Strickland swallowed hard. "But luckily, your team stopped that from happening. It could have gone badly. I know it's a small comfort. But he's gone."

  I had no idea how to tell him. Zero clue. How was I ever supposed to say, Sure, he may be physically gone, but every time I close my eyes, I still see him on that roof threatening Darcy's life. I still remember him sending men to kidnap me and Darcy. So yeah, he was gone, but he left behind a lot of fear and anger.

  “I know I'm supposed to be remorseful, but at the same time, I'm not."

  DI Strickland gave me a level look. "Feel what you feel. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you survived. It's over."

  Except there was a lot more to it than that. A lot more. He killed my brother. "DI Strickland?"

  "Yes, Ms. Varma?"

  Bridge growled at that. "Mrs. Edgerton."

  Strickland nodded. "Yes, of course it is. Sorry. Yes, Mrs. Edgerton?"

  "My brother. Are you going to formally investigate his death now? After everything we've done, I just have to know."

  Strickland met my gaze and nodded slowly. "Yes. Given what we’ve learned, I’ll petition the Crown Prosecutor's Office to reopen the case. They have no choice but to say yes. We will be investigating. Okay?"

  Suddenly my nose began stinging and I was having to rapidly blink to hold back the tears. It was such a small word, yes. But that simple word filled me with so much hope and exhaustion. I was tired.

  After over a year of planning, pushing, fighting, I was finally going to get vengeance for my brother. And suddenly, I had no idea what to do with this fight. It was time to lay down my sword, and I wasn’t sure I could.

  Thanks to Bridge and my extended family, I had finally gotten what I needed.

  And I should feel some relief, but instead, the only feeling that was at all familiar was the aching loneliness of my past.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Bridge

  I glanced down at my sister. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “I’m sure.” She nodded.

  “You don’t have to.”

  She licked her lips. “I want to. I just never really considered having people, you know? Other than you and Mum, obviously. But my birth mum, I don’t have her. I know nothing about that side of my family. I try never to think about Dad because you and Mum love me enough. And let’s be frank, semen doesn’t make you a father.”

  I gagged a little. “Fucking hell, Darcy.”

  She chuckled. “What? It’s true. Just because somebody gave spunk doesn’t mean he’s got what it takes to be a father.”

  “Ugh, of course not. But could you please not say spunk or jizz, because it's gross.”

  “Don’t you have spunk?"

  I could feel the blood draining from my face. “For fuck’s sake, Darce.”

  She laughed. “Ah, don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’m only teasing you. Honestly, he’s never been my dad. I didn’t mean it. I just didn’t think I’d have like anything from my granddad and shit.”

  I nodded. “I barely knew the man myself. But he left me this place. I like to think if he’d known about you he would have left it to you instead. So I’m giving it to you. Knowing he cared all this time but probably had no idea how to show it gives me a soft spot for the place. It will be an excellent place to holiday.”

  Darcy was running through her lines perfectly. She knew what was expected. She knew to run when I said to fucking run.

  Does she though? Because Emma made it quite clear Darcy should leave her on the roof, but she wouldn’t go. I just prayed to God that she didn’t think she needed to protect me in any way.

  I led her into the old manor, my massive key sticking just a little in the front door lock.

  Darcy’s eyes went wide as they adjusted. Her gaze went immediately to the framed art on the walls and the massive gilded frames and mirrors. “Aw, Bridge, it’s beautiful.”

  “Yeah. When I was a kid, I thought the art was boring. But I realize now that him trailing me through the hallways and pointing out his favorite paintings was his way of trying to connect. Let’s just say the old man was not great with people.”

  She shrugged. “Well, he was good enough to know that Dad should not have this place.”

  “Yeah, there is that.”

  I knew that my mates were currently searching the property with Liam and Alex. Ollie was in position. I knew that Darcy was safe with me, but walking her in there made me uneasy. It was when we stepped in the library that I realized the old man wasn’t hiding.

  I stopped abruptly in the doorframe, and Darcy walked into my back. “Oi, Bridge. The fuck?”

