Smolder (Georgia Smoke #6)

• Thirty-Three •

“That’s because you don’t have a brother.”

Sebastian

When Blaise Hughes’s eyes lifted from something he had been looking at on his desk, there was a chilling threat in his demeanor that I’d never had directed at me. The green of his eyes seemed to have darkened to match that of his mood.

My father hadn’t come. He hadn’t even called to speak to me. This was something he didn’t want to face. Now that I was here in this room, I understood why.

Gage Presley stood to his right while Huck Kingston was on his left. Huck was Storm’s first cousin, but Storm hadn’t been sent here with us. In the back-right corner behind me stood Kye Levine, and in the opposite corner was Trev Hughes, Blaise’s younger brother.

Wilder had been right. Although my cousin Levi was one of Blaise Hughes’s closest friends, he wasn’t here. The slight chance that blood relations might play any role on loyalty had been removed. It also didn’t escape me that although Gage Presley was in attendance, Blaise had felt the need to have three more of his men surrounding us. All because of my brother.

“Out of Stellan’s two sons,” Blaise began, leaning back in his chair, “I have to say, you aren’t the one I thought would ever disobey an order.”

Before Royal, I’d have thought the same.

Gage’s hand moved so quickly that I didn’t even see it until his Glock was pointed at my brother. My heart slammed against my chest as I turned to see what the hell he had done. We’d just gotten here.

Thatcher held up a cigarette in his hand. “Jesus, Presley. I need a fucking smoke,” he drawled with an amused twitch of his lips.

“Then say you’re getting a motherfucking cigarette from your pocket before you go reaching back there again,” Gage warned him.

“Put the gun away,” Blaise said, his jaw firmly set, as if he were dealing with wayward children who bordered on annoying him.

Gage kept his eyes on my brother as he lowered his gun and tucked it back into its holster.

“Are we all aware that I’m gonna need to get my lighter now, or should I make an announcement?” Thatcher asked.

Huck took a step forward, his narrowed eyes directed at my brother, not finding his humor at all funny. Blaise’s hand shot up to stop his lead enforcer, but his focus remained on me.

“You’re a Shephard,” Blaise said. “And that is the only reason you’re standing in my office right now instead of being strung up underground. I’ve beaten and tortured men who did far less than what you’ve done.”

I’d already known this, and the entire trip here, I’d mentally prepared myself for what he might do to me. I hadn’t been able to think about it when Royal was with me. She’d pick up on my mood. But once I’d walked away from her, I’d let the reality of what I’d done sink in.

Blaise stood up. “Because of the loyalty that your last name demands, seeing as how Jediah Hughes began this with Charles Shephard by his side, I’m giving you a reprieve.” He paused, and his steely gaze locked on me. “But only once. Loyalty is two-sided, Sebastian. You need to remember that.”

Wilder let out a sigh beside me, as if this had been his verdict, not mine. I wasn’t sure if he had been more worried about me or what Thatcher might have done if Blaise had ordered a punishment my brother wouldn’t accept.

A war within the family had never happened. Once, thirty years ago, there had been a disturbance, but Boyd Eagen had been shot between the eyes, along with his two brothers who had sided with him. Blaise’s father, Garrett Hughes, hadn’t given them a chance to defend their actions, and the Louisiana branch of the family—where the men had come from—didn’t react to it. That was the only time in the history of the family there’d been a possible uprising within the ranks.

“Weaknesses get you killed. If you’re going to have one, make sure she’s worth it,” Blaise said. He shifted his gaze over my shoulder toward his brother and nodded at him, then returned his focus to me. “Knowing that I would rip out my own heart and hand it over before I allowed one hair on my wife’s head to be harmed, I understand that weakness. However, she’s loyal. She’s worthy of my devotion and willingness to die for her.”

Trev walked up to the desk and handed Blaise an iPad. Blaise took it, and his younger brother returned to his corner of the office.

“You see, every female who becomes a weakness to this family is tested.” He glanced back at Gage. “Even after she proves her willingness to give her life to protect me for the sake of my wife and child, I test her. Make sure she is ready to devote her life to not only the man she loves, but also the family he belongs to.”

I wanted to speak, assure him that Royal was, but I couldn’t. He was talking about love, and we hadn’t said that word to each other. At least not out loud. I’d wanted to, even when I knew this infatuation I had for her was more than some passionate word that was used too lightly and too often.

