Chapter 5

In a private mourning room Leo had rented at Kingston's Cleavenworth Funeral Home, he stood before two polished niches. He'd retrieved the urns containing the ashes of his mother and his older brother, Ralph. He knelt, honoring them with a silence that held more weight than any prayer.

Then, he read Evelyn's letter. When he finished, he held the paper to a candle flame and let it curl to ash before his brother's resting place.

The ritual complete, he returned the urns with infinite care, sealing his loved ones back into their silent, marble world.

The three of them walked back to the Cayenne in a heavy silence.

But before Sophia's Cayenne even moved, two cars pulled in through the main gate. The security guard pointed in their direction, and the cars drove straight toward them, blocking the Cayenne from the front and rear.

A group of burly men climbed out. The moment she saw the man leading them, Julia clenched her teeth. "Jasper! What is he doing here?"

Sophia snorted. "He couldn't find you, so he must've paid off the guard to notify him the minute you showed up."

When the men opened their trunks and pulled out thick wooden clubs.

Julia's composure shattered. She whirled toward Leo, panic in her eyes. "They're here for you! Don't you dare get out! I'll handle this!"

Leo's hand settled on her shoulder. "This is my fight. I can't let a woman fight for me."

"I'm your aunt!" she said anxiously.

Sophia unfastened her seat belt and said sharply, "This is not the time for heroics! Going out there is suicide! Look at them—can't you see they came prepared? Just because those two clowns earlier couldn't handle you doesn't mean you're invincible! There are seven or eight of them now. How exactly do you plan on fighting that?"

Leo merely pursed his lips, not bothering to explain.

Seven or eight men? Even seventy or eighty wouldn't matter to him.

In his first two years under the Blind Master's tutelage, he'd survived a prison riot alone, facing hundreds.

His silence seemed to confirm Sophia's fear. She scoffed. "And don't even think about calling that 'senior brother' of yours. Anyone who runs with the Shaws is scum. You're out now. Stop clinging to criminals. Do you want to put your aunt through this all over again?"

Before he could respond, she had already stepped out of the car, positioning herself in front of Jasper.

Watching Sophia's small figure square up to them, a faint smile flickered across Leo's lips.

Just as his aunt said, Sophia had a sharp tongue, but she had a soft heart. That alone made her easier to tolerate.

Seeing Sophia approach, Jasper—a short, greasy-looking man—let out a mocking laugh. "Well, if it isn't my dear friend's little wifey. I just talked to Liam on the phone. What a coincidence."

Sophia's expression was ice. "Watch your mouth! I'm not married, and I don't even have a boyfriend."

Jasper's face hardened. "Sophia, I'm not here for you. Step aside. If you get hurt, it's on you."

He raised his voice, shouting past her at the Cayenne. "Hey, Sterling! You actually crawled out of Alcatan! Must've kissed the devil's ass. But so what? You gonna hide behind skirts forever? My niece's life isn't something you ruin and just walk away from. I'm here to make sure you never get the chance to hurt another woman!"

"You're sick," Sophia snapped. "He's already done five years for it! He paid for what happened. How long are you going to hold onto it?"

Jasper looked her up and down, sneering. "Sophia, if I spend five years in prison after having some fun with you, can we call it even?"

One of the thugs chuckled. "Five years? Hell, I'd do ten!"

Another ran his hungry eyes over her body. "Forget prison. One night with a beauty like her? I'd give up ten years of my life."

Their leering gazes made Sophia feel stripped bare. Shame and fury burned through her. "You're disgusting!"

"Where is Scarlett?" Leo got out of the car and walked toward them, his voice cold.

"What are you doing!" Sophia hissed. "As long as you stayed inside the car, they wouldn't dare touch you! If they scratch my car, I'll call my brother, and he'll have them all arrested! But you—why must you be so stupid and hand yourself over?"

"This is my business, not yours," Leo said calmly.

"Fine! You ungrateful, arrogant… get yourself killed, then!" Furious, she spun and yanked the car door open, sliding back inside with a slam. "If it weren't for Julia, I wouldn't waste the breath! Go on! Let them beat you into a coma!"

With Sophia out of the way, Jasper's predatory grin returned. He jabbed a thick finger at Leo. "Still dreaming about my niece? You think you deserve her? You want to see her? Sure. I'll take you. But you're not walking. You're going in a bag."

He waved his hand.

Two thugs stepped forward, clubs raised, aiming straight for Leo's skull.

The feud between the families had already reached the point of no return. There was no need for courtesy. Even if Leo planned revenge, they couldn't give him the chance.

They wouldn't kill him. It would be too troublesome to deal with afterward. But turning him into a living corpse? That, Bryan could easily cover up.

So the moment they moved, they swung for his head.

Jasper sneered. "Idiot. You come swaggering out here like nothing happened? Did you really think all these years of planning and preparation from the Kirk family were for—"

THWACK. THWACK.

Two heavy thuds cut him off.

The two attacking thugs dropped where they stood, collapsing into unconscious heaps on the gravel. Their clubs clattered harmlessly to the ground.

No one had seen Leo move. One moment the clubs were descending; the next, the men were down.

A stunned silence gripped the remaining men.

Leo took a step forward, his focus entirely on Jasper. "Was this your idea? Or Bryan's? Or did Scarlett herself ask for this?"

Jasper stumbled back a step, then caught himself, puffing out his chest. "You don't get to say her name! You raped her! You destroyed her! You're not fit to—"

"SHUT UP!" Leo roared, startling him.

A cold sneer curved Leo's lips as he stared him down.

"Do you even believe your own lies anymore? Scarlett pursued me. You set the trap. The drink, the drug, the staged scene… you let your own niece play the victim in a bed she climbed into willingly, all to frame me and throw me into prison.

"You've repeated the lie so often you've started to taste it as truth. I just didn't expect Scarlett to go that far—to sacrifice herself for it."

Jasper smirked. "So what? You think a jury would have believed your word over hers? One night of acting for the entire Sterling empire? My family made the deal of a lifetime. And in this day and age, who cares about a little pretend virtue?

"I'll say it plain: it was a trap. From the start. We wanted everything you had. And we took it. So what?"

Leo nodded, pulled out his phone—already recording—and handed it to Julia in the car.

"Good," he said coldly. "Since you've confessed, then every last Kirk—Bryan, Scarlett, you… every single one—can start preparing. You will kneel. And you will repay everything you stole from the Sterling family."