Page 43 of Take My Throne

Chapter Sixteen

“I’ve called Declan and Romy. They’ll be here in a minute.”

Archer hands me another glass of brandy as I sit on his couch, shaking with rage and stress.

“I just can’t believe he did that, Archer. How could he? He murdered a good man, a really sweet man, right in front of me just because he had a conversation with you.”

I burst into tears, and Archer pulls me into his arms. He takes the brandy from me and places it on the coffee table so I can lean into him more.

“I’m sorry, Ivy,” he says. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to get information about your father from the guards.”

“No, you absolutely should,” I tell him. “We have to find a way to stop him before anyone else gets hurt. After what I saw today, it’s clear my father will do anything to further his ambitions. The sooner we deal with him, the better. And I want Lucas gone as well. He thought that what my father did to Dave was justified.”

“I can see where he’s coming from.” Archer’s words stun me, and I look at him in disgust.

“Not you, too.”

“No, no. I don’t mean it like that,” he says. “There were other ways of dealing with Dave that didn’t involve shooting him in the head right in front of you. But for a new kid on the block like Lucas, someone who’s still trying to establish himself in this town? It makes sense for him to align himself with Solomon. It’s not like the House heirs are interested in dealing with him, not when he’s taken you away from us.”

He reaches out to pulls me into his arms. I resist a little at first, still feeling wary, but my attraction to Archer wins out and I let him hold me.

We sit in silence, waiting for the other two to arrive. I am grateful Archer isn’t forcing me to talk. My mind is running at a million miles a minute. I am never going to forget what I’ve seen. I’m not sure what is more frightening. Seeing a man die, or the cold, dispassionate look on my father’s face when he pulled the trigger.

There is no way I am going to get pregnant by Lucas, not now, not ever. Not only had I no interest in sleeping with him, the second that baby was born, I’d be expendable and I am not sure I can trust Lucas to keep me alive. His loyalties lay with my father, not his wife.

There’s a knock at the door. As Archer goes to answer it, I pick up my brandy and take a sip. It feel like there isn’t enough alcohol in the world to numb my feelings, but it takes the edge off a little.

“Ivy! Are you okay?”

Declan comes rushing over to my side, Archer sits back where he was while Romy perches on the edge of the coffee table sitting immediately in front of me.

“Not really.” I take another large swig of brandy. “Although I shouldn’t be all that surprised that my father’s a murdering scumbag. The story about him selling the plane was a ruse put out there to flush out the mole my father thought he had in his security. The stupid thing is, I don’t think Dave was a mole. I don’t think there is a leak in security. My father’s just stupidly paranoid. Dave wasn’t feeding us information. He was simply making conversation with Archer. And what does it even matter if my father was selling his plane? That’s not something you kill a man over. It’s just too messed up to even think about it.”

I finish the last of my brandy, grateful for its warmth, and flop back into the cushions.

“So, what are we going to do now?” I ask. “Maybe some of my father’s paranoia is rubbing off on me, but I have a funny feeling he’s aware of our plot to assassinate him.”

“There’s no way he could be,” Declan says. “We’re the only ones who’ve talked about it and none of us would have told Solomon. So, unless he’s managed to bug us…”

We all look at each other, eyes wide. Of course! It made perfect sense. That’s why my father knew so much about my life. He’d bugged me.

“That’s impossible,” Romy says, gesturing to the rest of us to pretend we agreed with him. “Solomon isn’t intelligent enough to think of something like that.”

I have to stifle a laugh at that. If my father was listening to us, he’d hate hearing Romy say that.

Archer gets up and leaves the room. He comes back with a pen and paper. He scribbles a note and holds it up.

Ivy-–give me your phone. I’ll get one of our security experts to check it over right now. And it’s probably best if you strip off so we can check your clothes for bugs. Meantime, change the subject. Talk about school.

Take my clothes off? I grab the pen from Archer and scribble underneath his note.

Any excuse to get me naked…

Archer shrugs unapologetically. His suggestion does make sense. If my father is bugging us, we need to know now before we say anything else we don’t want him to hear.

I immediately hand Archer my phone, but I decide to have a little fun with getting him my clothes. I gesture to Romy to get off the coffee table as I stand up. He takes my place on the couch as I climb onto the table to give the boys a show.

“So, have you finished the music homework, Declan?” I ask, gesturing to them to keep the conversation going.

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