“Ten minutes before you walked into my office,” Blaise said, tapping the screen, “I sat and watched this live feed.” He held the iPad out to me.

Reaching out for the device, I felt a tightness in my chest. I didn’t know what he was going to show me, but a foreboding settled over me. The cool metal touched my fingertips, and I wanted to jerk my hand back, as if it had bitten me. Whatever it was, I knew I didn’t want to see it.

My eyes reluctantly dropped to the screen, and my hands tightened at the sight of Merce Dancastle stepping out of a car. He was in the middle of a road; the area around him was dark, and although it could be any country road, I recognized it. I’d driven down it a million times throughout my life.

What was he doing in front of Maeme’s house?

I glanced up at Blaise as panic gripped me. This had happened already?

“Look at it,” Blaise demanded.

I dropped my eyes back to the iPad.

Royal stepped onto the road and stood there, speaking to Merce. She didn’t look like she wanted to be there.

Couldn’t he see the way she was shaken up? The fear on her face? Where the fuck was Maeme? Why was Royal outside, near the road, this late? She should be in bed.

I couldn’t hear what they were saying. The surveillance feed that far out only showed the picture. Royal was using her hands, talking animatedly, as if she were yelling at him.

Then, she paused. Her hands fell to her sides, and she just stared at him.

What had he said to her?

I could feel my heart slamming against my chest as the iPad trembled in my hands from the fury building inside me.

Merce was on my land. He’d had the fucking balls to come after her there. Where I had promised her she would be safe.

She began walking toward his car, and I froze. Dread pooled in my gut as I stared in horror at her opening the passenger door and climbing inside. The car drove away.

She’d gotten in it, and it had driven off. She’d left. With Merce Dancastle.

I shook my head. There had to be an explanation. She wouldn’t have gone to him like that.

“Something is wrong. I don’t know what he said to her, but she wouldn’t do that. Wilder”—I swung my gaze from the screen to him—“get the sound from this. There has to be a way to do that. She’s in danger with that motherfucker. He lied to her, and now, he has her!” My voice was getting louder, I realized, verging on a shout.

The iPad was snatched from my hands, and I turned to my brother, who put it back on Blaise’s desk.

“She wouldn’t just go outside that late alone. Out to the road,” I told Blaise. “I know her. She’s scared. She was fucking terrified when I left. For me. If we can get the sound, it’ll tell us what happened. How that happened.”

“I know how it happened,” Blaise replied, cutting me off. “I set her up. She failed.”

What the hell did that mean?

I had to get out of here. I had to get to Athens. Find her. I considered running, but I doubted I’d make it to the door without getting shot.

“She didn’t fail! She was lied to. He threatened her. I don’t know. But there is a reason!” The franticness in my voice didn’t come close to matching the clawing inside my chest.

He’d taken her. She’d been taken from me.

“Her father is why she left,” Blaise said.

If blood could freeze in the veins, mine just did. I’d assumed he was dead by now.

“I used him. Gave him an out. We’d gotten all we needed out of him. You’d taken one of our key players and run off with her. I could either have the job finished or use him one last time. He did exactly as instructed, and he got to live. The bastard had no problem agreeing to set up his daughter in exchange for his life.”

The pounding in my skull was getting louder. Every time I inhaled, my lungs burned like they were going to explode. I didn’t want to know what he’d done, but I had to. It was the only way I could save her. If something happened to her, I’d not see another day because they’d put a bullet in my head, but not before I took down everyone who had played a part in this.

“Where is she?” My voice sounded like a strangled growl.

I noticed movement in my peripheral vision, but all I could focus on was Blaise and what he was going to tell me.

“Let’s not cause any more drama than there already is,” my brother suggested.

I didn’t know what was happening around me, nor did I give a fuck.

Blaise held his hand up in Gage’s direction, as if to stop him from doing something.

“Royal was given a phone tonight. A replacement for the one you had disposed of. The same number as before. She was told it was so you could reach her if needed before she went to bed.

“Her father called her on that phone and told her the truth. Where he had been, what we—you—had done to him, and said he was going home. He asked her if she wanted to go with him. That he could get her if she did.”

Blaise paused, giving me a pointed look.

“That’s why she was out at the road. What Merce told her? I don’t know. But Vinson was to get Merce Dancastle to be the one waiting on her.

