Page 8 of Rebellion of a Kingdom

I snap, "You will pay for this. Even your pockets aren't deep enough for the fucking price I will make you pay." I am done playing games, these aren't petty battles of back and forth any longer. We are at war and it's time to take out the fucking General.

"That kind of talk makes me glad you’re still alive. I'm really looking forward to fucking that attitude out of you, my queen." Greg purrs down the line and Ash’s grip tightens to the point where I think he might break my fingers. A pain I'd welcome at this point.

I don’t let the psychotic little prick get to me. "The only way you'd get to fuck me, is by dragging my fucking corpse to your bed, you sick fuck." I am fucking done. I snatch the phone back from Ash and stalk away. The guys follow me, but I don't stop until I get to my revenge room.

"Oh, so you wouldn't trade yourself for our daughter." His words halt me in my tracks as I enter. I don't reply, I can't, because I know the answer. He knows the answer. I would trade myself for her in a fucking heartbeat. I move inside and place the phone on the desk and load up the computers. I hear the door clink shut behind me as the guys come in after me.

I turn around as they take a seat at the table, staring at me blankly as Greg continues, "You can have her back, I just have one stipulation."

I cast my eyes across all the guys and find similar looks on all their faces. They look drained, scared, on edge. None of them have escaped Zack's blood, their black tuxedos rumpled, and shirts bloodied. A far cry from the beautiful boys that greeted me at the bottom of the stairs earlier tonight.

Marcus is the only one who will lock eyes with me, the rest glare at the phone as Greg speaks. When I reply my voice is flat. "Yeah, and what's that?"

"It's really quite simple. I don't want our daughter. I have no use for her, not yet at least.” His words turn my stomach at the thought of what use he could have for her. “You however, you I have a lot of use for.” I close my eyes, cutting off Marcus because I know Greg well enough to see inside his sick mind. I know what he wants before he says it. "I want a wife."

I feel River's flinch from across the room even with my eyes closed, as Ash snaps back at his brother, "Take your pick from your fucking hoard of kidnapped girls."

"Funny,” he responds dryly, “But no. I don’t just want any wife. I want the perfect wife. One born for this world, with her own fortune, blood on her hands and already willing and able to give me heirs."

I can't speak. Not one word. I open my eyes, but Marcus' gaze is hardened and focused solely on the phone.

"Willing?" he scoffs. "Fucking willing. What about raping a fucking child, screams willing to you? If you think that she is going to marry you then you are more fucking delusional than I thought."

That’s the thing they don’t realize though, he really is delusional. Greg’s sense of reality is different. Elliot is an evil man; his crimes would make most men weep. His son, however, isn’t evil, he’s soulless. Doesn’t feel anything, guilt, regret, remorse, love. None of it. A true psychopath living in his own world and that makes him more dangerous than anyone. Greg is the type of person to think that I belong to him, and is now more than ready to claim me, no matter what the cost.

"Really? Because her silence is deafening," Greg taunts and his words hit their intended target as every single guy turns my way. I see all of them take in my expression and the exact moment they realize the reality of the situation we are in. Right now in this moment, they see just how far I am willing to go to protect my daughter.

"I'll let you think it over, we can talk again soon. In the meantime, I will look after our girl." The line goes dead before I can respond, and the silence descends further into the room as we all let his words linger. We lost. The game, the upper hand, my daughter. All of it gone.

My thoughts are messy and unfocused, just like earlier when I found Zack lying on the floor, and look what that almost cost me. My daughter was gone, my brother lay dying and because I lost control, I almost ended up in my own blood next to him. I can’t let that happen again. I turn and pick up the phone next to the computer and dial a number I know by heart from the secure phone we keep there.

“Z, my man, how are you?” His cocky, friendly tone hits my ear and I breathe my first sigh of relief as memories assault me from our time together. Grounding me in a way I so desperately need.

“Max, it’s me,” I croak into the phone, my voice wavering as the emotions begin to build again.

“Elle?” I hear his confusion, but he quickly adds, “Where’s Zack?” I can tell from his change in tone that I have his immediate attention with my unexpected call.

Max is an old friend of Zack’s, they trained together when they were younger. Him and his guys are all ex special ops who now run their own private security company. Zack pays them a lot of money for a variety of things. Max helped Zack with all my training and said he would always be here for us. I only ever use a couple of his guys for cleanup. We’ve never needed Max himself or his other services. Until now.

“He was shot in the chest, Arthur’s working on him, nothing more I can tell you.” I am blunt and to the point because I don’t need him as a friend right now. He can’t do anything to help Zack, except help me with what I need.

“What do you need?” I hear the unmistakable tapping of his fingers as he starts doing whatever he does before I even give him any instructions. I ignore all of the guys, Asher and Logan both know Max from the training we shared, but he isn’t someone I would have ever told the Rebels about. His reputation precedes him, but that reputation doesn’t include his real name or what he looks like. Just that he is lethal, deadly and always gets the job done. That’s why I need him. Him and his guys are the best of the best.

For the first time since I came home, I push Cassie to the side of my thoughts as I try to think of everything, I need to keep everyone else safe. “Full security detail at the house, full house sweep for devices including vehicles. Access to a private, secure medical facility for Zack and a security extraction of Lily from college.” I see Logan perk up at the mention of his sister's name, but I press on. “Safe house with full protection detail for Arthur, Helen and Lily, for however long it takes and a full arsenal of every weapon and tech you have on hand.”

He blows out a breath. “This is a big job. It’s gonna take all of my guys,” he starts but I cut him off.

“You know money is no issue, offer them whatever it takes to get them here, and you will report to me and only me.” My voice remains void of emotion, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel the cracks in my throat, the pumping of blood in my veins. I am so close to snapping the thread of my control that I can taste it in the air.

“Roger that. We will be there in sixty minutes,” he confirms.

“Make it thirty,” I snap, only to be met by silence. His silence almost winds me, forcing me to take a deep breath.

“Elle?” He says my name carefully. “What happened?” It’s the softest tone I’ve ever heard from him and if I didn’t just hear it, I wouldn’t think he was capable.

“They took Cassie.” I barely let the three words linger before I am slamming the phone down and taking in another breath.

“Who was that?” Of course, Lincoln is the first to speak, unable to be in the dark about anything, but I don’t have it in me to feed him the information right now.

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