Inheriting a SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 7) (18 page)

“You two want to
play? We’ll play with you. And then we’ll kill Brayden. All of
your efforts will be for nothing.”

“We’ll see,” my
uncle tells him.

The two men take swords
from the guards and then the fights begin. They’re pretty evenly
matched, and I’m a little scared for my uncle and best friend. As
their swords clang, the room starts to fill up. Reina leads the group
of women, who readily dispose of the guards inside of the room.
Shortly after, the guards who had been imprisoned because of their
loyalty to us, stream in to drag the others out. Jen comes in with
Wayne, and then the Society leaders along with Matt, Jessica, Alex,
and Miles enter. Jessica and Alex join Reina, while the men stay with
their grandmother and her friends.

Derrick makes the
mistake of looking around and getting distracted, giving my uncle the
opening he needs to plunge his sword into his stomach. It’s
gruesome to watch, but I know it needs to be done. I force myself to
keep looking as he pulls the sword out and slices it across Derrick’s
throat. Angelo shouts out a curse, turning towards his friend. Noah
stabs him straight through his throat, and I gag a little. I knew
Noah was tough, but that…that was brutal. I know he had it coming,
but still.

“It’s over,”
Steven says, dropping his sword as the bodies are carried away. “It
is finally over.”

Brayden

“Is it? Is it really
over?”

I look up to see Darcy
standing in one of the tall windows that are a few feet off the
ground. She looks so beautiful and fierce in her leather pants and
jacket with her hair free and wild. She has a gun in her hand, and
her jaw is clenched.

It’s my uncle who
she’s looking at, and he’s the one to answer her. “It is,
Darcy. Please come down.” He looks around to the rest of us.
“Please step off of the royal seal.”

We all move to the
sides of the room. I don’t know what’s going on, but I watch as
Darcy jumps down and goes to one knee in the middle of the seal that
is painted into the floor right in front of the king’s chair,
placing the gun down next to her.

“Darcy, I release you
from the oath you swore to my brother, and thank you for your service
to the crown. You may give the jewels to Brayden.”

She stands and turns to
me, holding out a pouch. I don’t take it, I can’t. “What? Your
oath was to my father?”

“Yes.”

“How? I don’t
understand.”

She drops her hand and
looks behind her. “It’s your story more than it is mine, Steven.”

He nods, and then
starts speaking. “As you know, your father and I spent a couple of
years attending school in America. While we were there, we met
Darcy’s father. He was our best friend, and we stayed in touch
throughout the years, even though he chose a life that was…well
less than legal. He taught us his cons and we taught him how to fit
in with high society. He was very particular about the jobs he did,
and never hurt anyone or stole from someone who would be ruined by
the loss of what he took.

“Ten years ago, when
I wouldn’t give Jenysis to Derrick, he decided to go after the
jewels to punish us. One of his servants was loyal to your father,
and he told us what was going on. As you know, it is imperative that
the jewels be in the possession of anyone being crowned in our
family. It’s not a legal requirement, but a superstition. One that
has never been broken. Derrick knew that if he got his hands on them,
he’d be able to stop our line from ascending the throne. He would
just need to kill your father, and then he could be king.

“Once we knew of his
plan, we called Darcy’s father and asked him to come here and steal
the jewels for us. We thought that if there was a heist, Derrick
wouldn’t trace it to us, and we’d get the jewels back when we
needed them. We had no idea that Derrick was mad enough to kill our
friend when he caught him in the vault.

“Darcy was outside,
and when she realized something was wrong, she came in after her
father. He died in her arms, eliciting her promise to help us before
he passed. Derrick had to leave the jewels that night because of the
murder he committed, but he hired Angelo to steal them for him,
giving him times when he thought the vault would be most vulnerable.

“Honoring her
father’s wishes, Darcy came to us and offered her services. We-we
took advantage of her need for revenge, and swore her to an oath. One
that promised she would be hunted and in danger while those jewels
were in her possession. She had to hold onto them, and keep them
safe, never giving them to anyone, or revealing her promise, until
Derrick was no longer a threat. She kept that oath, and you witnessed
her being released from it just now.”