  I tried to shove her back, but she wasn’t having it. “Is that him?”

  She tried to push past me. He was unsurprised, but then again, he had the benefit of security. “Ah, yes, the chickens have come home to roost. What are you doing here, Bridge? And with my other bastard, no less.”

  Darcy flinched and took a step forward, but she kept a hand on my arm. “You say that we’re bastards as if I’m the one who’s careless. I was just the one who was born. Like I said to Bridge, you were just the cum factory.”

  I coughed a laugh as dear old dad scowled at her. “You are uncouth. How could you ever be mine? No wonder your mother was so disappointed.”

  Darcy tilted her chin. “Actually, Mum quite loves me and is proud of me too. I’m head girl at school.”

  His scowl only deepened. “What sort of riffraff do they allow in that school where you’re head girl?”

  “You’ll never know.” She turned her gaze to me. “Do we tell him now?”

  I grinned. “Yeah, go ahead.”

  “You’re trespassing, Dad.”

  He frowned. “I’m not leaving. This place is the least I deserve for putting up with your grandfather’s pious judgment as long as I did.”

  Darcy shifted closer to me. Out of fear? “Ever stop to think maybe you needed better judgment? You’re a bit of a—“

  “Darcy.” I interrupted her. This wasn’t her fight. Sure, he’d been a nonexistent father to her, and she had the right to be angry. But the real problem was between me and him. “Darce, I want you to wait by the car, yeah?”

  She pouted. “I don’t want to.”

  “Go, Darce.”

  She sighed but turned on her heel and marched out. With Middleton gone, she would be perfectly safe, and it left me the chance to speak one-on-one to the old man.

  “I didn’t even think to look for you here.”

  “Then why are you here? I’m not bothering you. This is my property.”

  “No, it’s not. And actually, I quite think you know it’s not. You were just hoping that I wouldn’t find out before my thirtieth birthday. It’s time to go.”

  He shook his head. “I have done nothing wrong.”

  “Oh, you mean the part where you aided and abetted a murderer? Do you know how many women he’s killed? Assaulted? Do you have any idea?”

  He scowled. “He was the only one willing to be a man. You were so soft. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were soft. How could you be my son?”

  “Yeah, Mum told me about all the paternity tests you had done. And you kept having them done as if somehow she’d managed to pay them off with the pittance of money you gave her monthly.”

  “You were my biggest disappointment.”

  Normally those words would’ve hurt. For years they had. They had shaped me as a man. Who I was, who I wanted to be. Someone that he couldn’t deny. At the end of the day though, my mother was right. I was who I chose to be. And while the Edgerton mansion was useful, I would claim it because it was my grandfather’s, not because it was his.

  “For years you used that to try and control me. I see it. I’m unimpressed, obviously. But I see it, and I’m well disappointed that I believed it for so long. You saw yourself as inadequate. You knew that granddad had left me everything and that he’d skipped over your other son in favor of me.”

  “The old man was a fool. He said he saw something in him. That he was too much of me. Francis couldn’t be controlled.”

  “Is that what you call it, murdering women, because he couldn’t keep his impulses under control?”

  “He only took women that nobody would miss.”

  “He killed a teacher. Every single one of those women mattered. But he killed a teacher and tried to make it look like I did it.”

  The man I had called my father, though ever so loosely, merely shrugged. “You were handed everything. How did you turn out so wrong?”

  “I have a question for you, old man. You were handed everything, so how did you have one son who’s a murderer, another who hates you, and a daughter who thinks you’re basically a sperm bank? There’s one common denominator here. It’s you.”

  He stood, adjusting his trousers and tugging on the hem of the jumper he wore. And I saw he had a gun in his hand. I prayed to God that Darcy had listened and kept going right back outside. “What, so you’re going to kill me?”

  “It’s a choice. I normally have people for this sort of thing, but if you insist on making me leave, I will shoot you.”

  I chuckled at that. “This isn’t your house. I will have you removed.”

  “I will shoot you before you can."

