Page 77 of Black Mark's Heart

"How you guaranteed to allow the knowledge that Darius and I were still married to go unreported if I became your secret mistress?" I continued. "Actually, you weren't exactly giving me a choice in being your mistress, were you?"

"Shut your slut mouth now!" Brooks stood, outraged. The brothers fell deadly quiet.

"When was this?" Marshall asked angrily.

"Right before I fled London," I admitted. "It's why I left."

The man at the head of the table sat down, shocked. Jeremy covered his face, like he was going to cry.

"Mora?" Darius murmured.

"You see, gentlemen, Darius abided by your rules," I continued, trying not to let the hurt of it show, but it came through in my voice anyway. "He left me, he signed the annulment papers and gave them to me. He gave them to me the day I discovered I was pregnant with his child. It was I who burned the papers, and I never told anyone. Darius, my family, our friends, they all thought the marriage was annulled. I never contacted Darius again, nor did he contact me."

"But the interview?" Gabe Reynold Riley inquired.

"Was filmed after I left the brotherhood and my personal life had been opened up for public speculation," Darius explained. "You couldn't expect me to admit I was part of a secret society that made me destroy the woman I loved?"

"We didn't destroy her," Brooks butted in. "She's become successful and famous since all that nonsense occurred."

"Nonsense?" Marshall growled. "That nonsense saw my daughter missing for half a week. When she came back, she wouldn't talk, eat, or leave the house. She was suffering from severe depression and would have possibly stayed like that if she hadn't discovered she was pregnant. Don't you dare tell me it didn't affect her. Even now, my relationship with my daughter is fragile, all because I arrived at her wedding and told the groom they couldn't be married. I was there, I saw my daughter’s heart get ripped out, and I listened to her dying for two weeks. I watched her struggle, pretending to be over it, as she found a job which got her away, from not only the memory, but from me." Marshall let the first tears I'd ever seen him shed run down his cheeks.

"The archaic laws of this brotherhood haven't just cost my daughter the man she loved, they cost me the woman I love, plus my daughter. They cost Darius two years with his son and wife. Neil, the woman you loved divorced you the moment you told her she must be shared. Craig, your daughter fell in love with Mark, and when you told her she couldn't date him, she left your house and you haven't heard from her since. How many before us lost the chance at true happiness because of this one law?"

"What are you suggesting, Master Blake?" The man at the far end stood in question.

Marshall swallowed and stood tall, meeting the eyes of every man around the table. "I'm asking that we take a vote to remove the sharing of wives law, to allow our members to be happy in love as well as success. To let our daughters love where their hearts must."

"Out of the question!" another man groused. He was kind of hideous.

"Come now, Keith," Jeremy smirked. "Surely your money and prestige can get you laid rather than forcing the wives of others?"

The hideous one showed contempt at the comment. "You could just pay for it," I blurted. "You are obviously rich enough to afford it. Hell, go on that sugar daddy site and get some young nubile airhead to hang on your every word."

Darius squeezed my hand, and a few others chuckled.

"I for one am for it," Jeremy stood up. "I have nothing to gain or lose in this."

"Bullshit!" Brooks raged. "You want to fuck her too, that's why you want the law overruled."

"Master Brooks!" The man at the end snapped. "We are gentlemen, and we do not curse such filth."

"In case none of you noticed, the ‘she’ Master Brooks is referring to is my best friend’s wife. Sex with her isn't an option anymore," Jeremy defended. "I forward the motion to remove the sharing of wives law."

Another man stood up, "I second the motion." He met Marshall's eyes, then those of the man seated to his right. "My daughter has never married, neither has Mark. If they love each other that much, I would like to see them both find their happiness. A happiness I was denied when the woman I truly loved refused to marry me because of the brotherhood." He met Marshall's eyes. "The wife I took was not the one my heart chose."

"This is not what we decided on!" Brooks thundered, making the room dissolve into silence. "We cannot punish Master Rafal for his deception; he has already forfeited his business to be with the woman he loved. However, Master Blake was aware of their deception and never brought it to our attention when something could have been done. We agreed the punishment would be the surrender of Blake industries and all the companies thereunder."

Silence filled the room. Darius cursed.

"That's everything," I muttered. They would take everything that was my father and destroy him, and at the same time seize control of Lynwood.

Darius put his mouth to my ear and whispered. "They've gone for the absolute worst. Whatever they are truly after must be bad."

"When did you know?" The man closest to my father asked. He was the oldest, I could see that when he met Marshall's eyes. "That they were still married?"

Marshall rolled his shoulders. "The television interview," he answered quietly. "I thought the annulment had gone through, that their occasional fling was that of two single people. Even when Darius surrendered Lynwood to me, admitting he couldn't let Mora go, that he wanted to be with the woman he loved and his children, I thought they would remarry if she took him back."

The man looked up the table. "Master Green, did you know?"

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