Page 63 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

BENNETT

M y father and I ignored each other as we sat in his spacious corner office at James B. Spencer & Associates—the law firm that occupied ten floors of Spencer Tower.

He’d set this meeting with me last week, but he’d also apparently scheduled a conference call at the same hour because my time wasn’t valuable.

So, now I waited, fucking around on my phone as I listened to him make his usual threats and demands disguised as polite negotiations with opposing counsel.

When the call finally ended, he spun in his desk chair to face me, his body framed by the view of the wide black waters of the Obsidian River sparkling in the midday sun forty floors below us.

“Is there a reason you’re not fucking your fiancée?”

I glanced up from my phone. “I don’t recall that being a requirement of the contract, Father,” I replied blandly.

He glared at me, unimpressed as always. “I don’t give a shit. I’m tired of Edward Jansen’s casual, offhand comments at every event that his daughter is unhappy with the current state of your relationship.”

“Maybe she should learn to read things before she signs them, then,” I said, flicking through my phone again.

He slammed his palm on the top of his desk.

“Enough, Bennett. Normally, I’d laugh Edward Jansen out of the room for daring to complain to me about anything, but as you are aware, son , the Family is in a more precarious position than usual because of the little Knight bitch.

” He leaned back in his chair to cross his arms over his chest, the diamonds on his cufflinks glinting at me under the office’s harsh fluorescent lights.

“And sticking your dick in Harper Jansen is not a hardship. Fit it in between your visits to the Club, for fuck’s sake. ”

I scowled at him. I didn’t feel like dignifying that demand with a response.

I did so fucking much for Spencer. I was engaged to that obnoxious bitch for Spencer.

I’d watched my best friend die for Spencer. And now that she was back, I was aligned against her for Spencer .

I went back to aimlessly scrolling on my phone. “Was there anything else you wanted to discuss before I return to school? I have crew practice this afternoon.”

He eyed me, pissed off, but he wouldn’t yell at me when his assistant was sitting right outside his office door and would be able to hear it.

“How are things at the Academy? I’m hearing the girl has a few of the sons and daughters of traitors following her around, but she hasn’t made much of an impression otherwise. ”

My father was getting his Academy gossip from biased sources who were telling him what he wanted to hear. Jolie did have a small number of devoted fans, but the rest of the school was scared shitless of her. Only the likes of Harper, Chad, and their circle remained openly against her.

“That’s accurate,” I replied, like the question bored me.

“And it seems she is still just using her inheritance to buy bits and pieces off investors she’s spooked with her stories about the Families.

Like she’ll be able to rebuild Knight to rival us with those crumbs.

” He scoffed. “The Aviano situation notwithstanding, which only happened because Marcella couldn’t keep her fucking legs closed. ”

I nodded. Zach had played that just right, banking on the fact that Lisa wouldn’t reveal that it was her behavior that had painted a target on her mom’s back.

Even if she had, her mom wouldn’t have squealed to Andrea about Zach’s role in her demise because Andrea would probably fucking kill her if she showed her face after losing her company in such an idiotic way.

I’d cautioned Zach repeatedly against making such a bold move against Ferrero allies, but I couldn’t say I hated the fact that Lisa would no longer be slinking around the halls of the Academy.

“So,” I said, attempting to sound only mildly interested, “you think Jolie’s not really a threat to Spencer? Not in the long run, anyway?”

He pinned me with that look that said he thought I was the dumbest person to ever speak the English language in front of him.

“We did not become what we are by not treating everything as a threat to Spencer. She’s trying to win a game she has no business playing, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep a close eye on her.

” He paused to give me an appraising look, then he said, “And she’s stolen something from me I would like returned. ”

My blood ran cold. “Oh?”

“Yes. She’s in possession of a secure flash drive that was stolen from my personal safe.”

Actually, Noah was in possession of that drive, and we’d all agreed that was the safest place for it. What my father was doing with Jeffrey Knight’s flash drive was a fucking mystery to us, and I did not like how little we knew about it.

I said, “Are you asking me to get it back for you?”

Better me than any number of the dangerous people he had at his disposal.

He waved a dismissive hand. “Anders has convinced me she’s not currently a… threat to what’s on the drive. We’ll get it back when the time is right.”

