The last of the wait staff disappears into the night and I stare after them, knowing what this means. The party is officially over and now we’re on watch, waiting for Victor’s sons to return.
My nerves have been on edge since the fucker chased me into the ballroom. His eyes were filled with such a dark hatred and anger that it’s had a wave of chills sweeping through me ever since.
It’s been hours since the four brothers left, but every cell in my body tells me that they’re still here, still lingering and waiting for their chance to take out their cousins, just as the boys took out their brother.
My heels are long gone, but as we stand at the top of the grand stairs watching the headlights of the last wait staff disappearing down the long drive, I allow the bottom of my dress to trail across the ground. I couldn’t find it in myself to go take it off, separating me from the boys. I’ve stuck right by them all night, and while the boys carried on throughout the party as though there wasn’t a threat coming their way, I sure as fuck couldn’t.
My panic and nerves have more than gotten the best of me.
Roman steps forward, putting him right at the edge of the top step before opening his arms wide. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he calls into the night. “Let’s get this over and done with. I know you’re out there. My yard reeks of your foul stench.”
My eyes bug out of my head and I gape at Roman. “The fuck is wrong with you?” I spit under my breath, trying to keep my comments discreet. “What are you doing?”
“I’m tired,” he snaps back at me. “It’s been a long day. We might as well get it over and done with. Besides, they’re a bunch of fucking pussies. They don’t stand a chance against us. If they wanted us dead, they would have hired a trained assassin who would have demanded more than they could afford. This is nothing but a meeting.”
“A meeting?” I question, my brows furrowed as I watch the four brothers step out from different dark shadows of the yard, their hands up to show they hold no weapons. “No, it’s more than that. I heard them say they’re out for blood. This is an attack and you’re all but cheering them on.”
“Look at them,” he scoffs, his gaze traveling over his cousins as though dealing with their bullshit is beneath him. “Does it look like anything more than some fucked-up meeting trying to get in our back pocket? I wouldn’t be surprised if they offered to suck dick just to get whatever the fuck it is they want.”
“A meeting?” I confirm, glancing over the cousins. “That’s it? Just a meeting and you decided to keep it to yourself all night while I’ve been in a panic, thinking you’re all going to die.”
Roman glances back at me with a bored expression. “I’m not your man, Empress. It’s not my job to cater to your erratic emotions. You’ve got my brothers for that. Take it up with them.”
Anger bubbles through me and I narrow my gaze, reaching back to Marcus. My hand instantly comes in contact with his cock, and I palm him through his pants, not missing the way Roman’s gaze watches my every move. Anger and jealousy flash through his dark eyes, sending a wave of sick satisfaction crashing through me. “You’re right,” I tell him, copying his same bored tone. “You’re not my man. You’re a scared little boy who refuses to take what he wants because his own fucked-up emotions and daddy issues have left him shaking in his boots.”
Knowing Roman’s inability to control himself, Marcus reaches out and takes my waist before gently pulling me back out of Roman’s reach. My hand falls away from his junk as I feel his lips by my ear. “Point proven,” he mutters, nodding down to the four men creeping closer to the mansion. “Can we focus on that, before you give my brother a reason to tear my dick straight off my body?”
My hard glare never leaves Roman’s, holding it with the same intensity in which he holds mine, only forced to look away when the four cousins reach the bottom step and refuse to go any further.
Roman lets out a sigh and the four of us move toward them, not in the mood to have this conversation yelling back and forth up the stairs.
We get three quarters of the way down the stairs when Roman decides that we’ve gone far enough. He comes to a stop and his brothers meet him on the same step while I hover a few steps back, not willing to get quite so close, especially as the brother who’d chased me down the long hallway seems to do nothing but glare at me.
“There are more conventional ways to arrange a meeting with us,” Levi comments, already seeming bored with the conversation.
The oldest-looking brother stands in the center of the four and raises his chin, trying to appear as though he’s not shitting himself, but I see the fear deep in his eyes, even in the darkness that surrounds the mansion. “We were left with no choice,” he says. “Our father was killed three nights ago, and our brother only weeks before that. We are getting desperate.”
Marcus moves just an inch, and it’s enough to put the four brothers on edge, more than aware of just how unhinged their cousin can be. “Desperate men make desperate mistakes.”
The guy who’d chased me snarls at Marcus, his filthy glare looking over him like shit under his shoe. “We don’t make mistakes.”
Marcus scoffs. “Standing outside a closed bathroom door while having a conversation about your plan to meet here after the party isn’t considered a secret? Because it sure fucking sounds like one. You gave yourself away the moment you opened your mouth. Now, what’s this about?”
The older brother glares at the chaser and draws the attention back to himself, the other two silently standing by, too afraid to even open their mouths. “Louis killed our father,” he states, making it clear that they’re not as clever as they think. “He came into our family home, tied him to a fucking chair, and burned the property to the ground. I want his blood.”
A twisted grin pulls at Roman’s lips, and while I see the raw truth of him laughing at these fools for not having figured out what’s really going on here, they see nothing but a deranged, twisted man that’s excited over the idea of spilling blood. “Then take it. What are you waiting for? He was here tonight. You could have ended him at any point, and yet you’re standing here at the bottom of our stairs with your tails between your legs. You’re weak. All of you are.”
The brother presses his lips into a hard line, his jaw clenched as anger swirls through him. “We are not weak,” he spits. “There is a difference between weakness and restraint. We are smart men and know when we are out of our league.”
“Is that what you tell yourselves?” Marcus questions with an amused grin.
All four of the brothers glare at him, and I hold back a grin of my own. He has a point. It’s clear they’re here to ask a favor, but in this world, smart men know that favors don’t get you anywhere. They are nothing but foolish.
Roman watches them through a narrowed, suspicious gaze, and I can practically see the wheels spinning in his head. “What’s in it for us?” he questions, already seeing their request before it’s even been spoken out loud. “If we take out Louis and end this war once and for all, then what do we get in return?”
“Our loyalty,” the main dude spits, clearly not thrilled about it.
Roman laughs. “Your loyalty ain’t worth shit to me,” he says. “Words are nothing but words. Victor was so far up my father’s ass that he would have taken his own sons’ lives at the very thought of them pledging their loyalty to us. You’re telling me that you’re willing to stand against your father’s life work just to see us slit Louis’ throat? I don’t fucking buy it.”