Page 35 of Ruthless Legacy

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hiss at him as we make our way through the grand hallway to the door.

“I’m doing my duty,” he replies dryly, walking towards his car and leaving me trailing after him.

“Well, newsflash buddy. I don’t want to go to your clubhouse. I have my own plans.”

He sighs as if bored and turns to face me. “Get in the car, Eliza.”

I scoff and stand my ground, folding my arms and glaring at him in challenge.

“Your grandfather is watching,” he tells me with cool disdain, and I turn to look back at the house to see Wilbur looking out from the dining-room window, a glass of wine in his hand, watching us closely.

I plaster a smile on my face and wave at him before I turn back and make my way to Archer’s car. “Acehole,” I spit as I open the passenger seat and take my seat.

Archer climbs in and starts the engine. “I like it when you’re obedient and do as you’re told.”

“Kiss my arse,” I reply, glaring across the car at him as we drive away from my new home.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to spank it? You seem to like that,” he replies with a smirk.

I give him the finger with a haughty glare and turn my attention to the scenery outside of my window. “I take it we’re going to the mystery clubhouse?”

“Clever girl,” he says mockingly. “When you are told to come to the clubhouse, you come, Eliza. Night or day.”

Even though I won’t admit it to him. I am curious about the clubhouse. The centre of this bullshit, stupid, elite club. He turns west towards the hills, and I perk up in interest. I haven’t been to this side of the bay before. We follow a narrow winding road up into the hills and as we turn the corner, I sit up straighter seeing the outline of a building. The building looks old, I’m talking fifteenth century old. It looks like an old coaching house, stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.

He parks the car and climbs out and I realise I am still sitting here gawping at the place like an idiot. I climb out and jog to catch up to him.

He stops in his purposeful stride, and I almost walk straight into his back. He grips me by the arms and looks down at me and there is a look of hesitation in his eyes. “Look, just don’t ask questions tonight, okay? It’ll be better for you if you just go along with this.”

“And if I don’t?”

He frowns, tilting my chin up to look up at him. “If you don’t, you won’t like the consequences. Look, Eliza, this club that you think is a joke, well, to the people who are members, it’s serious. It’s an immense honour and very important to those who are a part of it. Once we go inside there, you don’t mock or joke or you’ll face the wrath of the elders.”

I gulp as I look at his face and I realise he is seriously trying to warn me here. I nod. “Okay, I’ll behave.”

“Good girl.” He takes my hand in his again and leads me towards the devil’s lair.

Archer takes out an ancient looking key and places it in the lock of the black wooden door. We enter a large hallway that has wrought-iron chandeliers lighting up the room. Archer walks over to a sideboard, reaches into a basket and pulls out a face mask. The mask is black and along the top it’s edged with the symbols from all four decks of cards. He puts it on, and it covers his eyes and nose, leaving his mouth clear, but giving him some sense of anonymity. The mask makes him look even more sinister and deadly, which I didn’t think was possible. I roll my eyes when he holds out a white mask of a similar design for me.

“Seriously?” I ask, raising my eyes heavenward. “Are we sacrificing a goat tonight as well?”

His answer is to glare at me as he waits for me to take the mask.

With a weary sigh, I snatch it from his hand and put the mask on. What the actual fuck is going on here? I feel like I’ve stepped onto the set of some weird cult movie.

With his hand at the base of my back, Archer guides me towards a pair of doors. When we enter, the room holds a group of about fifteen men and women, all wearing masks, all milling around drinking champagne and making small talk. The room is circular, and the floor is covered in black and white floor tiles, like a chessboard. In the centre of the tiled floor is a mosaic of an ace card. Wow, I mean they really take this Aces thing seriously. Archer offers me a glass of champagne and I take it from him and neck it in two gulps. He cocks a brow and, taking the glass from me, grabs another from a passing waitress.

“So, what now? Do I have to drink blood or sign my soul away to the devil?”

Archer’s lips quirk up at the corner as he leans to whisper into my ear, “Something like that.”

“I hope this is you attempting to play a joke, Archer? I got you the statue. Was that not enough?”

Archer looks off into the distance as he replies, “Nothing is ever enough.”

His words send a shiver down my spine, and I suddenly want to run from this place and never look back.

A masked male figure moves to stand in the centre of the circle and claps his hands together to draw everyone’s attention. He looks at me and beckons me with his finger. I can’t see his face properly because of the mask, but he has grey hair, and I would guess him to be in his seventies at least.

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