Page 1 of Covenant

PROLOGUE

WYATT

“Did you see the body they found hanging from the overpass?”

The question isn’t directed at me. It’s not even in a conversation I’m a part of, but I hear it all the same. As does everyone in the near vicinity, I imagine.

It’s a stupid fucking question. Everyone at this party must’ve seen it. It’s been plastered all over the news for days now, there’s no escaping it. It’s almost as if whoever did it is fanning the flames of the fire, keeping it fresh in the public’s mind.

Likely because of the word crudely carved into the man’s chest.

Trafficker.

It might’ve been a stupid question, but it’s not as stupid as the response.

“From what I heard, it was the work of The Firm.”

I can’t see who spoke, but I can guess though. There aren’t many people who lack the appropriate brain cells to know that openly discussing The Firm is a bad idea.

Spinning on my heel, I give both Donald and Greg a withering look. “If that were the case, it’s not something we should be discussing here now, is it?”

Here,meaning in my penthouse apartment, surrounded by my colleagues and friends. These two fuckwits had barely scraped onto the guest list. It was only Jen’s insistence that we invite all the colleagues from my law firm that made me concede.

All around us, the party is unfolding with effortless grace. The countless hours Jen put in to organize this is paying off, something I’m sure she’s thrilled by. Everything from the monogrammed napkins to the 1920s-themed appetizers being passed out is exactly like her vision board.

Not that I give a fuck. I figured we’d have a small dinner to celebrate our engagement. As always with Jen, she had other plans.

Plans that made a sizeable dent in my bank balance. But it’s fine. If Jen is happy, then I’m happy.

Besides, my family is here. Well, the only family member I care about. From the corner of my eye, I seek out Jackson, checking in on him as I’ve been doing throughout the evening. At seventeen, my brother has his whole life ahead of him.

So long as he stays on the right side of the tracks.

Red colors Greg’s cheeks as he mutters something into his wine glass. Donald, however, once again proves that he never fucking knows when tostop talking.

“I’m just saying, who else would pull off such a stunt?”

I glare at them stonily. “And I’m just saying, that’s not a topic for tonight.”

“Wyatt is right.” The smooth voice at my side has my already tense muscles stiffening further. “Tonight is for celebration. Isn’t that right, Wy?”

I’m not the only one tense. Donald and Greg both pale, backing away a step.

I refuse to be cowed though. I plant my feet and turn to glare at the imposing man. He may like to tower over everyone, intimidating them with a simple look, but that won’t work with me. First, I am the same height as him. And second, the day I let Matthias Buckingham intimidate me is the day I’m put in the ground. “How many more times do I need to ask you to not call me that?”

Matthias’s ruthless smile is as cold as his eyes. “What’s wrong,Wy? Afraid to admit we have a past?”

I grind my teeth together.Don’t rise. He’s trying to get you to bite.

As always with Matthias though, my tongue runs away with itself. “Afraid to admit that you’ve only bested me thanks to nepotism and having your life handed to you on a silver platter? That I’ve worked my ass off to get to where I am, rather than relying on my family’s name and money? No, Matthias, I’m not afraid to admit that.”

His mildly amused expression tells me I’ve reacted exactly as expected. Fuck, I hate that. Ihatethat after all this time, he sees straight through me. “Ah, clinging to your tragic backstory to cover up the truth. How typically Wyatt.”

Fury rolls through me, so visceral I almost choke on it. “There’s nothing else, Matthias. You made sure of that—remember?”

Something flashes in his eyes, something close to the boy he once was. The one I’d trusted. The one who’d ripped everything away from me.

But it’s smoothed away as a slender arm slides around my waist, the stony lines I now associate with him seeping back in. No, he’s no longer the boy I used to know. He died along with my faith in humanity that day.

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