  “You know, it would not be the first time I was shot. I can’t seem to figure it out, though. Was it you or your precious firstborn that shot me and Darcy?”

  He scowled. “I was assured the problem would be taken care of.”

  I chuckled then. “Yeah, next time you hire someone, you might want to get an expert.” He raised the gun toward me, and I cocked my head, eyeing him. “I really suggest you don’t do that. You have a choice; walk out the door or stay, and be humiliated and dragged through the dust. Or maybe you won’t walk out of here at all.”

  When he leveled the gun at me, I sighed. “You had the choice. Why do you always choose wrong?” There was a part of me that wanted to know. And yet still there was another part of me that already knew. He was incapable of choosing to care, of choosing to love. He was physically and emotionally incapable.

  When the safety went off, I sighed, knowing how this was going to end. The pain that didn’t need to be there.

  The loud crack made me wince, and shattered glass exploded everywhere as my father sank to his knees. Eyes wide and rolling. Breath coming out in choppy bursts. Blood pooling at his shoulder. It was a clean hit.

  In my comms, Ollie murmured, “Target hit.”

  “It didn’t have to be like this, Dad.”

  He blinked rapidly. “You shot me.”

  “Yes. Well, I had you shot. But now you still get to wear the silver cuffs.”

  Nyla strolled in behind me. “You were supposed to bring him out without the blood.”

  “I tried. He was determined to bleed.”

  She sighed. “How am I going to explain this?”

  “I’m sure you can get creative.”

  She started to read him his rights. She wasn’t particularly gentle as she cuffed him then dragged him to his feet.

  He scowled at me. “I’ve always hated you.”

  I smiled back at him. “Oh good. Feeling’s mutual. Now you get to spend the rest of your miserable life contemplating every decision, every choice, every single place you’ve gone wrong. Good luck with that.”

  As Nyla dragged him out and he spit epitaphs at her, I surveyed the library. I spent a lot of time in this room with Gramps showing me maps of the world and his travels. I wanted to have this place cleaned. Restore it to what it was, and Darcy could change it to whatever she wanted. This house would be hers. Since she didn’t get to spend any time with the old man, maybe this would help her feel more connected to her family. I glanced down at one of the shards of glass with its blood-tipped corner. It was over at last. We were all free.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Emma

  I sat near the door in the pub. I liked the option of making a fast getaway.

  My phone vibrated, and I looked down to see Bridge’s name. A smile curved my lips.

  Bridge: Is he there yet?

  Emma: Not yet. But I have a drink and time.

  Bridge: Don’t worry, he’ll be there.

  Emma: I know. Or at least I hope so.

  I glanced up to see the styled salt and pepper hair, and my breath caught.

  Emma: He’s here. I’ll text you later on my way home. Love you.

  Bridge: Love you too.

  My father was scanning the tables, and then he saw me at the bar. His smile was broad if a little tentative. When he approached, I stood, not quite sure what I was supposed to do. Were we hugging? Ah fuck, I didn’t know.

  He stopped in front of me, and I stood there, doing a little shuffle from foot to foot. And finally, with a sad smile, he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. My arms automatically locked around him tight, and my eyes stung as I blinked away the well of tears that rushed to my lids. He felt the same.

  “Daddy.” I blinked rapidly and forced myself to release him and stepped back. When I did, he was blinking away tears too.

  “My sweet girl. You’re okay?”

  I nodded. “Have a seat.”

  He laughed. “That’s supposed to be my line.”

  I shrugged. “Sorry. I got here early to make sure I could see you walk in, and then I wasn’t sure where to sit and—“

  He laughed. “That’s why I came early too.”

  “Right. I suppose you did teach me that.”

  He blinked. “You remember that?”

  I shrugged. “Or maybe you taught Toby and I was listening. But it’s just something I do. Always be prepared for a meeting. And when you can’t control the situation, be prepared. Which means turning up early. Really early.”

  He laughed. “At least something I said to you stuck.”

  I wanted to point out that there was so much more he could’ve said, but I didn’t. We started speaking at the same time.

  “Emma.”

