Page 61 of Reaper Flame

“We need to go back,” Zander said.

Vixen nodded in agreement. “Before Giles burns everything else we own.”

“I’ll increase the security at the club and in Seven Sins,” West said, already dialing. “I’ll order them to shoot on sight.”

“Giles wasn’t working alone,” I said. “Hiram’s behind this too.”

Burning the manor sent a clear message. Hiram wanted to destroy the future he planned for me. He’d intended for me to become the Briarly heir by succeeding Giles and killing Zander. After I abandoned him again, he wanted to make sure I’d have no fucking future at all. This was only the beginning.

West slammed his fists down on the table, making it rattle. “I’m going to kill that motherfucker!”

“You can take Giles,” I said. My muscles tightened with purpose. “But Hiram is all mine.”

“We’re going to do this together,” Zander said. “All of us.”

Mieko and Vixen looked at me and Zander curiously, sensing a shift between us, but didn’t ask any questions.

Rocky took a long drag of his joint and slowly released the sweet-smelling smoke out of his lungs. “It’s settled then. We’re going home.”

We needed to armor the fuck up because we were heading straight into a war.

* * *

“We’ll arrive at the nearest port in an hour,” Q said. “The helicopters are already waiting.”

“That’s not soon enough,” Zander snarled, checking his watch. “I knew we should have installed a helipad on the deck.”

“Quit being such a diva!” Vixen snapped as Q scurried away.“Cupid’s only trying to help!”

“Why don’t we pack our bags?” Mieko suggested, taking Vixen’s arm and steering her away from confrontation.

Arguing with each other wouldn’t help. The atmosphere had changed on the yacht since Giles called. We all knew that we couldn’t stay on board forever, but we’d not expected an iceberg to get in our way so soon, especially like this.

“You need to calm down, Zander,” I said as Mieko led Vixen away.

West and Rocky had already gone downstairs to collect their belongings, and it left the two of us alone.

“I’ll do what I want,” he snarled. His posture was rigid and tense. If he didn’t chill the fuck out, it’d take days to massage out those knots. “My manor is gone!”

“Your manor?” I raised one eyebrow. “Or the Sevens’ manor?”

“Same thing,” he replied, pacing up and down, mumbling under his breath. I hadn’t seen him so rattled before. “I can understand why Giles would want to burn the place down, but what’s in it for Hiram?”

“He’s sending me a message,” I answered. I bit my lip, debating whether to tell him about Hiram’s plan.Fuck it!It’s not like it mattered now the manor would soon be a pile of rubble. “If Rocky hadn’t miraculously come back to life, it would have beenmyfucking manor on paper.”

“The marriage… of course… that makes sense.” Zander stopped walking and turned to face me. Was that hurt in his eyes? “Why didn’t you say anything?”

I scoffed. “Because we hadn’t done any real talking until last night,” I reminded him, then rolled my eyes. “It doesn’t matter anyway. The only reason I wanted the manor was to screw you over.”

He grinned mischievously, despite his anger. “Does that mean you’re done with trying to screw me over?”

“We’re on the same side for now,” I replied. After last night, I had no idea where we stood. “That’s what matters.”

“I’ll make them pay for this,” Zander vowed. His gray eyes darkened like the sky before a storm.

“I always thought you hated the manor?”

“I do, but I hate my father more,” he said, then redirected his anger to his cousin. “Giles is going to regret this. All of it: the manor and marrying you. He won’t get away with it, Candy.”

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