“No,” she says, her voice unsteady. I watch her gaze flick sideways, taking in Dmitri before snapping away like a skittish animal. “He… he doesn’t talk about his business with me. Why would I need to know?”
“So, he’s never told you anything?” Kade presses. “Maybe that he wanted more power?”
“Has he expressed disdain? Dislike for the Assembly?” Enzo asks.
They think it’s all a lie, everything we told them. I can tell.
Willow swallows, shaking her head. She closes her eyes, squeezes them, then opens them again. Her gaze wavers. Whatever drugs are in her system, they’re strong.
“No. Nothing like that. I swear.”
“And have you spoken to the O’Reilly brothers about your husband?” Nikolai asks.
She shakes her head. “No. Never.”
“We will put this to a vote,” Nikolai says, waving a hand vaguely over the group. “A vote to decide whether he has violated our code, or if there is enough proof to move forward with this.”
I barely listen. My ears are ringing. I know what’s coming.
They vote. I watch their hands rise, but just like when we were seeking vengeance against Antonio for what we thought he’d done, it’s not enough. It’s never enough. They don’t want to hear this, don’t believe it. They’ll never accept the truth.
Antonio votes for us, but it still isn’t enough to press our case against Dmitri.
“That’s it,” Nikolai says, the last hand coming down. “I believe this meeting is adjourned.”
I watch Dmitri take the outcome graciously. Then he catches my gaze and smirks.
It sparks something in me that goes beyond pure rage. It’s blinding. I have to curl my hands around the table until it bites, drawing my mind away just a little from the man sitting across from me.
He’s not even a man. He’s a piece of shit. A black spot on the Assembly.
Bastard.
Dmitri slips away as the rest of the Assembly rises. I watch him yank Willow, her face a hazy, drugged mask. They disappear and I am left with my brothers, our anger brewing in our chests.
“Let’s go,” Lachlan says, his voice tight. “We have work to do.”
Hisworksounds more likedeath.It sounds like retribution. Justice.
Good.
Whether the Assembly is on our side or not, this time, we won’t let it go.
We follow Lachlan outside, then all of us head back to my house. We need a plan, some way to make Dmitri pay without getting ourselves killed in the process.
I slam my door when I get out of my car. Finn steps out of his own car and immediately shouts at the sky, hisfuckechoing through the trees.
“The bastard is going to pay,” Connor mutters darkly as I approach. “I’m going to personally take a piece.”
“You and the rest of us,” I reply, slamming the buttons on the lock pad so hard I can hear the plastic click. “And we will. But first, we figure out how.”
I open the door and let them in. Rose isn’t in the kitchen. I stow my car keys and slide my jacket off.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, taking the stairs two at a time.
I’m furious. I almost don’t want to see her like this. I don’t want this anger, this energy, confronting her. But I also need to be near her. It will tame the beast inside me a little, enough for me to function.
When I get to the bedroom, it’s empty. I peer into the bathroom, but the shower is empty too.
