Page 151 of Prized Possession

I cast a glance over to my father, expecting to see a mixture of shame and anger glaring back at me, so I almost fall off my chair when I see pride.

He looks between me and Chloe, giving me a smile as he nods. I don’t need him to say anything to know he’s telling me to do the right thing.

I reach down and grab hold of Chloe’s hand. She gasps, her gaze flicking up to meet mine, and as I smile at her, her eyes grow wide. I reach out and wipe the tears from her eyes, ignoring whatever Scott is saying on the other side of the room.

With our fingers firmly laced together, I turn back to Caleb, who now looks confused.

“Thank you for your offer, but I’m going to have to decline. Chloe and I are together, and nothing will change that. I don’t care if it breaches the treaty, or if it means we have to go to war. I’m choosing Chloe, and I’m hoping she chooses me.”

As soon as I look over at my girl, she gives me her brightest smile, nodding her head as her tears fall even harder now. “Yes, I choose you, too.”

The kerfuffle on the other side of the room grows louder,and Scott’s chair smashes to the ground as he fights off his father’s hold and rushes forward. He pulls out a gun and aims it at me.

Without thinking, I stand and position myself between Scott and Chloe, pulling out my gun at the same time. Even though he’s aiming at me, my instinct is to protect her.

Shouting echoes around the room as Ewan tries to pull back his son. Before I know it, both my father and Caleb have drawn their guns and they’re aiming at Scott too.

Everyone is shouting, and I’m not sure who is saying what.

“Put your gun down.”

“Let’s all calm down.”

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Well, that last one was clearly Scott shouting at me, but other than that, I couldn’t make out much.

When the door to the room slams open, we all fall silent. None of us wants to take our eyes off the people pointing guns, so we go quiet to hear who just came in.

“Looks like the party started without us,” Jacob says.

“I hate when that happens,” Miles sarcastically agrees with him.

I turn to face the door, shocked to see Jake and Miles casually walking into the room like they’re just running a little late.

“What did I miss?” Jake asks, throwing a wink at me.

“What are you doing here, Jacob?”

Caleb is staring at his son with both shock and apprehension, his gaze dragging over him in an assessing way.

He’s clearly trying to work out if his son is sober, which he obviously is. It’s the brightest I’ve seen Jake’s chocolate eyes in a long time.

“I heard there was an emergency Council meeting. It sounded important, so I thought I better not miss it,” he replies, somewhat smugly, not even reacting to us pointing guns at each other.

Scott turns to Jacob, sneering at him like he’s disgusted to see him here.

“I thought you were in rehab? You’re not even on the Council anymore, and once I marry your sister, you won’t ever be.”

Jacob laughs at Scott, which only seems to make him more irate. Normally, that’s something I’d like to see, but as he’s pointing a gun at me, and his rage is making his hand shake, it has me a bit on edge.

“Well, as you can see, I’m here, and I’m healthy. It’s my right, as the Santoro heir, so I’ll be taking back my position on the Council. I’m also declaring that I approve of Chloe and Marcus’ relationship, meaning there is no breach of thetreaty, as far as I’m concerned. We will not be going to war with the man who makes my sister happy.”

He then turns to his father, fixing him with a stare.

“If you respect me, Dad, you’ll support me on this. If not, you can find yourself another heir. Though I’d suggest picking one a little more mentally stable, as Scott here looks like he’s about to burst a blood vessel.”

Miles chuckles from beside him, and Jake turns to smile at him. He then looks back to his father, who has turned very quiet.

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