Page 7 of Judgment Day

Echoes of gasps filled the room as I carried Liam’s lifeless body over to the platform, leaving a trail of crimson in my wake. I laid him down on the table, directly in front of the king. Blood dripped off the edges and puddled onto the floor. My clothes were covered in it. The backseat of my SUV was soaked in it. Liam had drowned in it. Bullet holes in your lungs made it difficult to breathe.

They did this to him because he dared to defy them, and now they would pay. He was one of us, goddammit.

He was one of us.

“What did you do?” Winston stood up and shouted, unable to look at his son.

Theirs was a society that would murder their firstborn if it meant maintaining their power, and he had the balls to askmewhatI’ddone. The surest way to secure the throne was to take out the heir, right? There was a reason there were empty seats at that table. Their reign was coming to an end, and they knew it. Desperate times…

I didn’t entertain him with an answer. He was lucky I didn’t kill him in his chamber the day he told us about the cottage. If Sadie hadn’t run in torn to pieces about Anniston being taken, I probably would have. She knew what kind of man I was. She knew what I was capable of. That didn’t mean I wanted her to witness it.

Instead, I pulled my gaze away from the bloody corpse and addressed the room, “Here’s what’s going to happen.” I wasn’t one to act on emotion, but it took everything inside me not to spray this room full of bullets after what they’d done to Liam. I swallowed, then cleared my throat. “Caspian is going to start reading names off a list of people who had anything to do with the Crimson Sin website or the affiliate who posted the auction links. You will resign from your positions, effective immediately. If you refuse, this list, along with photographic evidence, will be sent to every major media corporation across the globe. Don’t believe me? The man who owns the majority of them is reading the list. Ask him.”

I assessed the room, gauging the mood. If shitting-their-pants was a mood, the air would have been saturated in it.

Good. I liked it that way.

Caspian began, “Winston Radcliffe.” His voice was dark and distant.

Winston slammed his hands on the table. “Are you really worried about a goddamn list when my son is lying here dead?”

Yes. I was.One of those men killed Liam. I wouldn’t stop until I found out which one. I also wasn’t about to let them think I was afraid of being next.

“Pierce Carmichael,” Caspian continued.

Pierce looked at Chandler. “You don’t have to do this, son. I’ll lose everything. Haven’t you already taken enough?”

Chandler’s eyes narrowed to daggers. “Go fuck yourself.” He paused, then smirked, “Dad.”

Lincoln laughed. Sadistic fuck.

The king of Norway stood over the edge of the balcony, seething as he glared down at us. “You think you can just walk in here and take over without paying for what you did to my son?”

“Your son was a sadistic fuckface who purchased and sold women to be used as fuck dolls, then nearly raped the princess—” I glanced at Winston. “—with her father’s consent.” I steeled my gaze back at the Norway king. “Speak out of turn again, and we’ll havethreeroyal funerals.” Liam’s, Alexander’s, and his.

The room grew silent as I turned back to Caspian.

One by one, he continued reading off names—celebrities, politicians, CEOs, the king of Norway. Zero fucks were given by any of us. Second by second, the room grew quieter, more still. Every breath was measured. Until the last of the thirty-four men on the list had been called out.

I turned to face Winston. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you. Not yet, anyway.” My hands twitched at the thought of wrapping them around his throat. “You’re going to watch as we take over the Brotherhood and your daughter takes your kingdom. I’m going to make you suffer.” I grinned. “It will be slow. It will be painful. You’ll wake up every morning thinking you’re in hell, then go to bed at night wishing you were—for the next five years, at least.” That was how long I’d stayed in my hell, thanks to him. “I make no promises after that.” I turned to Caspian, Lincoln, and Chandler. “Gentlemen, are you ready?”

They all nodded, then followed me around the table, where we stepped in front of Winston and dragged Pierce’s chair out of the way. Then we each pulled out a chair and took our seats on the fucking thrones where we belonged. We all looked at Liam, our fifth guy, then took his bloody hand in ours, leaving smears of crimson on our own skin in a morbid blood oath.

“To a new Brotherhood,” Caspian said.

It wouldn’t be easy. We were already getting sneers from the balcony. But as I looked around at the three men seated beside me, I knew it would sure the hell be worth it.

“A new Brotherhood,” I replied.To taking back my girl. And to revenge.

FOUR

Crowds of peoplelined the streets of Ayelswick as the country solemnly mourned the loss of its prince. The procession from the funeral home to the church was led by noblemen and members of the royal household. An entourage of military men dressed in full uniform followed them. Chandler, Lincoln and I were three out of eight men who carried Liam’s coffin from the funeral home to the church. Bagpipers followed behind, playingAshokan’s Farewell. Since Caspian was “dead” to the public, he had to mourn the loss of one of his closest friends from a distance. I couldn’t imagine the amount of strength that took, how broken he must have felt.

The clergymen received the coffin, then placed it in front of the altar. As I walked to my seat, I eyed the rounded arches and massive stone pillars. The wooden benches with their red velvet seats, washed-white nave with gold trim and marble floors. This was where the redeemed came to worship, to pray for forgiveness, to seek atonement.

I didn’t belong here.

I wasn’t redeemable.

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