Broken Wings (Dark Legacy #1)(46)

What was this fucking world? They were supposed to be civilized people, and they sabotaged planes and sent out teams of hired killers?

“They tried to kill us?” I all but screeched. Or I would have screeched had I been capable of that sound right now. “A little step up from buying shares out from under you to take over your companies.”

Beck shook his head, drawing my attention to him. “You don’t understand, we’ve all moved past the point of shares and hostile takeovers … now it’s about control. Control of the world. Of wars. Of resources. At the moment Delta has more, and Huntley wants it. They also know we have a strong set of rules which govern us. Company shares can only be passed to heirs … the inheritors. If there are no heirs … you have a weakness that can be manipulated. “

“Not to mention we’re the first inheritors, since our great-great-grandfathers, to have a bond stronger than simply being part of Delta,” Evan added. “We’re loyal. We’re even more highly trained than our fathers, and we can’t be bought or manipulated. They’re afraid when we rise up and take control of our companies, we will decimate them.”

Beck’s chest rumbled, and I shivered as he pressed closer to me. “We need to figure out what our retaliation is going to be.”

“How can you be sure it was them, though?” I asked, wondering if they might be overlooking another enemy. “I know this Huntley is the competition, but surely you have other enemies to worry about?”

Beck and Evan exchanged a glance, and I reached out to check Jasper’s pulse and temperature again, adjusting the blanket that had fallen down.

“No one else has the resources to get to our people,” Beck finally said, answering my question. “That pilot, he’d been with us for a long time.”

My hands trembled as I recalled his drawn face, the tears in his eyes as he lifted the gun. “He said he had to protect his family,” I whispered, my own eyes burning as those dark memories tried to edge further into my head.

A thought hit me then. “Why don’t you guys have bodyguards? I mean, Huntley sent hired killers after us, and clearly after the pilot, so why are you always…”

Alone. They handled everything themselves, and considering they were rich and powerful, clearly had dangerous enemies—I already knew of more than one attempt on their lives—but there was never any sign of bodyguards.

Jasper chuckled then, and I was relieved to see him open his eyes a touch. “Our parents tried to keep a team around us,” he rasped. “But we ditched them so often, they eventually gave up.”

“We don’t need any others,” Beck said without emotion. “We have no weaknesses in our group, the four of us are a team. We trust no one else. We have each other’s back, and no team of bodyguards could do what we can.”

That was for sure, I’d never seen anybody move the way they did when those hired killers showed up. That was cool, capable, kill-without-remorse sort of shit that I expected from hardened soldiers. Not dudes only a year or two older than me.

“What about my brother?” I asked, reaching for the water again, and making Jasper drink a few more sips. My throat seized then and I took a few drinks myself before continuing, “Was he … part of your inner circle?”

A somber air fell across them, and I got the sense that they didn’t like to talk about Oscar. “He was,” Beck said simply, and that was the most I got out of them on that subject.

Evan, who was eyeing me with more interest and warmth than I’d ever seen from him, leaned forward. “What’s your story, Riley? How did Catherine pull you back into this world?”

Darkness pressed on the edge of my mind then, because my story was filled with enough pain to drag me into a place I wasn’t sure I could go. Not yet.

Only, it felt like we were on a precipice right now, the five of us. A shared pain existed between us, and it was bonding us. It felt like maybe they had stopped thinking of me as a spare heir, at least for the moment. Maybe if I shared my past, they would accept I wasn’t just a pawn for Catherine, sent here to sabotage them, just like Huntley was trying to do.

“My parents died,” I whispered those words, letting them fly into the world. Wishing the pain, that was so much worse than any bruised throat and ribs, would fly with them too.

Before I could say another word, Beck jumped to his feet, gun in his hand as his eyes did that predator thing again. I tensed, half pulling myself into a crouch position in preparation for an attack. A sigh left me a moment later when Beck relaxed, somehow knowing it was Dylan, even though the other boy didn’t appear in the clearing for three more minutes.

Jasper’s hand on my wrist had me shooting him a worried glance. “Are you okay?” I whispered, my eyes running across his wane features.

He shot me a grin, and it looked genuine. Not like those smiles he gave all the chicks he fucked—those were fake, designed to make them feel comfortable, to think that he liked them as much as they liked him. Not many saw the real Jasper, but I felt like in this moment, I might be.

“You positioned yourself in front of me,” he said, amusement in his weak voice. “I knew you wanted me.”

I snorted, gently shaking his hand off. “In your fucking dreams. I just don’t feel like dealing with your friends if you die. All that crying...”