Page 69 of Reign By Wrath

“No.” She folded her arms. “I won’t have you bringing him into this shit. I’m only here because I’m getting my town back, and you two are going to help me do it. But Grandpa? You’re not pumping him for information you can use against him later. What kind of idiot would admit to having knowledge of criminals and criminal activity and keeping it to themselves for decades?”

“Why in the hell would I use it against him?” I flashed her a beaming smile. “Burkhardts don’t go after Burkhardts.”

“You’re not a Burkhardt.”

“I am a Burkhardt. That’s why Grandpa William will admit he has knowledge of criminals and criminal activity. Especially when I play up the long-lost granddaughter bit. He owes me. He owes Winter. And my tears and snot over how his secrets destroyed us will go a lot further with his guilt than yours, Saylor.”

“Wow.” Her tone was mild. “What a manipulative, diabolical troll you are.”

“See? I am a Burkhardt.”

She sniffed. “I’ll think about it.”

“Stop being difficult. William already said he wanted to see me. The sooner, the better. The longer we wait, the longer Everleigh has to engrave her butt cheeks into your throne.”

Pushing back from the table, Saylor grabbed her stuff and flounced off. “I said I’ll think about it. Keep your phone on and answer every time I call. I’ll have further instructions for you soon.”

I turned my deadpan expression on Katie. “I’m sure you’re not asking why Piper and Gabriella jumped at the first chance to ditch her.”

She cracked a smile. “What are you going to do if she doesn’t let you in to see William?”

“I don’t know, but I’m not giving up. We need to force a confession somehow. If I can’t do it by digging up dirt on Everleigh, then I’ll come at it through the only person she cares about.”

***

ILEFT KATIE’S HOUSEbrimming with determination and certainty that I was closer to bringing Everleigh down.

Five days later, I was feeling none of those things.

“I can’t believe this. Look at her laughing it up like the smug piece of shit she is.”

Victor and I posted up beneath an oak tree, watching the Royals basking in their Royalness.

Gone were the days of them eating by the music hall. The day after Everleigh took over, she declared that the music hall was out and the quad was in. In the time it took them to force all the Dregs out, they laid out their blankets, brought their parasols, snuggled up with their squeezes, and claimed more space than needed for every meal and all the time in between.

The two of us stood on the perimeter next to the quad, watching Everleigh sun herself by the fountain with Piper and Gabriella by her side.

“Her ankle monitor’s gone,” I said, gazing at Gabriella’s bare legs. “Everleigh must’ve made her charges go away somehow. Explains why Gabriella’s on her side.”

Everleigh flipped over and kissed Piper full on the mouth. There was nothing friendly about their tongue-tangling.

“Annnd that’s how she got Piper.” I blew out a breath, biting back my rage. “What are we supposed to do, Victor? She’s got everyone wrapped around her finger through sex, blackmail, and bribery while Saylor is still refusing to let me near William. Cato, Rafael, Lucien, and Wilder are basically in hiding, and I’m no closer to taking down Everleigh or the Royal line.”

“We could be,” Victor mused. “We could burn down her secret cabin with Everleigh inside. She still doesn’t know we found it.”

I shivered. It was easy to forget that under his smiling all-American persona, Victor had a dark side that rivaled Cato. Whenever he reminded me, it was all I could do to keep my pants on.

“You know why we can’t make that move yet. There’s evidence in the cabin that we can’t use yet. Katie was right that if I turned it over to the captain now, she’d make it disappear. But if it turns upafterEverleigh confesses to being a psycho murderer, Captain Capaldi would have no reason to hide it. A few extra charges don’t make a difference when you’re already looking at life in prison.”

He stroked my arm. “I know you want to give her other victims justice, but won’t killing her do that? She won’t be able to hurt them or anyone else ever again.”

“She didn’t do any of it herself,” I said, staring at a monster in pretty wrapping. “She paid and threatened people to do her dirty work, then when she got her claws into the T.O.D. Club, she let the members handle the rest. Levi and those bastards were just as guilty as Everleigh for what they did to Winter. It’s the same for the others she tortured. They all have to pay.”

“And for that, we have to cut off the head of the queen so all the snakes spill out.”

I grimaced. “Why is that description so gross, yet so perfect for her?”

“Is there any way we could get around Saylor to get to William Burkhardt? Could you try her dad?”

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