Page 71 of Duke
“Let’s get it over with, then,” I grit out, worried we have even more shit about to be slung in our direction. I wrench my thoughts from whatever is going on with Bear and allow my eyes to scan the exterior of their estate. Fuck. I’ve held so much anger toward Kingston for so long, and it was horribly misplaced. I’m not looking forward to the conversation I have to have with him. But… I’m willing. And it’s necessary.
I exit the vehicle, and as soon as we’re all together, we march up the stairs of the stately porch, and I ring the bell. We wait. And wait. I guess I could have texted Kingston to make sure they’d be here. I’ve got his number. But fuck. He might’ve said fuck off, then it’d be a whole thing. And this is not something I want to discuss with him via text.
To my surprise, the door swings open a moment later, and Archer stands on the other side. He frowns, tucking his thumbs behind his suspenders. His gaze travels over our group, and he shakes his head. “I thought my eyes were deceiving me. But nope, my cameras don’t lie. The Bastards have arrived.”
Kingston appears from somewhere behind him, the muscles in his jaw twitching as he studies us with shrewd eyes. His voice comes out growly and low. “This is kinda unexpected and fucked-up of you to come here after what happened at the auction.”
I nod. “I get that. But we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t important.” Looking past them, their initiate, Elliot, is coming down the hall, her steps quick and sure at first. She slows as she sees us in the doorway, apprehension sliding over her features. Cannon is right behind her and puts a hand on her shoulder, then as they come to a stop in the middle of the foyer, he draws her under the protection of his arm.Touch her and dieis written all over his face. We won’t be getting near her without going through him first.
Archer exchanges a look with Kingston and shrugs. They don’t know what to make of us being here. Taking on his role as head of the house, Kingston looks me dead in the eye. “Look, we’ve had a lot of shit happen in the last forty-eight hours around here. We don’t need this right now.” He runs his hand through his hair, shaking his head. “So, you’ll have to excuse us when we say we aren’t interested in getting into whatever you’ve got going on.”
I exhale hard. “I know we don’t see eye to eye, but we’re not looking to start anything.” I pull Lennon into my side. “We’d never have brought Lennon if that were the case.”
Mason steps close on her other side. “We have some things to share with you that you need to know.”
Bear clears his throat behind us, and I turn my head to see him nod toward Elliot. “We want to make sure you have all the information necessary to protect Elliot.”
“We have some other things to share, too. Things I know. Have remembered.” Lennon places her hand on my chest. “We’ve got a lot going on right now, too, and we don’t want it to spill over and affect you.” She clenches her teeth together as she pins her eyes on Elliot. “And it might.”
Elliot tugs Cannon along with her as she comes forward, nudging her way between Kingston and Archer. She stares at Lennon, her eyes squinting before she nods. “I think we should give them a chance to explain.”
Kingston huffs out a breath, giving me a cold stare, but when he turns his head to meet Elliot’s gaze, that same stare warms. He finally nods, replying with a gruff, “Yeah. Okay. Let’s stop talking in vague fucking circles, then. Come on in.”
We enter Hawthorne Hall, which is a first, as they never fucking reciprocate with events, and I have to say. I’m impressed. It doesn’t have the modern stylishness of our home, but instead it’s a place that has obviously stood the test of time. It’s old money through and through.
As we walk through their home, Bear clears his throat, getting Kingston’s attention. “We need someplace where we won’t be interrupted. This is a private conversation.”
Archer turns on his heel and walks backward toward whatever destination they have in mind. He grimaces, shrugging slowly. “We had a bunch of shit go down. Too much to explain. But our other two initiates are out back, and Dane isn’t home yet. We trust him with our lives, so no worries there. That’s all of us that are left. This is a safe space now.”
Jesus, do we even want to know what the fuck he’s talking about? Probably not a bad idea to be in the know… but it’ll have to be a story for another day.
We end up in their living room, taking seats on one of the plush leather couches. Kingston and Cannon sit in large armchairs across from us. Elliot gets pulled onto Cannon’s lap, and Archer perches on the arm of Kingston’s chair.
I hesitate, running my hand through my hair, but then Lennon puts her hand on my thigh, squeezing. “Just tell them.”
Kingston looks mildly perturbed, but I meet his gaze and hold steady. “There was recently a push to get Murdock Mikaelson out of prison. We don’t have all the facts or information, but we know their initial plan was to use Elliot to draw out her uncle, who was Murdock’s trial lawyer and supposed friend.”
Elliot’s eyes widen. “My mom’s brother, Isaac. I haven’t seen him in years. What the hell?”
Bear sighs. “Yeah, there’s a reason for that. He’s in hiding. The night we hauled off with you—if we hadn’t done that, you’d have been drugged and had who knows what done to you. Maybe they’d have taken compromising photos or a video that they’d have then used to lure Isaac out of hiding. We don’t know the exact plan from that particular angle, but that would have been the most pleasant version.”
Archer’s brow raises. “How do you know any of that?”
“Because they took me that night instead,” Lennon quietly says.
On her other side, Bear’s face goes paler than fuck.Yep.He totally has more information he’s sitting on.
Lennon drags in a ragged breath. “It’s all one big clusterfuck, but we thought you should know. Murdock is out, so Elliot shouldn’t be in danger, but we can’t be sure.”
“How thefuckdid he get out?” Cannon’s gruff, raspy voice catches most of us by surprise as his gaze swings to Mason’s.
“Because they found better leverage.” Mason clears his throat.“Me.He discovered my mother had an affair, and I’m not his son. Thank fuck, I guess. I’m still wrapping my head around all of it.” Mason’s dark eyes meet Elliot’s. “This feels really fucking weird to say, but Isaac is my father. My mother’s journal will confirm it, but a simple DNA test will provide all the proof we need. For all I know, it’s already happened. They need what? Some hair?”
Elliot sits up straight, her eyes bright. “Yes. A swab test is preferred, but hair with the follicles still attached would be enough.” She gives us all a half-smile. “Sorry, forensic science is kinda my thing.” After a moment, she looks at Mason with wide eyes. “So… you’re my cousin?”
He gives a disturbed chuckle, followed by a smirking smile. “It would appear so.”
“Weird,” Elliot breathes out, leaning back against Cannon, clearly shell-shocked by the revelation.
