Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)

Catherine stood then, her shoulders broad in the black suit jacket. The evil twist to her lips had my stomach clenching tightly. “Did you think I brought you back into my life for love?” She looked her nose down on me. “I told you I needed you. Delta is a five part company, formed by your great-great-grandparents. We have a lot of control in America … we have a lot of control in the world. But you need an heir to remain on the board and vote. I’m not giving up my vote.” She smiled with saccharine sweetness. “Blood is thicker than water, daughter.”

My gaze flicked to Evan, and I could almost see him thinking spare heir in this head.

A thought occurred to me. “So how do you have a vote at all, Catherine? You’re not blood. You don’t have a dick. What gives?”

My bio-mother’s face tightened into a deep scowl, but it was one of the other men—Evan’s Dad, maybe—who answered me.

“Catherine doesn’t have a vote. Deboise does. She is simply Richard’s proxy while he grieves the loss of his only—er, oldest—child.”

“You should have just taken the cut, Catherine,” Beck said coldly, drawing everyone’s attention from me. “You still receive your shares, you just don’t get to make the final decisions any longer on Delta business. It was not a bad fate for Deboise.”

Catherine flushed, anger marking red splotches across her cheeks. “You might be the oldest successor, Sebastian, but don’t forget your elders. We still have power, and I can make your life hell.”

He smirked. “You don’t stand a fucking chance against me. If you push, you might find your second heir is no longer a viable option.”

I spluttered before blinking at him. Had he just threatened to kill me to get rid of Catherine from their group?

The threat hit its mark though, and she shrank down into her chair. Beck turned then, and his friends fell in at his side. The four of them moving almost as one entity, so used to each other, they were that in sync. “Be on that plane,” one of the men called after us. “All further instructions will be onboard.”

No one said anything or acknowledged those words, and I was just wondering what the fuck I was supposed to do, when Beck swung toward me, his strong hands wrapping around my biceps as he all but picked me up and hauled me out of the room. My skin tingled and burned where he was touching me, and I sucked in as much air as I could, because his close presence was … intense.

The door closed behind us, leaving the five of us standing in the hall.

“Those bastards,” Evan said, his voice low. “Always making us do their fucking dirty work. How many this time, Beck?”

He shrugged, his face awash in secrets. “Family business, we have no choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” I said softly, and suddenly four sets of eyes were on me, as they moved to surround me.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Riley,” Dylan said, speaking for the first time since he entered the room. I wondered if that was a thing, just like him standing back. Was he allowed to speak to them? “You’ve only just stepped foot into our world, and already it’s trying to break you. Imagine living this life since birth.”

“What happened to Oscar?” I whispered, because true fear was driving me now. It didn’t sit right with me, my brother’s death, and even though I had more information coming at me, it wasn’t enough. So much still didn’t make sense, and unless I unraveled the secrets soon, I had this sick sense that I might meet the same fate.

In one swift move, Beck wrapped his hand around the base of my throat, pushing me back against the wall. His hold was tight enough that I could feel it, but not so tight that my breath was cut off. His hard lines were pressed everywhere, and I had to clench my thighs together because a hot, desperate need was clawing at my center. “Don’t fucking mention Oscar to us again,” he growled, lowing his head so close toward my face, that I could almost taste him on my lips. “Our brother was a casualty of this war, and if you don’t watch yourself, you’ll be next.”

His fingers twitched, and despite my deepening desire for this sick bastard, I still had to say something. “Stop threatening me,” I whispered, our gazes locked together so I could see the storminess in his gray depths. “I’ve already lost everything, death is not my worst fear.”

Those last words were choked as I thought of my parents, of the simple but perfect life I’d lost. Beck stilled, and I could tell I’d confused him. It felt like a minute fraction of hostility bled out of him, and his eyes dropped to my lips then, and I sucked in a shocked breath.

He was going to kiss me?

I wasn’t sure if I would combust or freak out, but I never got to find out, because he pulled back and said softly. “I knew the first time I caught sight of you, Butterfly, that you were going to be trouble.” He released me from his hold. Before turning and striding along the hall, a grinning Evan and Jasper trailing after him.

I remained slumped against the wall, my heart frantically pounding against my chest. Dylan was doing his scary silent thing nearby, but he never left me there, not moving until I pulled myself together and followed the others along the hall.

“I’ll give you a lift home,” he said, when we neared the empty front entrance.

Shaking my head, I shot him a wan smile. “No, it’s okay, I could use the walk.”

My head was racing. My heart pounding. If I didn’t get behind the wheel of a car soon, I would probably lose my mind. I needed some speed.

Before I made it outside, I swung back toward him. “Actually, what car do you have? Can I drive it?”

Beck’s dark mocking laughter reached me before he did. Then he stepped inside, having been out on the front step. “The last car you drove you totaled. Why the fuck would we lend you a car?”

Trying to forget how good his body felt pressed into mine in the hall, I narrowed my eyes on him. “I didn’t ask you, I asked Dylan. And … those were extenuating circumstances. I don’t normally drive that badly.”

“I’ll take her,” Beck said, his eyes on me even though he was talking to his friend.

Dylan just let out a low amused sound, which for him was almost as much as a full on belly laugh. “Whatever you say, Beck. You two try not to kill each other.”

He then strolled out the door and a moment later a powerful engine thrummed to life before taking off.

“Are you letting me drive the Bugatti?” I asked. The thought of that was turning me on almost as much as his little move earlier.

He laughed darkly. “Not a fucking chance, Butterfly. Now get your ass in the car.”

I grumbled at him but didn’t argue. Suddenly I was exhausted and the mile and a half back to my house felt like three hundred. When I was in, Beck didn’t wait, spinning us out of his driveway, and taking off down the long straight path of the entrance to his estate. The Bugatti engine really opened up as he pushed her harder, and some of that tension in my chest relaxed.

He side-eyed me. “You need the speed.”

I didn’t want to give him any more ammunition to use against me, and it felt like anything about my personality was a weapon he’d use, but it was no doubt clearly written on my face.

“I need it,” I confirmed before closing my eyes so I could feel the thrum of the powerful turbocharged engine. The silence between us should have been awkward, especially since he continued to threaten to break me, but it almost felt … comfortable. Like in this moment, we got each other, in a way that no one else would. We got the fucked up darkness riding us both.

That moment was over though, when his car slid to a stop and he reached over and flung my door open. “Get out of my car,” he said shortly, and I wondered what had put that new tension in his jaw, causing his knuckles to whiten as he gripped the wheel.

Not wanting to argue with him when he was in this sort of mood, I scrambled out and hurried to the cart I’d left at the front entrance. It was only as I neared the Deboise house, that I suddenly remembered everything that had happened during the “meeting.” How in the hell could I have forgotten that I was supposed to be on a plane tomorrow at fourteen hundred hours. What time was that anyway?