The Scarlett Legacy (Woodland Creek)(16)

“How long are you staying?” Wes looked to Avalon.

Evie looked to him as well.

“That remains to be seen. I mean, the women are all so beautiful here. Why would I leave?” Avalon winked at Evie, making her blush.

“Right,” Wes said.

Evie’s phone buzzed on the end table and she glanced at it. Her smile faded. She stood.

“Goodnight, guys. I need to get some sleep. I need to go to work a little early tomorrow,” she said. She looked to Avalon. “Maybe I can show you around sometime.”

Avalon nodded. “That would be lovely. I’ll pick you up.”

She lifted a brow, smirking. “How?”

“Well,” Avalon said. “I hired a car online. Looks like I’ll be hanging around for a while.”

Great, Wes thought with a wince.

She laughed. “Okay great. Goodnight.”

“Night,” Wes and Avalon said in unison.

They waited for her to leave and walk out of earshot.

Once they were sure she was far from hearing range, Avalon set his wine glass down and leaned forward. His face went serious as he looked to Wes.

“So,” Avalon said, cracking his knuckles. “Tell me exactly how you killed my family.”





WESLEY’S FACE HEATED at Avalon’s words. He hadn’t expected that.

So much for being discreet.

That red-headed bastard, Wes thought.

Wes drank his wine until the glass was empty, and then wiped his mouth. That was his fourth glass of the night. The effects started to make his sight a little blurry.

He supposed he would tell Avalon the truth.

Some of it.

“We both know he killed my father,” he said.

Avalon lifted a brow. “That can’t exactly be proven now. Can it?”

Rolling his eyes, Wes leaned forward. “Listen, we can end this blood feud now. We are the last two male heirs of our families.”

Avalon looked doubtful. His green eyes were too bright to be human. They were wide as he looked at Wes, his brow rising, skeptically.

“Can we?”

“Yes. I believe we can. I want to restore you to the life you lived before your family sent you off.”

“You mean before your father snitched on my father’s legitimate business? Why couldn’t you settle matters like real men? No, you always want to get the law involved. Like cowards,” he snarled. “Or even better yet… what about the experimental drug you gave my mother? The one that killed her?”

He should have known that Avalon would be bitter. He would have felt the same way if he’d lost his family.

Torn between guilt and a sense of duty, Wes wondered if what he had done was the right thing.

They had killed his father.

All to settle a score.

Wes’ jaw hardened. He gazed into the flames, his father’s portrait hung above the fireplace. It was almost as if Edward watched him.

Judged him.

“I apologize for what my father did to yours. They were friends. What happened wasn’t his fault.”

“Sure it was. What’s the town going to do without a proper crime boss now that our fathers are gone?”

“Live in peace.”

Avalon pursed his lips. He looked into his glass.

“Peace,” he repeated. “Is such a thing even possible?” He spoke so softly that Wes barely heard him.

Avalon drank the rest of his wine. He looked at Wes in earnest. “What are you proposing?”

Wes folded his hands in his lap. “I bought Prince Manor. I want to restore Prince Manor to its former glory. It’s yours.”

Wes had actually purchased it so that he could have it converted into a hotel that he and Olivia could run together. Now, he simply wanted to show some good faith and hopefully appease Avalon. It was a small price to pay for peace.

Avalon’s eyes widened. He looked genuinely surprised. “You didn’t.”

Wes nodded. “I did.”

Watching Avalon’s expression almost made him feel sorry for what he had done to his brothers.

Could Avalon really be innocent?

Maybe he should just let it all go. The sins of their fathers could be laid to rest with them.

Woodland Creek might finally be free of corruption and organized crime.

“Thank you, Wes,” Avalon said. “I don’t know what else I can say. That is kind of you.”

Wes shook his head. “It’s nothing, really. It’s all yours, free and clear. You can move back in whenever you want.”

“Are you serious?”

“I am.”

Avalon was silent a moment as he seemed to think over what Wes had proposed.

When he looked up at Wes, Wes once again felt an unusual sense of dread. Something about Avalon made him unwary.

He was hiding something.

“You swear that you don’t plan to kill me?”

Wes gave a single nod. “As long as you keep to your side of Woodland Creek and swear to leave my family alone.”

Avalon nodded. “Aye. I can do that. But you have to do something for me.”

“What is that?”

Avalon stood. His face seemed to darken as the light from the flames cast his shadow behind him on the stone walls.

“I’ll leave your family alone, gladly. Just hang yourself from that weeping willow tree in the front of Scarlett Hall.”