Page 65 of Trust in the Fallen

“Leighton,” my father greets me as he shuts the door behind them.

“Father. Governor Collins.” I nod at each of them with disgust as if they’re not two of the most respected men in the city.

“You’ve caused a lot of issues for us as of late.” The senator starts rifling through the few thank you cards I’ve actually bothered to write.

“The broken ribs and dislocated shoulder your son gave me when he pushed me down a flight of stairs and tried to rape me were pretty inconvenient for me, too.” I never would have been brave enough to speak to them like this before, but I’m past caring. What’s the worst they can do?

Oh wait, they’re already doing it.

They’ve already torn me away from the men I love, they’re already forcing me to marry a man I despise, I’m already going to live a life of misery by his side because of a stupid mistake I made in self-defense when I was fifteen. There’s nothing else they could do that would hurt me more.

They each stare at me for a moment, like they can’t believe I spoke out against them. No one is ever brave enough, but those who have nothing left to lose can say whatever the heck they want.

“There’s no need for your lies and exaggerations, Leighton,” my father says, dismissing me completely. I shouldn’t be surprised. When Jason called our fathers after he found me with my jeans and panties around my ankles and Jack’s lifeless body crushing mine, they blamed me for it. They told me if I wasn’t such a slut it never would have happened and now they had to clean up my mess.

“We didn’t come here to argue with you about what my son has and hasn’t done wrong.” The governor steps toward the bed, and for the first time I notice the file he has tucked under his arm. “I’m sure you recall the reason the deal was made for you to marry Jason.”

I nod, not bothering to say anything in return.

“I took care of a mess for you, made sure you wouldn’t spend the rest of your life in prison for a silly mistake, and you would marry my son, linking our families and allowing us to go into business together.”

He’s not telling me anything I don’t already know, but anyone who knows James Collins knows there’s nothing he loves more than the sound of his own voice.

“But it’s become clear that you need a little more…incentive.” He tosses the file into the middle of the bed and I reach for it hesitantly.

As soon as I flick it open, my stomach plummets. No. It can’t be. The photos staring back at me are mug shots of Wyatt and Elias. There’s a bruise on the latter’s cheek that wasn’t there when he left me at the club. Have they hurt them?

“Your little boyfriends are rotting in a cell waiting for sentencing. I’m not sure if you’re aware how closely they work with the Legion, the same group who is blocking all our attempts to…clean up the city.”

I flick through the file, seeing a few shots of them with Crew and other men I only recognize from the newspapers as the other members of the Legion. None of this is a surprise to me, but I act shocked nonetheless. I want them to get to the point with as few stops as possible so they can get the hell out of my space. “You mean your attempt to introduce human trafficking into the city?” I raise a brow.

That shocks them. Both men’s mouths drop open in surprise.

“That’s not what—” my father starts, but I quickly cut him off.

“Yes it is. You don’t need to lie to me when Jason’s the idiot who doesn’t close his office door during the phone calls he insists on having on a loudspeaker.”

It feels good to render these men speechless, but it’s not going to make any difference to whatever outcome they’ve decided on when it comes to my fate.

“Regardless,” the governor snaps. “This is the deal. You do as you’re told. You marry Jason, spend your life being a dutiful wife, and never have any contact with those men again, and we’ll set them free this afternoon. If not—” he shrugs. “I guess they’ll spend their lives in a prison cell regretting every second they spent with you.”

I open my mouth to argue but quickly snap it shut again. There’s nothing I can say that will change their mind. No argument I can make. I have no contact with the outside world, no way to call anyone to help them. They have me backed into a corner I can’t get out of.

“Do we have an agreement?” my father asks.

I nod and immediately turn away from them so they can’t see how much pain the idea of never seeing Elias and Wyatt again brings me.

The door clicks shut, and I collapse to the carpet as I allow tears to fall down my cheeks.

Nothing like signing your life over to the devil to break your heart.

CHAPTERFIFTY-SEVEN

ELIAS

At this point nothing that’s happening is legal, and that’s coming from someone who does shady shit for a living.

We’ve been here for days, and we haven’t been allowed a single call. We haven’t been allocated a lawyer. And we’re definitely past the seventy-two-hour holding period. But not one police officer gives a fuck about any of that.

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