Page 11 of Ruthless Legacy

My grandfather says, “But if you were to choose that route, I’ve no doubt a powerful guardian line would be happy to align with you and enter a marital contract.”

Mr. Rhodes, eyes bounce from me, to Holden, and then to Finn, before asking, “Is this something you’re interested in, son?”

Finn raises his gaze to meet his fathers. “Is there a way to get more information? I don’t wanna answer one way or the other, without knowing as much as I can, but it sounds intriguing. You know how much energy I have. This could be a good outlet for me to get some of that discipline Mr. Charles was talking about.”

“Finn!”

He turns, taking in the horrified expression on Eloise’s face. “Yes, Ellie?” He looks so sweet and love struck, the mask belying the rage and disgust I know he feels towards her.

“You um. You can’t be serious. I mean. This is a joke, right?” She gives a strained laugh.

“Oh, I’m quite serious. I’ve been feeling a little lost lately. Not all that sure where my future is heading. This may be the path I need to take.” His shoulders slump, as if the thoughts been weighing heavily on him.

“But if you do, w-we can’t get married.”

“Ah. Yes. I would have to sacrifice you.” With a small shake of his head, he says, “Isn’t that ironic?”

“What? What is?”

I know where this is going. Hell, the three blind mice can see where this is going. But Eloise is around here playing checkers, while Finn’s a chess master. “Ellie, your support and top-notch investigative skills seem to be the reason this opportunity has fallen into my lap. Think about how many other families might not know about this option.”

Looking at my grandfather, he asks, “Is this information that I’m allowed to share? I know some other students who may be interested, but I don’t want to break any rules.”

With a smile, my grandfather responds, “Share away Mr. Rhodes. The Guardians are always in recruitment mode, and while we have been focusing on transitioning the lower legacy families, individuals with high performance marks like yours would certainly be a welcome addition to the guardian ranks.”

Eloise cuts her eyes at me. I ignore her and dig into my lobster tail. My secret is already out, so I don’t have to push Finn to play nice with her, to keep her quiet any more.

Chapter7

Thea

Istep through the doors of the restaurant, quickly spotting Moira across the room. I scan the surrounding tables as I approach her. “Thea, thanks for coming,” she says, as I take the seat across from her.

“You said it was important. So…” I look around the restaurant again. “Where are they?”

“Where are who?”

I pick up my menu. “You know, the snobs I have to refrain from rolling my eyes at.”

“This isn’t a legacy event in disguise. It’s just us.”

Flipping the page, I ask, “Okay then, why the sense of urgency?”

“They’ve made a decision.”

I look up from the menu. My voice falls flat. “They.” I know who they are, and I was hopingthey’dleave me the fuck alone and forget I exist. I was hopingthey’drealize I’m not worth their attention. I guess Joshua’s charm offense worked better than my bitch one. “Okay, so what is it?”

“They’ve decided there’s not enough evidence to prove my father didn’t know what Hailee and I did. His provisional reinstatement has ended.”

“So he’s going back to Florida? Great. Celebratory drinks on me.”

She grimaces. “Not quite. They’ve also decided he can be useful in other areas of the organization. They gave him a choice, between continuing on as a defunct bloodline, or agreeing to be reclassified as a guardian line.”

“Guardian?” This is a new term to me. “I didn’t know there were any other kinds of lines in the billionaire boys’ club. What do they do?”

“The Guardians are sort of like a security force for hire. They work in the civilian and government sector.”

I snort and roll my eyes. She’s trying to be so PC about it. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me. The stabbed birds own a paramilitary company?”

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