My father had won. Caroline Roosevelt had become Caroline Constantine, and Bryant Morelli had been unable to accept my father’s victory.
The battle must have been a rough one.
They hated each other from the moment my father took his bride. Now we hated each other. Every single one of us hated each other.
Or we used to. Before me and Lucian fell in love and broke tradition.
I let the thoughts simmer for long minutes, thinking it through, over and over. I hated the Morellis, right? They were assholes worth hating. For sure they were. Every single one of them was a piece of shit—apart from Lucian—and all that stuff between our families must have been a long time brewing with a whole load of backbone to it. Bryant Morelli and my father were close friends growing up. Surely it couldn’t have only been my mother that tore them apart.
Lucian must know some stuff. There must be a whole stack of stuff that led to the war between two families who used to like each other.
I was kidding myself. Of course I was. I knew full well, in instinct as much as in sense, that it was my mother who destroyed them—just like she tore everything apart. She’d caused us a family divide destined to end in death for so many names on the family trees.
Maybe mine and Lucian’s deaths would be next.
The thought made me shiver, and that made me smile just a little to myself. Oh, how quickly things can change. There was no doubt about it. Not in the slightest. I didn’t want to die anymore. I wanted to live forever, for all time, for every breath I could possibly breathe in this world.
In his world.
I wanted it all alongside Lucian Morelli.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lucian
He was a pathetic looking man. Even more pathetic than I’d imagined. His pitiful face was shallow and vile. His eyes were beady and his lips were pursed. Hardly a welcoming reverend by anyone’s standards. I’m sure my eyes were as evil as they’d ever been as I closed the distance between us.
“Lucian Morelli?” he asked, and his voice was weakly curious. “I wasn’t expecting you. Do you wish to be a member of the fellowship?”
I stepped up to one of the pictures on his wall. It was a garish piece of crap showing a benevolent Lord Jesus reaching down toward the children at his feet. “Tell me about this fellowship,” I said, feigning interest. “I heard you used to offer Elaine Constantine as a benefit of membership.”
His smile made me rage like a beast inside. “Ah yes, Elaine,” he said, and his expression was one of relief. “Unfortunately, Elaine is now grown up. She was a delightful creature, but she outgrew us as they all do. We have other girls who are very similar though.”
I didn’t speak to him, just stared until he continued talking. “I really didn’t believe the Morellis wanted to be a part of this fellowship. I didn’t believe you crossed over with the Constantines. Lionel was adamant that you didn’t.” He paused. “May I ask who introduced you to our order?”
“One of the Constantines,” I told him, and he let out a laugh.
“That’s quite a surprise. I really didn’t expect there to be any communication between you and the Constantines. I guess our world is changing. We can thank the Lord for his blessing in friendship.”
“We can certainly thank the Lord for my presence here,” I said.
“Take a seat,” he offered and gestured to the chair opposite him. “We can discuss the options. Joining the order is expensive, but most certainly worth the investment. Our handshake goes a very long way in this world.”
I took the seat, leaning back and crossing my legs at the knee like a truly relaxed potential member. My gloved hands flexed, fingers stretching.
“Who else does this handshake belong to? I want to know exactly who I’m signing up with.”
He paused. “I’m not permitted to disclose the full details of the order until after initiation into our group. I can assure you that our members are very established fellows who would be extremely pleased to have a man of your stature among them. I must say I’m pleasantly surprised by your interest.”
I didn’t speak, just sat there. I had two options available to me. I either tortured him until he gave me the member list slowly, or I got the piece of shit to spill all before I knifed him. Or both. I opted for both.
“I want the membership list, or I’m out of here. I’m not joining with nobodies or pussies.”
The standoff lasted seconds, not minutes.
His shrug was as pathetic as he was. “If it was one of the Constantines that told you about us, I’m certain you’re outside of the usual precautions. We have no nobodies or pussies in our order, I can assure you. We are limited in our numbers. Quite exclusive,” he simpered.
“I know of Rawlings, Eddington, and Hardwick,” I told him. “I’ve heard they are particularly brutal beasts with the girls.”
He smirked at me. “Oh yes. They are brutal with the girls. They very much enjoyed Elaine, you know.” His eyes fogged over with memory. “She took her punishment like a good girl.”
I could have ripped his balls off and rammed them down his throat there and then. “Who else enjoys playtime?” I asked him. “Tell me.”
The Reverend betrayed his members so casually. “Lionel. Anthony Ellison. Carlos Madeira. Cederic Bartonshire,” he informed me. “A lot of our members are from across the Atlantic, of course. Their aristocratic scene over there is very…seeking. As I said though, it’s quite exclusive. That’s the full list.”
I could imagine it. Already my mind was running away, picturing routes overseas and just what the fuck I was going to do with them.
“Do enlighten me,” Lynch said. “Who told you about us? Surely it was Lionel, yes?”
That’s when I picked my moment. “It was Elaine.”
“Elaine Constantine?” he asked, and his shock was delicious.
“Yes,” I told him. “It was Elaine.”
He realized I wasn’t the potential member I’d presented myself as.
He moved as quickly as I did, but I was faster than that incompetent piece of shit. He darted for his exit, but I darted for him, tumbling him back onto his seat before he was even out of it. He crashed onto his back, staring up at me with panicked piggy eyes.
My foot was on his chest in an instant, pressing hard. He didn’t even try to push me off.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked me. “For her? For that little girl who lied as well as she took cock? She’s nothing!”
“She’s everything, but most importantly—” I leaned over and spat in his face. “She’s mine.”
“But she’s a-a Constantine.” His confusion was obvious. Mine would have been obvious to match his just a few days ago.
Voicing it aloud was a whole other league to me. It was a combination of disgusting and fantastic as I spoke the words. “I’m in love with Elaine Constantine.”
His jaw dropped open, and his eyes were huge white plates as I pulled out the blade from my inside pocket. “This is some ploy to get close to the Constantines, isn’t it? Let me up from here and I will tell you all you need to know about them. I’ll tell you all about Elaine. We didn’t mean to hurt her. She enjoyed it. She enjoyed being a fellowship girl.”