Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)

He was cut off by Beck. “They’re ready for us.”

Jasper released me immediately, turning to join his friend. Evan did the same, and I sucked in a deep breath before I swung myself around and marched over to where they waited for me. “You don’t look like you’re enjoying the game,” Beck said, his expression unreadable.

My heart was beating so fast, and for once, I couldn’t seem to bring my usual snark to the table. They were wearing me down, and Jasper had been right before, I was nervous.

“I don’t even know what game we’re playing,” I said honestly. “I don’t even want to play a game.”

“There you go again, thinking you have a choice.” Dylan strolled in, seeming more pissed off than normal. It took him from scary to fucking terrifying

Beck and Dylan were neck in neck for the scariest guys I’d ever met. Evan and Jasper weren’t far behind. It all made sense how they’d managed to form the brotherhood they had. Sociopaths were clearly drawn to each other.

“Let’s do this,” Beck said, and I was surprised to see all four faces change. Smoothing out like they’d pulled a mask across their features. There was no way to tell what they were feeling now, no way at all. If I faced any of them in poker, it’d all be over.

But it hadn’t been like that a moment ago, even if it had only been their semi-cruel mocking expressions. What was this meeting that it had them all on edge this way?

I must have hesitated too long, because Beck shot me a look. For a flash there was something burning in his eyes, and then it was gone just as quickly. “Move your ass,” he said without inflection.

My body obeyed, even when my mind was terrified. Speed walking, I caught up to them, trailing just behind as they moved through the main entrance and down a long hall. We passed many closed doors, and I still couldn’t figure out why anyone needed this many rooms. I was so busy paying attention to this, that I almost walked right into Evan when he stopped outside a closed door at the end of the hall. I tried to peer through the four, hoping for a glimpse of something when the door opened. Of course, this didn’t work, because they were too fucking tall and well-built, blocking out any chance of seeing a thing. “Patience, spare,” Evan said, shooting me a look over his shoulder. “You’ll see it all soon enough.”

“My name is Riley,” I said through gritted teeth. “The next time you call me spare, I’m going to throat punch you.”

I would do no such thing, he was a scary bastard, but I liked to make the threat anyway.

Evan’s brown eyes went even darker as he reached out to caress my cheek. “We’re going to enjoy breaking you, princess,” he whispered. “All that pretty skin. Those bright blue eyes. When we’re done with you, there won’t be a piece of you untouched.”

Swallowing hard, I tried to control my breathing. “You’re a fucking psycho, you know that, right?”

He grinned before shoving my face away. “I’m well aware.”

He turned then and followed the others into the room, and I stumbled after them on shaky legs. My gasp was audible when I realized that Catherine Deboise was in the room, seated behind a long desk. She wasn’t alone either, there was a man on either side of her. All of them dressed in ten thousand dollar power suits. As I stepped closer, I noticed a phone on the desk which was lit up.

“The meeting of Militant Delta Finances is now in session,” my birth mother said coldly. I startled at the name, because I’d heard it many times before. We’d even studied them in Economics earlier this week. They controlled a lot of the world. Banks, oil, mining, and so much more. You named it, there was probably a Delta label on it.

Were they actually telling me … Deboise banking was part of Delta? Holy fuck. All of the guys were part of this company. Everything was starting to make sense to me now.

The door closed behind us then, and I had no idea who had timed it that way, but it was eerie, and I suddenly felt trapped.

“Delta successors, take your position,” the man on her right said. He had dark, menacing eyes, which reminded me a lot of Dylan. His skin was a lot paler though. All of the oldies before us had that rich, white, old money thing going on, reiterating what Eddy had told me earlier, and it had me looking at Dylan with new eyes.

The guys moved, each of them standing in front of the table, Dylan right across from the man with the eyes like his, but he stood back a little. Like he wasn’t fit to be in the same line as the rest of us. For a moment, I fought against the urge to reach out and pull him closer.

Evan snarled at the man across from him, who, upon closer inspection, had the same gold streaks in his dark hair and the same brown eyes.

Beck stood at Dylan’s side, the chair in front of him empty. Jasper pulled me along and deposited me right before Catherine, and it was suddenly all making sense to me now.

Successors. This was exactly why Catherine had dragged me back into this world. It was as I’d somewhat guessed: she needed an heir. We were the heirs to these rich bastards—banking and finance billionaires who controlled the world.

“Why am I here?” I demanded, not wanting any part in this bullshit.

Catherine’s cold eyes met mine. “You will not speak unless a direct question is asked of you. Remember how easily I can remove your privileges.”

Memories of being trapped in my room came back full force, and I shut my mouth, even though it was more than a little difficult to do.

“Langham and Beckett are here via phone from the New York offices,” Evan’s dad said. “We shall proceed.”

The boys remained silent, their masks remaining firmly in place, and I understood then that the game playing had started long before my four tormentors. Their parents were the original psychos.

“We have a job for you five,” Catherine said, leaning forward in her seat. “As you’re all well aware, there is trouble from our competitor. They’re still trying to muscle into our market share of oil and weapons, and we need to stop this now before it grows any larger. All this new money, and they don’t understand the rules. It’s time they understood.”

Weapons? That sounded scarier than it probably should have. Then again, the last movie I watched with people smuggling weapons to the Middle East hadn’t exactly worked out with a happy ending for the smugglers. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this was the shit Delta was up to. After all, Catherine was one of them, and she was Satan’s daughter. “Sebastian,” a deep voice came through the phone in front of Catherine. “I expect you to deal with this. I don’t care what you have to do, make it happen.”

Beck’s jaw tightened, just minutely. I doubted anyone else would have noticed, but I was watching him closely. Almost obsessively.

Because apparently I was fucked up that way.

“When do we leave?” Jasper asked.

Evan’s father answered, his European accent deep and thick. “Private plane will depart at fourteen hundred hours tomorrow. Be on it.”

The four nodded, I just blinked, my expression no doubt a combination of horror and what the fuck?

Remembering Catherine’s threat, I raised my hand in the air. She let out a suffering sound before nodding at me. “What?”

“Uh, why am I here? I’m not part of your company, I don’t have a fucking clue why you would bring me to this meeting.” Okay, I sort of had a clue with the whole successor and stand before your parent thing, but I really didn’t want to be here. “Is this a mistake?”

Please let it be a mistake.