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There’s no way I’m going to be the one to end this stalemate.
Finally, she gives me a tight smile. “It’s nice to see you, Weston.”
I swallow. “I wish I could say the same for you.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry here? You killed six of my men last night.”
Snorting, I shake my head. “You brought that on yourself, sister. If you hadn’t taken Callista, your men might still be alive. You didn’t offer me much choice on that matter.”
“Didn’t I?”
“What is it you had hoped to accomplish? Because I can only think of one thing—getting me to come off the mountain. And you did, so bravo.”
She releases a sigh, tucks her hands together at her lower back, and wanders over to the wall, staring up at the head of a bison that’s been mounted there since well before either of us was born. “I do need something from you, Weston.”
“I figured.”
Otherwise, the status quo that had existed for the last three decades would have continued uninterrupted. She would have had no reason to throw that axe in Fox’s door and initiate the entire Callista ruse.
Glancing over her shoulder, she briefly drifts her gaze over me before looking away again. “I’m sorry if you—”
“Did I just hear the words ‘I’m sorry’ from your mouth?”
Wendy Barker doesn’t apologize.
Father taught both of us that apologies were weakness, merely placations to make ourselves feel better about something we did when we should have been embracing and owning our actions.
That tells me only one thing: whatever she needs must be very big.
She doesn’t respond to my question; she just tilts her head in her examination of the bust. “I won’t be in Helena much longer…”
My back stiffens as I watch her move to the next head and stare up at it.
“I’ve been tapped to run for president in the next election.”
I almost choke on the next sip of my drink. “You’re joking.”
She shakes her head, then looks over her shoulder at me with a smug smile. “Truth be told, it’s always been my goal, my dream, but I never saw it coming to fruition until the last year. The only problem becomes what happens when I have to spend most of my time on the campaign trail and, hopefully, in DC? Someone will have to step up here.”
A low growl slips from my lips. “And you thought by kidnapping Callista, you could get me to do it?”
She wanders back over to me. “I thought by kidnapping Callista, it would help you understand and remember your role. It might bring back the brother I once knew. It might awaken The Beast. And it worked, didn’t it?”
The smug rise of her dark brow twists my gut.
Fuck.
That’s what she wanted.
The bloodshed.
The bodies.
My axe and hands dripping with that crimson liquid that proved it was still inside me.
That was all part of the setup.
“I’ll give you credit, Wendy.” I raise my drink to her. “You got me. You’ve proven there’s very little I’m not willing to do when it comes to protecting that woman. But just because you got me to dirty my hands again doesn’t mean I want to step back into that role or any other. I never wanted what Father had. That was always Ray’s—”
