Page 65 of From the Ashes

CHAPTER FIFTY

KAOS

Iknow all families are kind of fucked up, but at this point, I feel like surely ours must be eligible for some kind of award.

Every word out of my father’s mouth is more insane than the last, and I’m struggling to make the connections as he walks us through how he outsmarted us and we never fucking knew about it.

And not only that, his claim on Bianca makes my stomach roll uncomfortably. I thought she had real feelings for me. I was the one who fell the hardest. I was the one who convinced the others to give her a go. Which means all of this is my fault, even if not directly.

I look up at Camilla, who has her eyes locked on the four of us. If we weren’t all about to die, she’d look hot as fuck. Her black cargo pants fit her shapely curves to perfection, while the dark long-sleeve shirt gives a peek at her round tits.

She drags her attention off us to look at Caleb. “I’m sorry, I must be missing a whole lot of context here. But why exactly would you help to build the Syndicate, go through all the effort of writing the bylaws and winning over the five families, only to go against those exact guidelines? It seems like a lot of time and effort if you were always planning to throw it all out the window.”

Caleb sighs, annoyance rolling off him in waves. “This is the problem with your generation, you can’t see the bigger picture. By doing things the way I did, I got all the money and clout attached with being a part of the Syndicate, as well as the money and reputation from the business I did on the side. Plus, when your little brother has overshadowed you your whole life, it’s a bonus when you can pull the wool over his eyes the way I did all these years.

“Hell, we were only in the beginning stages of the plan to climb the ladder when we found the psychopath over there covered in his parents’ blood. We both knew he’d be an asset, but when you have someone as unhinged as Kovu around, you need some collateral.”

“Joel,” Kovu says as his eyes flick to a man on his other side. His dark hair is filthy, and the oil that’s collected is flaking off onto his black shirt. His green eyes are dull and devoid of emotion, and I know just by looking at him that he’s the lowest kind of scum. But his name confirms it. It’s one Kovu used to scream in the middle of the night during his nightmares.

“While you were making a plan with Crew to end him for the things he did to you, I helped him make a new life for himself with the provision that when it was time for me to take you down, that he would be here to watch you burn.”

I flick my gaze back to Camilla, who has her glare set on Joel. Her gray eyes are burning with anger I don’t think I’ve ever seen before, and while Caleb is distracted with his story, she raises her gun and pulls the trigger without a whisper of hesitation.

The bullet hits Joel in the center of the forehead, and a moment later he collapses to the ground beside Kovu.

Holy fuck, why was that so hot? Who taught her to shoot like that?

By the time I look back at Camilla, she’s throwing her guns on the ground at her feet a moment before one of the men behind her tugs her against his body, causing my possessive instincts to go wild.

Caleb looks almost amused as he stares at her, and given he was fucking my last girlfriend the whole time we were together, I don’t love how he’s looking at her. “You’re a good shot.”

“I know.” She smiles. “And he needed to die for what he did to Kovu. It’s obvious he had already lived for much longer than he should have.”

“You’re right, he had. He was a liability, so I should thank you for taking care of it.”

“You could thank me by handing over my men, and we’ll get out of your hair.”

Caleb’s booming laugh fills the otherwise quiet night, and Camilla glares at him. “It’s cute that you think any of you are walking out of this cemetery alive.”

Without warning, the guy holding Camilla kicks her knees out from under her, and she hits the ground with a thud.

The man who still wears his ski mask drags her up onto her knees by her hair, but she barely flinches at the pain that must engulf her scalp.

Once she’s in position, Caleb crouches in front of her and grasps her chin between his fingers. Bishop growls beside me, the sound barely human, but he doesn’t move to lunge at them. Not when he’s so close to her. Not when he could hurt her so easily.

“Here’s what’s going to happen, Camilla. You’re going to choose. You can either choose one of your men to die, or I can force you to watch as I kill all of them and then you. What do you say?”

The color drains from her face as her eyes lock with mine. Up until right now, she seemed confident, but now, all that’s staring back at me is terror.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

CAMILLA

Listening to Caleb recite all his plans and how he’s beaten us is a lot like when the villain in a movie does their victory speech, except this time it’s not a movie, and somehow I have to choose which of my men to kill, or we all die.

I have no idea how far away backup is. They could be another twenty minutes out for all I know, because I made sure they knew not to come in dregs. Now I kind of wish I hadn’t set that parameter.

“Me. Kill me.” The words fall from my lips before I can stop them. “That’s an eye for an eye. Then they have to live without me the same way you’ve had to live without Bianca.”

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