Page 150 of Savage Reign

I blinked. That was not what I was expecting her to say.

“Did you… did you just propose to Maverick?” Silas asked.

“Well, it doesn’t have to be to Maverick. It can be with any of you. I know I can’t marry all of you, at least not legally, but if you marry me, my inheritance will be yours. And more importantly, it will never be Sebastian’s.”

I shook my head. “We talked about this back at the hotel.”

“No, this is different. Before, when I didn’t know about the inheritance, I didn’t know what to think. But I trust you. All of you. And I love you guys so much. Are you… are you saying you don’t want to marry me?” she asked, a hint of vulnerability in her voice that got to me.

I stood up and walked around the desk. “You know that’s not it. I would marry you this very second.” I looked at my brothers and knew it was the same way for them. “We would marry you. But not like this, baby. Not when it feels like Sebastian is forcing you into the corner. We’re not taking your inheritance.”

“But I don’t want it. This inheritance has caused me nothing but problems and heartache. Do you know how it feels to know my father had only been keeping me around because of this? That he never loved me. In fact, now that I think about it, I was sure his feelings toward me were nothing but resentment.” Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and Killian frowned at her, tightening his arms around her waist. She glanced at him. “I never asked for it. I don’t want it now.”

“I don’t think marriage to one of us will make Sebastian leave you alone,” Silas said softly.

She nodded. “I know. I’m hoping this will get him mad enough that he’ll make a mistake. We can set it up where he thinks he can get to me. Then you guys can stop him.”

Was she saying what I thought she was saying?

“Are you telling us to use you as bait?”

“Over my dead fucking body,” Killian growled, standing up and glaring down at her.

She squirmed. “It’s a good plan.”

“We’re not using you as fucking bait, so you can forget about this plan of yours right now. Right?” Killian looked at me, as if he really thought I would ever entertain the idea.

“We’re not using her as bait,” I said. And if she keeps saying shit like this, I might pull a page from Killian’s book and spank her ass red until she repents.

“It’s not happening. You will never fucking leave this house,” Killian said. She looked at me, thinking I might help her. Unlucky for her, I agreed with Killian.

“But—”

Killian pointed at her, shutting her up. “No.”

He reached down and hoisted her up onto his shoulder. She looked over at us as if asking for help. She was asking it from the wrong people. I crossed my arms over my chest, still pissed she would even suggest something like that.

“Where are we going?” she asked Killian.

He spanked her ass once. “Getting you ready for bed. Then I’m tying your cute ass to it to ensure you won’t ever leave for the rest of the night.”

She squirmed. “What if I have to use the bathroom?”

“Tough,” came his curt reply before walking away with her.

Silas looked at them, yearning in his eyes.

“Aren’t you going to join them?” I asked.

Something dark passed over his eyes. He crossed his arms but didn’t answer me.

“You know what happened wasn’t your fault, don’t you?”

“Wasn’t it?” he asked, his voice low.

“No,” I said, making sure he could hear the conviction in my voice. “You were outnumbered. You did the best you could, butthey planned it all along. Things got messed up. And we fucked up by not realizing how many more men Sebastian actually managed to recruit.”

Silas uncrossed his arms and looked down at his hands. They were dirty with dry blood. “I told her to run. I gave her the fucking keys, and she just stood there.” The last two words were gritted out. He was angry with her. Probably not as angry as he was with himself, but still angry. I understood. I would have been too. Hell, I was furious.

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