“If she’d walked out there just to see if her father was okay, but not to leave with him, she would have passed. Of course, not going out there at all and staying inside to wait on your return was what I’d hoped for. The fact is, she not only went out there, but her father wasn’t there, and she left with Merce Dancastle—who we are now positive is involved in the laced drugs, although his father isn’t aware of it.

“Vinson told us she knew about the drugs and Merce’s involvement. He said she helped with it, did some drops herself. However, there is no proof, and it’s just his word, which means nothing.

“But she did leave Maeme’s to go to her father when he called.”

There were no words that came to me to defend her. I stood there, saying nothing.

I didn’t believe she’d just left me. I had been so sure that she felt something strong. The way she looked at me, there was love shining in her eyes. The sweet way she’d curl up in my lap and her hand would touch my chest. Her soft, contented sighs when I held her.

Was the truth about what had happened to her father —hearing his word without listening to mine—really all it had taken for her to leave me? To just walk away without a word? There had to be something else. I could not accept that the woman who had become the most important person in my life would turn on me so easily.

“Are we done here?” Thatcher asked, sounding so casual. As if the world hadn’t just been snatched out from under my feet.

Blaise shifted his gaze to my brother, then to King and Wilder. “The next time you’re given an order, obey it. There won’t be any more forgiveness for the sake of your lineage.”

I couldn’t speak. My throat was closed up. I nodded my head once.

“King,” Blaise said before we turned to leave.

“Yes, boss?”

“Tell Stellan that unless he’s ready to hand the reins to his oldest son, then he will do his job instead of handing it off to Thatcher. Sebastian is under Stellan’s authority. It should have been him who accompanied Sebastian today.”

King nodded. “Yes, sir.”

An amused hum came from my brother’s direction. “I do believe my father intends to outlive me to ensure that I never hold that power.”

“Your father knows he doesn’t get to make that decision. When I’m ready, I’ll make the call.”

Thatcher put his cigarette out in the ashtray on the table beside him. “You really think that’s wise? Come now, Blaise. We’ve known each other all our lives. I’m”—he paused, then smirked—“the psycho.”

The corner of Blaise’s lips quirked. “You’re an effective weapon with the ability to hide a vulnerability. And I’m not talking about Capri who you can keep safe. The one I am referring to is one you can’t keep out of harm’s way. In fact, you surprised me today.” Blaise sat back in his chair. “We share that flaw except mine isn’t a secret. I can’t hide mine the way you do.”

There was silence for a moment as we all stood there.

“Am I the only one who is lost as fuck?” Gage asked, breaking the silence.

“Then, you should know why it was me who came instead of my father,” Thatcher replied.

“Because he would have stood back, no matter what my decision was,” Blaise offered.

“Exactly,” was Thatcher’s response.

“If it wasn’t a blatant disregard for my position, I might respect you for it,” Blaise said.

Thatcher glanced back at Trev Hughes, then looked at Blaise. “You’re right. You can’t mask it well at all, boss.”

Blaise threw his head back and laughed out loud then waved his hand toward the door. “You can go.”

I followed King out of the office as my mind began to spin through every excuse there could be as to why Royal had left with Merce. I needed to hear her voice. Know she was okay.

It wasn’t until we were all inside the Escalade that any of us spoke.

King started the ignition, then glanced through the rearview mirror at Thatcher, who had climbed in the back with me. “I do not want to be the one to tell Stellan that shit.”

“What? That Blaise wants me to take his place sooner than my father planned or that Blaise is pissed that it was me who came and not him? Both I’d like to be present for.”

King shook his head and chuckled. “I wasn’t going to say it, but I didn’t know what the hell Blaise was talking about in there with your vulnerability.”

Thatcher rolled down the window and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. “That’s because you don’t have a brother,” he replied, not glancing my way as he lit up and took a long pull.

I hadn’t been confused. I’d known what Blaise was talking about before he made his own comparison with Trev. The fact Thatcher came today ready to protect me hadn’t shocked me. He might be a lunatic but he was also my brother.

“It’s better you know now,” Wilder said, and I shifted my gaze to him. He turned in his seat to look at me. “Before your feelings for her deepened.”

I swallowed against the bile in my throat. “She has a reason. I just have to talk to her.”

Wilder glanced at King, and I knew they were going to tell me it was a bad idea. That I’d gotten lucky today and I didn’t need to test Blaise. They just didn’t understand that it was too late. She already owned me.