Page 26 of We Will Rise

He’s the reason I’ve spent the last two decades thinking she didn’t love me enough to stay.

He’s the reason for every shitty fucking thing that’s ever happened to our family.

I tear Caleb from his seat and overpower him easily. He may be the same size as I am, but he hasn’t spent nearly as much time as I have in the gym sparring with Kovu and Kaos.

A chair falls backward behind me, but I’m too far gone to care where the sound is coming from.

“What did you just say?” I grit out through a clenched jaw. The pressure is painful, but it’s that pain that allows me to grasp hold of reality rather than allow the anger to drag me under.

Caleb has the audacity to smirk at me. “I killed your mother,” he says evenly, as if I’m not a moment from killing him where he stands. It would be so easy to end this.

So fucking easy to end him here and now.

“Bishop.” Camilla’s panicked voice forces its way into my rage-filled haze. “Bishop, please. You can’t do this here.”

But I can’t tear my eyes off Caleb and his smug fucking face. How is this man related to me? How the fuck did none of us see what a snake he truly is? He manipulated us because we trusted him. He tore apart our lives, and we never even knew it was him.

Everything that ever went wrong was him, and we never even knew it.

“Bishop,” Crew snaps as he tries to pry Caleb from my fists, but I’m not letting go. This has gone on for too long. If I kill him now, it’s all over. Who cares if I go to jail for murder? At least then we’re all safe. At least then Camilla’s safe.

“Camilla, back up,” Crew says, but then I feel her wrap her arms around me and rest her head against my back.

“Please don’t make me lose you too,” she pleads softly. “Please, Bishop. I won’t survive it.” It takes a moment for me to realize she’s sacrificing her own mask for the mission. She’s allowing Charles and Caleb to see her vulnerability to stop me from blowing everything into a million pieces.

I swallow heavily as I hold Caleb’s dark, amused eyes. I can’t do this here, but fuck, I want to, and I have no idea when or if I’ll get another chance.

“Do it,” Caleb challenges. “You know you want to.”

“Don’t fucking tempt me,” I growl.

“Caleb,” Charles says hesitantly. “We need to get out of here.”

He raises a brow at me, waiting for my next move, but I’m not ready to let him go yet. Not until I’ve got my point across. “I can’t fucking wait to have you strung up in the basement. You better believe we’re going to keep you alive for weeks while we torture you, just to make up for all the pain you’ve caused us.”

He chuckles. “That indicates any of you are going to survive what comes next, and I can assure you that you won’t. Your little whore just gave up any chance of any of you walking away from this alive.”

I raise my fist to punch him for insulting my woman, but a small hand wraps around mine and drags it down before I can get the hit off.

“He’s not worth it,” Camilla whispers. “We need to go. We’re making a scene, and the press will be here any second if they get wind of me being part of this.”

I force out a calming breath and drop my hand from Caleb’s collar, but don’t tear my eyes off his. “I hope you’re ready for a war.”

He laughs. “I think that’s my line.”

And then he’s gone. He and Charles disappear through the crowd of onlookers I didn’t notice before, and I drag Camilla against me, breathing in her scent to help calm my racing heart.

“Let’s go home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

KOVU

I’m bored as fuck.

Being idle is not something I’ve ever been very good at, but after almost being killed, I’m feeling even more restless than usual.

Which is how I’ve ended up working on Camilla’s surprise.

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