Carter
“Where are you? We need to talk. Right fucking now,” I say into the phone, my fingers wrapped so tight against the damn thing, I wouldn’t be surprised if it shattered into a million little pieces.
“In the house. Meet me in the ballroom,” Kieran replies, and he knows that by the tone of my voice that I have no time to answer questions. Not over the phone at least. This is too important, too serious.
After what just happened with Percy, the clock is ticking fast. War’s coming, and we need to be ready for it. Percy’s going to start moving fast, and he’ll bury us in a matter of hours if we’re not prepared for it.
Lucky for us, I don’t think he knows who the fuck he’s dealing with. Sure, he’s known all of us since we were kids. But from the level of his arrogance, I doubt he’ll expect us to counter his moves.
He think he still has Nolan under his thumb, and he doesn’t know that we’re aware of what’s in the will. He fancies himself as some kind of master manipulator, and that’ll be the end of him.
Thing is, I’m still not sure of how we’ll get out of this mess. As confident as I am on our ability to pull through and rescue both Stacy and our family’s fortune, it’s a fact that we still don’t have solid plans.
And without a plan, we’re at his mercy.
“What happened?” Kieran asks us the moment he sees us walk inside the ballroom, and I notice his eyes darting straight to Stacy’s face, where Percy’s fingers have left a mark.
Swear to God, just thinking of that is enough to make me want to kill him. I can’t believe the fucking asshole dared raise his hand against Stacy. I should’ve broken his arm right there and then, fuck the consequences.
“What happened is that we need to move against Percy. Right now,” I tell him, and Kieran just nods. He has seen the mark of Percy’s fingers on Stacy’s face, and he doesn’t need me to explain what went down.
“Where’s Nolan?” He asks me, pulling out his phone from inside his jacket, then starts dialing. “He’s not picking up.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Doesn’t matter. Just call Ardmore and tell him we need to meet right away,” I instruct Kieran, and he starts calling the family’s lawyer right away. He hasn’t put the phone up to his ear when Percy stumbles inside the ballroom, pushing both doors open at the same time.
His hair is dishevelled, and his eyes are red and swollen. It’d almost be a comedic sight if it weren’t for the fact that he has us all by the balls.
“Feeling special, are we?” He growls, looking around the room like a caged tiger.
Usually he’s always cowering in fear, but I think that his boiling rage has gotten the best of him. It won’t end well for him if he decides to take a swing at us—sure, his treacherous tricks might have us against the wall, but if he decides to trade fists with any of us...well, that’ll be a whole new conversation.
As for me, I almost want him to take a swing at him. Let him come. I’ll punch him so hard his teeth will be pinned against his brain.
“What the fuck do you want, Percy?” I growl right back at him, digging my fingernails into the palm of my hands so hard that I almost draw blood. “Haven’t you learned your lesson?”
“I think you’re the ones that haven’t learned the lesson,” he continues, lowering his voice menacingly. “You fucked my wife, and now you think you’re on top of the world, huh?”
“I was never your wife!” Stacy suddenly cries out, standing between me and Percy. Her cheeks are flushed, but there’s a certain determination in her eyes. She’s breaking the chains that Percy has her shackled with.
I just hope we can save her family.
“Oh, is that so, Stacy?” Percy whispers, taking one step toward her. “Too bad your father will be sorry about those words,” he continues, wiping the spit out from his lips with the back of his hand. “All of your family will be sorry about that.”
“Don’t you fucking dare lift a finger against her or her family, motherfucker,” Kieran joins the fray, and I actually have to place my hand on his chest to stop him from knocking Percy out cold. He’s aching to bury his fist against Percy’s face, and I totally get it—I feel exactly the same.
But we can’t make the situation even worse.
“You’ll regret this,” Percy says, looking around the room as if he was shooting lasers out from his eyes. If hate could murder, I venture to say we’d all be dropping dead right now.
“You’ll fucking regret it,” he continues, taking his phone out from his pocket. “Your father’s done,” he then tells Stacy, and I watch as all blood drains from her face.
This is it.
We’re fucked.
“NOT SO FAST, MOTHERFUCKER!” I hear someone say as the doors to the ballroom swing open, slamming against the wall. Nolan storms inside the room fast, stalking toward Percy, and he snags the phone out from his hands.
With a grin on his face, Nolan drops the phone to the floor and then crushes it with the heel of his shoe, smashing the screen.
“Someone’s done, alright,” he tells Percy, looking straight into his eyes. “But that person’s you.”