Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)

Despite all the tension and threats from Beck at the end of the race, he was nowhere to be seen at the party. When I finally found the ovaries to ask Evan, he told me Beck had been called in for a meeting with Delta. Apparently some of the successors before our parents were in town and wanted to chat. Great. Even older rich bastards. “Hey, that reminds me.” I accepted the drink that Evan had just ordered for me and chewed the edge of my lip. “Beck said something about owning half the world in eight months. What’s that all about?”

Evan heaved a sigh and wandered with me out to the back patio. “I don’t know how much of a crash course you’ve had on all things Delta,” he said, his gaze darting around us. “But basically it was set up like ... two hundred years ago. So lots of the rules are carryovers from a more antiquated time period.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, like the penis requirement for entry or the whole needing a blood heir to keep your seat thing?”

Evan grinned. “Well, you’ve already broken the penis requirement. Unless you’re hiding something surprising in those pants?” He squinted at the crotch of my tight jeans then shook his head and shuddered. “Nope, no one could tuck that well. But yes, exactly like those dumb rules. This one was probably a carryover from when life expectancy was shorter, but basically the controlling seats of Delta passes to the next generation when the heirs turn twenty-one. That’s in eight months for Beck.”

My brows shot up, and I gaped at him. “Holy shit.” I wondered then what Catherine had planned to keep me in line when I was the one in control. Was almost too scary to even think about. Come to think of it, if Oscar hadn’t mysteriously died then he would have been the first to twenty-one. Was Catherine capable of murdering her own son?

I shivered.

“Yeah.” Evan nodded, oblivious to my dark thoughts as he took a long sip of his drink. “Anyway, don’t stress too much about how he was tonight. He was just crazy pissed that you’d kept secrets, and then when that dude mouthed off about your parents...” he trailed off with a shrug. “Beck has anger issues, you know?”

“I’m starting to see that,” I whispered, leaning on the railing and staring out into the night. “Am I ... should I be worried?”

Evan shook his head firmly. “God no. I suspect he’s taking his time at this Delta meeting because he’s feeling bad about earlier.”

That idea made me smile. “So this meeting ... how come none of the rest of us got dragged in?”

Evan screwed up his nose. “Ah, technically I don’t know. But if I had to make an educated guess, they’re grooming him to take over the Beckett chair. Basically dragging him into their meetings that we aren’t privy to.”

“Sounds fun,” I muttered with heavy sarcasm. “But maybe that means he can start turning shit around, if he has a say in the decision?” I wasn’t totally sure what I meant by that, considering I didn’t totally understand what Militant Delta Finances actually did to maintain their hold of power. But it couldn’t have been good. Not with how these boys had been raised.

Evan gave me a pitying look and shook his head. “Don’t hold your breath, Spare.” He raised his glass back to his lips and drained the last of it. “I’m going to grab a fresh drink. Want one?”

I glanced at the untouched cocktail in my hand and shook my head. “No, thanks. Send Eddy out to hang with me if you spot her.”

“You got it,” Evan said, wandering back into the house with his empty glass in hand.

The bar was only just inside from where I remained, and I didn’t miss the fact that Evan kept me in his peripheral vision the whole time he was ordering his drink. When these guys were on Riley Duty, they really took it seriously.

My attention shifted when Eddy came sashaying out onto the patio with a huge grin on her face and a half empty cocktail in her hand. Not her first one, either, judging by the glazed look in her eyes.

“Hey, girl,” she cooed, wrapping her arms around me in a sloppy, drunken hug. “Are you having fun?”

I laughed at her slurred words and waved away the potent alcohol fumes from her breath. “Holy shit, Eddy. You’re such a lightweight.”

“Am I?” she challenged, waggling her brows at me while sipping her drink. “Or do I have a Mary-Poppins-Bag stomach and this is really my twenty somethingth daiquiri? Hmm? You’ll never know!” She hiccupped, then propped her ass on the railing beside me while I continued to grin at her.

“Pretty sure you’re just a lightweight.”

Evan rejoined us then, but instead of a fresh drink, he was scowling at his phone. “Spare, Beck called and said he needs to speak with Dylan and me urgently.”

When he didn’t explain further, I frowned. “Okay ... and?”

“And the reception keeps dropping out. I need to go back out to the street to hear him properly.” His creased brow clued me in to his indecision, and I shook my head.

“I’m fine here, Evan. Just go and take your call, I’m perfectly safe with Eddy. Right, Edith?” I shoulder bumped my blonde friend, and she hiccupped again.

Evan scowled at her, but the look on his face when he glanced at his phone told me that whatever Beck had said, made him worried.

“Seriously, you’ll be a couple of minutes,” I continued. “Beck isn’t exactly a long winded conversationalist. You can be there, make your call, and be back in half the time it’d take me to walk back to the road in these heels.”

I wasn’t exaggerating, either. The party was being thrown in a fancy, modern mansion on the side of a valley. The driveway to get in was a seriously steep incline, and I’d almost fallen on my ass about fifteen times when we arrived.

Evan hesitated a moment longer, but his decision was made for him when Dylan arrived and jerked his head to his phone.

“I know,” Evan snapped, running a hand through his hair. “But Riley...”

Dylan shook his head firmly. “Beck specifically said no Riley.”

This piqued my curiosity, but not enough that I cared to push the issue. He probably just wanted to talk about how pissed he was at me.

“For reals, guys,” Eddy spoke up. “I got our girl for five minutes. I think I can handle that.”

And outside of the plane crash, there had been zero attempts on my life since. I was pretty sure I’d be safe.

Dylan ran his gaze over me, then pulled a switchblade from his boot and slapped it into my palm. “You know what to do if anyone tries anything.”

I snorted a laugh and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, like I’m going to stab some guy who gets handsy on the dance floor.” When it looked like they would argue further, I slipped the knife into my back pocket. “Go. Your mighty leader will be getting anxious.”

I got about twenty looks as they moved together toward the exit. It was very clear that they were not comfortable leaving me, and while I wasn’t afraid for myself, I didn’t like them out of sight either.

Eddy let out a low giggle, distracting me from my thoughts. “I can’t believe the way you drove Jasper’s car, babe. That was seriously the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I wanted to bang you when you crossed the line leaving those fuckers in your dust.”

I snorted, love for her swelling in my chest. I hadn’t had a real girlfriend for years, and I’d forgotten how much I dug hanging out with an awesome chick. There were just some things that dudes sucked at, and girl talk was one of them.

“I almost wasn’t sure I’d win,” I admitted. “A flashback hit me at one point; my tires screeched the same way my dad’s did when we crashed.” I swallowed hard, trying to push the melancholy down again. “But I held my focus this time.”

Eddy reached out and wrapped her hand around mine, holding it tightly, tears filling her eyes. She was drunk girl emotional. “I wish I could take that back for you,” she half sobbed. “I hate that you’ve lost so much, and all for a stupid company that has more money than soul.”