Page 20 of Dark Succession
She froze, searching his face. There was a heavy knowledge in his eyes. “Papa…” She forced herself to stop talking andthink. He’d been in this line of work far too long not to recognize what the bruises on her throat meant. He might not know who put them there, but he must suspect something or he would be grilling her for more information the same way Teague had.
Does he know?
Papa moved around his desk and set his hands on her shoulders. “I failed you once, Callie. Let me make it right.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then he walked away, leaving her staring at the empty chair behind his desk.
He knows.
She reached blindly for a chair and stumbled over to sink into it. Her father knew she was the one who killed Brendan—had probably known from the second the news got out. She’d done her best to slip her tail, but someone had seen something. Callie touched her still-tender neck, guilt making her want to curl into a ball and sob.
Papa was doing this forher.
There was no other explanation that made sense. He wasn’t the type to let a skirmish escalate into a war, not if there was any other option. The fact that he was doing it now made her think he was waving the red flag in front of the bull that was Victor Halloran to keep their people distracted from their investigation.
Her father was taking the Sheridans to war in order to protect her.
Teague carefully shut the door to his suite, even though all he wanted to do was slam it. He should have known better than to try to reason with his father, but he’d been flying high after things going so well with Callie that he’d decided to try.Idiot. If he’d stopped to think about it, he would have known that there was a better way to approach his father, rather than directly head-on. He should’ve gone through Aiden. His oldest brother was excellent at the tightrope act of getting their father to agree to anything required. Teague had never had the patience for that shit, and it showed in the fact that his father barely took him seriously on the best of days.
Today sure as hell wasn’t that.
His phone rang, distracting him from his anger. He saw the familiar number, and tried to get his shit under control. There was only the slightest thread of discontent in his voice when he answered, “Hey, James.”
“Long time.”
“Yeah. Too long.” The years stretched out between them, too many to ever make shit right. That was assuming James even missed the weekly poker games and bullshitting. He shook his head. He was acting like a little bitch about this. Their friendship was over and done with, but he hoped that old affection would be enough to accomplish what he needed to accomplish. “You got my message?”
“Yeah.” James sighed. “Look, man, I’d love to stop this shit as much as you would, but there’s not much I can do.”
The last bit of hope he’d been holding out that theycould circumvent the upcoming war disappeared in a puff of smoke. He didn’t give the man grief—he knew how little control an heir really had, especially when someone like Victor had the reins tightly in his grip. That man wouldn’t be handing over any more power than he had to until he was on his deathbed. He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I had to try.”
“I know you did. I’ll do what I can to keep things from truly blowing up, but I’ve gotta be honest—it’s not looking good. My old man is out for blood.”
He’d expected as much. “I appreciate it. I’m working this end as hard as I can right now, but I’ve got even less influence than you do.”
“What’s that brother of yours have to say about this?”
That was the question, wasn’t it? Aiden’s insistence that he marry Callie was part of the reason they were in this shit storm to begin with. Teague sure as hell hoped his brother had thought about the potential consequences before he pulled the trigger on their plans. Though, if he had, he should have seen that this war was possible—even likely. So either he didn’t, or he’d been okay with the cost. “I’ll be sure to ask him.”
“You do that.” James hesitated. “Hey, Teague?”
“Yeah?”
“If we’re not both dead by the end of this, you want to grab a beer sometime?”
He laughed. “Yeah, for sure.”
“Good luck.” Then he was gone, leaving Teague alone with his thoughts.
It wasn’t a pretty place to be. He’d never once thought that his brother would hang him out to dry as a means to justify the end, but now he couldn’t shake the feeling thatAiden had done just that. He typed out a quick text.Need to talk, STAT.
Five seconds later, he got his reply.Library. Ten minutes.
Enough time for him to jump in the shower. It felt a little like a betrayal to wash off the memory of Callie as soon as he walked through the damn door, but he needed his head on straight for confronting Aiden. He toweled off and dragged on a pair of jeans. Since his brother still hadn’t shown, he texted her.Sleep, sweet angel. I’ll callyou tomorrow. He set his phone on the nightstand and ran his hands over his face. Maybe he should have waited to do this shit until morning when he was fresh, but he wasn’t going to be able to get a damn bit of sleep until he knew the truth.
Exactly ten minutes after he’d texted, Aiden walked into the library and closed the door. His brother was nothing if not punctual. Teague barely waited for him to drop onto the leather couch before he spoke. “Tell me that you didn’t pawn me off on Callista Sheridan to provoke a war with the Hallorans.”
“We didn’t fire the first shot. That was all Victor and his men.”
That wasn’t an answer, and Aiden damn well knew it. Teague crossed his arms over his chest. “I want the truth. If you and our father are using me in a grab for territory, I damn well deserve to know.”