My head is spinning,
and I don’t know what to think of all of this. “You made an oath
for vengeance alone?”

“No, and no one took
advantage of me. My father came here to help because of his love and
loyalty to his friends. I was happy to do the same in his place,”
she says, and seems to struggle with what she’s going to say next.
“My father had already hidden my mother, but my…my brother needed
to be protected as well. He was only eleven and I couldn’t take him
with me. Even if I hadn’t taken the oath and made my promise, there
was a chance we’d still be in danger. Your father and Steven
promised to protect him.”

“Brother?”

“Yes, her brother,”
Noah says, walking over to her and pulling her into his arms.

Oh my God. Noah’s her
brother? All of these years he’s been living here with me, being my
best friend, and I never knew. He never told me. When she came here,
they pretended to not know each other.

“You’re her
brother? But you hit on her when we were in Paris. And you told me
she was a bad idea. You even pushed me to make her give me the
jewels. Why would you do all of that?”

“I didn’t hit on
her, I told her to punch me. I pushed you because I thought she could
finally be safe if she gave the jewels to you. And I warned you off
her because I didn’t want you using my sister like all of your
other women. Like
they
used her,” he says, tipping his chin to the Society founders. “They
were here that night, hidden in the shadows. Mallory Daniels made an
oath to
me
when Darcy
left. A promise to look out for her and protect her. That was
obviously a lie.”

“What?” Darcy looks
as confused as I feel.

Mallory steps forward
with Jane. “I kept my promise to you, Noah. We watched your sister
from afar so she could have her independence. We paid the people she
fenced her…goods…with to sell them to us exclusively, and then we
returned them to their rightful owners. We did everything in our
power to ensure that she would never be caught. When we heard
rumblings that Derrick was close to finding her, I arranged for her
to get arrested while robbing my house, so I could finally offer her
a place with us.”

“You said you
recruited me to find out where the jewels were.”

It’s Jane who answers
her. “We had to do that, Darcy, and I am so sorry for it. Hurting
you was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life.
We knew it was the only way to force Derrick’s hand. If he thought
we had taken our protection from you, we knew he’d act irrationally
in order to get to you.”

“So you planned to
just leave her alone against him,” Reina says, anger lacing her
every word.

“No. We knew you’d
defy us and help her. I groomed you to take over because of the bond
you have with these women, as well as your ability to lead and make
hard decisions. I had no doubt that you—and the other women and
men—would help Darcy. And we did what we could to help you as well.
Maggie even sent Scott to Ainsley when they needed him.”

“Really?” Darcy
asks, and I can tell she’s going to cry any second now.

Mallory speaks again.
“Yes. We love you, Darcy.
I
love you. If we could’ve done this any other way, we would have.
You need to know that you are with us because we wanted you for you,
not for what you could give us.”

“I want to believe
that, but after what you said…I don’t know if I can.”

“We’ll prove
ourselves to you. To all of you,” Jane promises.

“You really believed
in me? That I could lead them, even without the Society resources?”
Reina asks.

“Always, Reina. You
have never disappointed me, and I couldn’t have been more proud of
you than when you rallied your women against us.”

“You should’ve told
me, Gram. I could’ve been helping Rei and the girls,” Matt says,
looking pained.

“I gave you
permission to stand against me.”

“I couldn’t do
that. You’re my family.”

“So is Reina, and
your other friends. They’re family, too, or at least I thought you
felt that way. I fully expected you to stand with your wife.”

“You were obviously
wrong,” Reina says, and then practically runs from the room. Matt
goes after her, and I wouldn’t want to be him right now. Actually,
I’m not sure I really want to be me right now, either.

* * *

Darcy

Brayden is looking
shell-shocked, and I don’t blame him. I’ve had my mind blown a
little, and he’s had so much more revealed to him than I did. I
wait until everyone else has filed from the room except for Noah and
Jen before turning back to him.