Good for Anders for being useful for once in his pathetic life.

“But,” he went on, “do keep an eye on her. I know you have been—enough to piss off your fiancée, apparently—so do something worthwhile and get a sense of where she’s hiding the drive. And update me if you catch her communicating with anyone of note.”

“Yes, sir.” Watching Jolie was an assignment I could… handle.

“And,” he continued, his voice dropping to its chilliest tone, “you’ll report to me anything concerning . Remember we’re playing nice for the cameras now, but if we have to remind her what happens when you cross the Families like her father did, we will.”

I nodded, my mouth dry as I shoved away the terrifying picture of Jolie’s frail little body bleeding on the floor in front of me.

“You’re dismissed.” He turned away, spinning his chair around to face the floor-to-ceiling window behind his desk again, back to gazing out over the river like a king reveling in the enormity of his kingdom. “Get back to school and do your fucking duty to this Family.”

I left without another word.

Crew practice was held indoors today, the chilly February rain keeping us from heading out on the water. The men’s team spent the first hour on the rowing machines while the women lifted weights, and then we switched places.

As I loaded my barbell, one of my lifting partners—a talented rower from a wealthy outsider family named Hatcher Robicheaux—let out a low whistle, leering in the general direction of the girls.

“It’s such a shame. First no one could ask her out because she was declared persona non grata. Now no one can ask her out because she’s a fucking Heir . It’s not fair. Those legs should be illegal.”

I glanced at where Jolie was pulling hard on her machine, deep into that methodical focus of hers, while her long, toned legs were on full display because she refused to wear anything but tiny fucking spandex shorts in the gym.

Harper was a few rowers down from her, sans shirt but wearing a faceful of makeup, and I watched as she sneered in Jolie’s direction, no doubt having caught my gaze on her once again.

“Man, peel your eyes off the Knight Heir,” Hatcher’s twin, Hans, said with a rough elbow to his brother’s ribs, “before Spencer yanks them out of your head.”

Hans was both gay and highly observant, which made him the more tolerable of the Robicheaux twins.

Hatcher shot me a guilty look. “Sorry, dude. I know she’s your enemy or whatever, but you have to admit, she’s a fucking smokeshow.”

I glared at him. “Quit running your mouth and finish your set.”

He gave me a jaunty salute, and Hans chuckled. “Yeah, Hatch. Spencer doesn’t want you drooling over her because she’s his enemy .”

My angry glare swung to Hans, letting him know he was one second away from having my hands wrapped around his neck. He raised his own hands in surrender, but not before he gave me a shitty little wink .

Maybe Hans wasn’t the more tolerable of the twins.

I returned my focus to my workout, the meeting with my father invading my thoughts.

His warnings and threats against Jolie bounced around my head like it was an echo chamber from hell, so by the time I’d finished my workout and showered, I found myself once again haunting the hall outside the girls’ locker room, waiting for Jolie.

It was only a few weeks ago that I’d stood in the same spot, still shell-shocked after learning I now had a secret bank account with millions of dollars in it and knowing, deep in my bones, that Jolie was somehow responsible.

A few days ago, I’d used some of that money to buy a condo on the Northside of Olde Town.

I gave the key to my mom so she had some place to go to escape the hellhole that was the Spencer penthouse, and since it was owned by a shell company not traceable back to me, I now had an off-the-books place to hunker down if I didn’t want to be found.

I’d also put Zach and Noah’s names on that bank account, and they both had begun making similar, careful moves to gain a small kernel of freedom from their Families.

Jolie had given that to us, and she didn’t even realize how much it meant.

And I’d have given it all back if it meant my father would never discover she had the power to destroy Alastia right under his nose.

After I’d waited a few minutes, Jolie emerged wearing her Holywell Crew sweatshirt, black yoga pants, and her ratty Vans. Her wet hair was braided over one shoulder, and her pale skin was dewy and pink from her shower.

I wanted to tie her to my bed and keep her there—safe and hidden—forever.

Her gaze met mine, and I braced against the wave of nostalgia and pain that slammed into me every time I looked into those ethereal eyes.

“Bennett, we have to stop meeting like this,” she quipped. “Aren’t you going to drag me into a dark corner like a caveman?”