  "Dad."

  We both shook our heads and said, “No, no, you go on.”

  And then I sagged. “This is so awkward. I don’t know what to say to you. I don’t know what to do.”

  He chuckled. "Me either. Why don’t you tell me how it’s all going?”

  That I understood how to do. “Well, Lord Edgerton has been arrested, you know. He tried to shoot Bridge, but we shot him first.”

  He frowned at that. “We?”

  “I think it was one of the new lads. Likely Liam. He’s the one who has the oddest connections and who’s actually rich. But Ollie has experience being a thief. And I don’t actually know Alex’s skill sets yet."

  My father blinked at me slowly. “Well, I do know the lads. Alex has a way with people. We’ll just say he could talk his way out of anything if he tried hard enough.”

  “Oh, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

  He laughed. “It’s a useful thing. It’s a skill that will serve him well. He could go into politics if he wanted.”

  I nodded and said seriously, “Thank you for your help.”

  He shook his head. “It wasn’t help. It was what I should’ve done years ago.”

  “You were trying to protect us."

  “I was, but it wasn’t enough, and it certainly didn’t help Toby. I just wanted you and your mum safe.”

  “So what happens now with you and Mum?”

  His cheeks pinked. "I’ve reached out to her. I’m heading to Toronto in two days.”

  I blinked at him slowly. “Toronto, you say?”

  He laughed. “Oh my God. Yes, Toronto. I’m going to see her. Hopefully, take her to dinner and she can show me her art and we can walk around the city, spend some time together.”

  “Right. And your wife and kids? What will they think about that?”

  He shook his head. “Not my kids. Not really.”

  I frowned at that. “What do you mean?”

  His drink arrived, and he picked it up, taking a sip sheepishly. “Early on, I had an idea that the Elite would come calling. I knew I’d broken the rules, and I knew that at some point they were going to demand payment and require me to do something. So after you were born, Pamma and I decided not to have any more children. I had a vasectomy off the books at a hospital in Canada years ago. So when I had to leave your mother and get remarried, I told my wife I couldn’t have children. We tried, but she didn't get pregnant. Finally, I suggested a surrogate, so that's what we used. Honestly, I don't get to spend any time with them. From the beginning, they were her children, and they've been off at boarding schools the whole time. I think you'd actually like Brianna, though. My daughter, for all intents and purposes, loathes her mother. You can see how much her mother has controlled her. She didn't want either of us around."

  I stared at him. “Jesus. These are the people you tied yourself with?”

  He nodded slowly. “Yeah. 'Join a secret society,' they said. 'It will make you powerful,' they said. But it’s just been a series of lies and deceit, murders, and other crimes. Ben and the lads are making good changes. An organization that powerful will not just go quietly into the night. Thus, the changes the London Lords are making are necessary. If the Elite exists, it might as well be something that they can control. We’ll see how much Ben can do to dismantle the bad parts and then implement changes that are just and righteous for the next ten years. If he can make enough changes, maybe it’ll be a different kind of organization. Maybe we can get him reinstated as Director Prime. Give him a second term. A whole generation of change. That would be great.”

  “Was Toby excited about it?”

  His gaze went somber as he looked down at his drink, twirling it around, clinking the glass as he did. “You know, I think at first he was excited. I think he wanted to spend some time with me. And I was so desperate to catch any sight of him. I kept tabs on the both of you, I swear to God I did. I wanted him as close as I could have him, and even under their watchful eye, I could see him grow before my eyes and would have some influence in molding him. Of course, everything changed when he came and told me about the murder of the teacher. I considered trying to get him out of the country, but he didn’t want to leave. We had a bit of a rift about it, actually. Luckily it wasn’t the last thing I said to him, but I told him it might be in his best interest to not take part in the initiation, but he told me that it would be his legacy and that’s why he was doing it. Thank God, before they climbed into their stupid coffins, I was able to tell him I was proud of him. At least he knew that.” His voice was soft, the pitch low, and I could see his mind drop into reverie. "I should’ve known. I’m sorry.”