Page 124 of Brutal King

“In all fairness, she tried to kill me too,” he throws in.

“Even my brother isn’t without fault.” I arch a brow at Rowan and he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “But I won’t air his dirty laundry because he’s family.”

“Thanks,” Rowan says, sarcastically.

“Yes, I took Sofia. But you’re no better than I am.” I look at every one of them.

“You tried to kill us all,” Noah states.

“Only a little,” I say, grinning. “You’re all still here, aren’t you?”

“My sister isn’t,” Carina adds, her stare focused on Scarlet.

“If you’re going to point the finger, it should be at your husband,” I tell her. “He’s the one that allowed her to join them at Flagler’s Marina. Alma shouldn’t have been there, and that is on him.”

Carina blinks, as if the thought had never occurred to her. She lowers her gaze and says nothing more.

“We’ve all done terrible things,” I continue with my speech. “But we’ve done them for the women we love.”

“You’re saying you love Sofia?” Luca asks, disbelief lacing his tone.

“I’ve been saying that for a long time.”

“What can we do to help?” Noah asks.

Now that the ice has been broken, discussion can begin in earnest. I fill them in on everything I know. They offer up solutions.

In the midst of all this, Arran asks, “Gideon, why would your father fake his own death?”

“This had probably been his plan all along,” Carina tells him. “To have Gideon finish the job. If he failed, Stephen could move on. But if he succeeded, he would swoop in and take it all.”

“And play dead for over a decade?” Arran asks her as if she has all the answers. Even I find myself waiting for her response. That is until I remember that, no matter how big of a brainiac she is, when it comes to Stephen Black, I know much more than she does.

“He’s a patient man,” I say. “Those years would have meant nothing to him if the reward was worth it in the end.”

“Train Gideon. Get him to take out his enemies and grow his empire. Fucking brilliant,” Gavin throws in.

“It was definitely a good plan if not even Gideon could see through it,” Noah says. “But why not just tell him? Why not include him in the plans?”

“Revenge,” Scarlet replies. “It’s a strong emotion that makes people do terrible things. Perhaps he knew without it, Gideon wouldn’t be willing to do the things he did.” She glances at me, her eyes filled with sadness.

Unable to take the pity, I leave the table and go to stand by the window. There are gardeners working outside, meticulously hedging and pruning the gardenia bushes that line the property. It seems almost violent the way they go about it, with their huge clippers and support sticks. Breaking off several branches in the process, training them into the form they wish them to be. Eventually, the bushes will grow into whatever shape the gardeners choose.

It’s how it’s done with plants. With mares. With people.

With me.

Every memory of my father I’ve clung to replays in my mind, only now, there’s a double perspective to it all. There is before he shot me, and there is after.

Falling into the pool was like a baptism that washed away the mud, allowing me to see both what Father wanted me to see, and the truth.

I’m scrambling to separate the two, and am horrified that even now, I’m trying to reconcile it.

There are vague memories of losing my mother. Having only Father to rely upon. He killed the men that took her life, promised to keep me safe.He was all I had.

At five years old, Rowan and Shannon came to live with us. But she was always crying, always unhappy. When I turned ten, she left. She took my little brother and ran. I begged Father to bring him back, but he told me the risk was too high. They could kill him. Kill me.He was all I had.

He brought me to Kingsbrook Manor to keep me safe. There were bad men out there that wanted to hurt him. I couldn’t leave the house. It was only us.He told me, he was all I had!

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