Chapter 256

Looking at Mrs. Hayes as she makes vague threats against her sons, the men that I’ve come to think of as friends, my most immediate feeling is confusion.

She should hate her husband. She should cherish the life she has brought into the world. Everything seems so absolutely irreconcilably ass-backwards.

I do little to hide my bewilderment from my face.

“I’ve surprised you,” she says and seems bemused. “Did you think me to be a helpless little woman with no ambition of my own?” She scoffs. “You, with such lofty ambitions all your own? You disappoint me.”

I don’t ask how she knows about my dreams. At this point, nothing else she says will surprise me at all. She’s not against her husband. She’s right there beside him. She probably reads all the notes he keeps on me, all the invasive delving into my personal life that he’s made.

She knows then, of my dreams of being a warrior. She likely also knows of the true nature of my relationship with her sons. She probably just wanted me to admit it.

Like hell.

“I don’t get this at all,” I say, because it still addles my mind. “Why don’t you hate your husband? Why choose him over your kids?”

“I do hate that bastard,” Mrs. Hayes snaps. The falsely-kind pretense has worn off by now, and I can see the shrewd person she is underneath. “He’s always disrespected me, parading around with those other women. That they sometimes become pregnant is even worse.”

The look in her eyes changes now, from deeply annoyed to something like proud. “But, we’ve always done our best for our boys. Up until recently, they have been well-mannered, obedient, dutiful sons.”

I try to imagine any of her sons other than Neil who fit that description. Maybe Steven. Certainly not Archer or Beau.

Mrs. Hayes gaze sharpens, slicing into me. “Everything was moving along perfectly fine, until a certain someone entered their lives.”

She means me. The way she says it makes my blood run cold. For such a frail-looking woman, she certainly can make her words icy and intimidating. I feel less like I’m in the room with my friends’ mother, and more like I’m sitting across the counter from an actual viper, about to strike.

I never should have let this woman past my door.

“You’ve changed them in the worst kind of ways, Chloe. Suddenly my most dutiful son became vindictive, arrogant, disrespectful –” The volume of her voice amplifies with each word. She takes a breath hear to collect herself, then speaks at lower volumes once more. “It is your fault that certain actions needed to be taken to remove that behavior.”

I gasp, “The silver?”

Mrs. Hayes hums in the affirmative. “My husband and I agreed that only a firm hand would bring our wayward child back in line.”

Obviously, she was wrong. Neil was alive and well, and silver-free. If her firm hand strategy actually worked, she wouldn’t be here in my kitchen, glaring at me.

“Neil got rid of the silver,” I say. “You don’t control him anymore.”

“He has rebelled against us,” Mrs. Hayes says. “But he is not outside the grip of my control.”

“All of the brothers are free of you.”

This woman’s cruelty to her own children has all of my protective instincts kicking into high gear. The fact that the children she’s being cruel to are also my dear friends amplifies my rage further.

“They will never be free of me,” she snaps in return. “You, Chloe, are going to make certain that they return to the fold.”

“Like hell I will.”

She laughs. “Oh, dear. Do you think you have a choice?”

“You have no hold over me,” I say, and I’m pleased the words come out stronger than I feel inside. This entire conversation has taken turns I have no expected. What I really want most is to get this woman out of my house as soon as possible.

“Sweetheart, I have hold over everyone.” She sighs. Looking at me, she tilts her head and sizes me up. “I suppose I can see why they like you. You are an attractive thing. My husband would like you too.”

My stomach churns. I might actually be sick. I couldn’t give a fuck what her husband would like.

“You have a choice here,” she continues. She lifts two hands. She raises one hand higher than the other. “Either you help me stop this silly little rebellion of my sons, or...” She lowers the high hand and then raises the other. “I let my husband do whatever he wants with you.”

I stand up straighter. “You need to leave now.”

“We know where you live, Chloe. We know your full schedule. And now that I’ve been inside your home, I know the layout, all the windows and doors, and will be able to put that to paper.”

I start walking around the counter. I’m unnerved as hell, but I know I’m physically stronger than this woman. If I want her out, I can force her to leave. And I fucking will.

I’m shaken. Her threat holds merit. She’s probably the most powerful woman in the entire kingdom, maybe the entire world, and here she is, sitting in my kitchen, threatening me.

She watches my every move like a hawk about to strike a helpless squirrel. “You’ll only be safe if you make the correct choice.”

“Get. Out,” I growl.

She doesn’t move.

I reach for her arm.

“Where do you think Mia is tonight?” she says nonchalantly, as if we’d been having a conversation of pleasantries instead of one of threats.

The words are effective. They stop me in my tracks as surely as if she’d struck me.

I don’t know where Mia is. The brothers are all at the event, but I didn’t see Mia with them. Surely they wouldn’t have left her unprotected. But…

She could threaten me all day and all night, and it would scare me but not bend me to her will. But this…

I can’t stand the thought of that little baby being at the mercy of these monsters.

Mrs. Hayes smiles at me. She knows what she did, striking at my weakness. This is a woman with many secrets and many connections. She may appear fragile, but if she wants something to happen, she doesn’t need to lift even one of her own fingers.

All she has to do is make a phone call.

She stands off of the stood, then straightens her clothes. “I will be taking my leave now,” she says. “Please think carefully about your next course of action. You may find it a matter of life and death.”

With a dip of her head as goodbye, she walks to the front door, and sees herself out. I watch her go, but the minute the door closes behind her, I scramble forward and lock the door behind her.

I turn, press my back to the door, and exhale long and slow. I’m trembling. I don’t feel safe.

When my phone rings in the kitchen, I actually jump.

Then I run.

The phone screen shows the call is from Beau.

I answer immediately.

“Beau?”

“Chloe? Are you okay? Are you safe?” his voice is frantic.

I don’t care about myself, so I answer his question with one of my own. “Beau, who’s watching Mia?”