“Talk to me, Crown.”

“How much of it was
real?”

“With us? All of it.”

“So you just happened
to have sworn an oath to my father, and then ended up being my fake
fiancée. Oh, and then you were ‘in love’ with me.”

“You chose me to be
your fake fiancée. I would’ve never volunteered for this mission.
I didn’t want to fall in love with you, but I did. Don’t you dare
try to belittle what I feel with your damn finger quotes.”

“Oh come on. Your
brother pretends to be my best friend and you let me fuck you. I
don’t know who betrayed me the most.”

“Brayden, I wasn’t
pretending to be your best friend, but I will kill you if you talk
about my sister in any other way than with respect.”

“Respect? Where was
the respect for me when you were lying to me?”

“He didn’t lie to
you. He was eleven years old, for God’s sake. I left him here
alone, and he found a friend. You’re his best friend, Jen’s like
his sister, and I’m just a stranger he hadn’t seen for ten
years.”

“Shit. That’s how I
beat you when we were fencing. Noah said I was like a sister to him,
and you were gutted. Now I feel like an even bigger bitch,” Jen
says to me.

“It’s okay. I
should’ve had tougher skin. I’m glad he had you and Brayden. It
means a lot to me that he’s always had you.”

“You need to leave. I
want both of you off of the island tomorrow.”

“This is my home,”
Noah says.

“Not anymore.”

“Stop being such a
prat, Bray,” Jen says, “Noah will be my guest if he’s no longer
yours. He can stay at my house.”

“Fine. As long as I
don’t have to see him.”

“You don’t mean
that. C’mon, man.”

“I
do
mean it. You’re the children of a master con artist, and I let you
both con me. It won’t happen again.”

“It never happened.
Yes, I had to keep my oath a secret, but you have to know that what
happened between us was real. And Noah’s really your friend.”

“Just go, Darcy. Get
off of my island.”

I’m not going to beg
him to listen to me, or to love me. “As you wish, Your Highness,”
I say with an exaggerated bow. I pull my engagement ring off, and
once again, toss it to him. I throw him his precious jewels, too.

I start to walk out of
the room with Noah and Jen, but Brayden’s voice stops us. “Where
are you going, Jen?”

“I’m making sure my
friends are settled in my house.”

“And then you’ll be
back, right?”

“Not tonight. I’m
staying with Darcy.”

“You’re going to
leave me alone to be with the people who conned us?”

“No, I’m leaving
you alone to be with your best friend—who has had your back for ten
bloody years—and the woman who gave up ten years of having a real
life to honor a promise to our fathers. And then fell in love with
you. Because she
does
love you. Everyone can see it, and you
know
it, even if you insist on acting like a prat.”

“Just go on and let
yourself keep being conned. Nothing with them was real.”

“Bray, you know
that’s not true. Please believe me.” My brother is practically
begging him, and it’s too much for me.

I walk up to him, get
right in his face, and match his glare with one of my own. “You
need to stop hurting my brother. Say whatever the fuck you want about
me—call me a thief, a con artist, even a whore for spreading my
legs for you, because I was stupid enough to believe you cared for
me. But
do not
act
like my brother has wronged you. I saw how close you were when I
first met you, and I was thankful then that he had you all those
years when I had to stay away from him. From what I’ve seen and
heard, you’ve always had him, too. He did nothing wrong. Nothing.”

“He knew about the
jewels, and why you had them.”

“Yes, and he also
knew that if the truth behind the theft was revealed, Derrick would
stop at nothing to kill you, Steven, and Jen. Or he’d just kill the
two of you and then force her into marriage and rape her every night
when he was crowned. Is that what you wanted?”

“No,” he says
quietly. “What I wanted was to figure out a way to keep you by my
side forever. I was willing to fight my country for you, to somehow
make them change that old law.”

“Crown,” I say,
feeling my eyes fill with tears.