Page 67 of Vengeful

"You didn't misinterpret them," Dad said. "I'm sure Lila could do better than you two, but if she's determined to be with you, I can't stop her. She had to want it enough to stand in front of me and insist. And she's finally done that."

That was a backhanded fucking complement if I ever heard one, but I'd take it. It was easier than dealing with the barrage of thoughts bouncing around my brain like a ball pit in zero gravity.

All the pain Chloe and I caused each other, we could have avoided. If we'd stood in front of him and refused to accept his ridiculous competition, we could have had a very different year. How many people died because we didn't have the guts to defend ourselves to him?

Fucking fuck.

"You want Chloe and I to lead the Bell family together?" I asked carefully.

"That's exactly what I want," Dad agreed. "Together, you two could take over the world."

I wanted to tell him to fuck right off.

"How do we know this isn't another game, or test?" I asked coldly. "If we agree, you may just turn around and tell us we failed and that you wanted something else."

"No more games or tests," he said. "It took you a while to pass this one, but you got there in the end. Even though it took some help from the Brantley family." He was clearly displeased at that. A quick look in the direction of Reuben and Caleb showed they shared the sentiment.

"Why work with them then?" I asked. "You all hate each other."

"The rest of the school board refused to endorse these final trials—" Dad started.

"Final trials?"Chloe interrupted.

It was Francine who stepped up to answer. "The school board decided the trials were…barbaric. The only reason the students were permitted to participate was if this was the last time it ever took place. One time too many, in my opinion." She turned to briefly glare at my father and all three of the older Brantley men.

"Why hold this one last trial?" Slade asked. His fingers were white where he had them pressed around the knife in his shoulder. What I could see of Dane's shirt was soaked in blood.

"Because we didn't stand up to him," I said softly. "If we had, this whole thing never would have taken place." My father was definitely the one who deserved to be held under the water.

"It still would have." Reuben's gaze raked over Chloe and me. The message was crystal clear. He'd had a hand in this, in the hope it would rid him of us.

I lifted my chin and returned his animosity. If he thought he could intimidate me, he'd have to think again. The one good thing that came out of all of this was I knew what I wanted and I'd fight to get it. Nothing and no one was going to stand in my way.

I turned back to my father. "If Chloe and I agree to take over from you some day we have some conditions." I didn't give him a chance to respond before I continued. "First, you will support our choice of partner or partners. Second, no one goes into those basement rooms who isn't an actual enemy of the family."

I might have kept Reuben and Caleb in the corner of my eye when I said that.

"Third, no more trials under any circumstances," Chloe said. "No more games. No more competitions. No cars with tampered breaks. No mercenaries. No assassins sent for us by you."

"Or vice versa," Dad said dryly.

Clearly he understood we were pissed off. I won't say it didn't cross my mind. It very much did. For now, we needed him as a buffer between us and Reuben. When we didn't…

We'd discuss that when the time came.

"We want any human trafficking operations to stop immediately," I said. This was something I wasn't backing down on. Not one centimetre. If Dad didn't agree, I was walking away now and never looking back. This was my hill to, figuratively, die on.

"That goes for you too," Hunter said to Caleb.

"I don't answer to you," Caleb snarled.

"Then Parker and I will make it our life's work to disrupt any operations you try to run," Hunter said unflinchingly. "There's plenty of other ways to make money. Maybe you should put some more of it into that hockey team you bought. The Dusk Bay Demons don't have to suck."

Caleb grunted. "Maybe I should put you in charge of them, if you give a shit so much."

Parker grinned. "I could get behind that."

Caleb gave him a withering glance.

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