him to be sad about who I became.
And yet… I can’t stop being sad for the kids we used to be either.
No matter how happy I am in my life now, with the family I built for myself, it will never change the fact that my current happiness was born from the tragedies that destroyed me. I’ll never stop being sad about everything I lost in that fire eight years ago.
“You should believe her,” Ryder adds cheerfully, breaking up the emotional atmosphere. “She threatened to cut off my dick and make me choke on it when she thought I might be lying to her.”
A surprised laugh eddies up out of me. I’m not the only one either. I look at Ry and know he did it on purpose. It makes my smile all that much more genuine.
He looks around the room and shrugs. “What? Felt like he needed a nice and clear picture.”
I shake my head as I wave to everyone to sit down so we can get to planning. I can’t help but notice that Charles does look just a bit paler than before. I should have known. Even a man who isn’t afraid of death is afraid of losing his dick.
Just about everyone follows my direction, except for Kade and Luca of course. Charles hesitates, but only for a moment before taking a chair directly on the other side of the coffee table from where I sit on the couch. Joe takes a seat at his side and after a quick look in my direction, Ian takes the one at his other side.
