Page 541 of Lessons in Cruelty
I don’t get to show her, because that’s when someone knocks on my door, and immediately enters without waiting for me to answer first.
“Get a fucking lock, Kai,” Haven mutters as she shoves me off her and pulls the sheets to her chin.
“Never needed one before, Haven,” I mutter as Jace steps into the room.
“Good morning.” His eyes stutter in Haven’s direction. “Contravening our ‘no female guests’ rule again, I see.”
“This stray?” I stab a thumb over my shoulder. “She just wandered right in. Someone must have left open a door or something. I’m taking her to the pound first thing. Just need to get a cup of coffee in me first.”
Unsurprisingly, Haven punches me in the kidney hard enough to make me wince.
“No need. You and your stray have until noon to clear out.” He turns and meticulously tapes a sheet of paper onto the back of my door. “This is your letter of disassociation.”
Haven grabs my shoulder, but I buck her off and shoot to my feet. “You can’t do that.”
“I can.” Jace’s face is as impassive as his voice. “And I have.”
“You need a unanimous vote!”
“Which I obtained half an hour ago. In the meeting you were told to attend. Pity. You might have been able to swing a few votes your way.”
“Bullshit!” I surge forward, but Haven hobbles in front of me a second later, hand flattened against my chest.
Jace only gives her a cursory once-over. If he’d lingered a millisecond longer on any part of her body, he’d be dead right now.
He raps his knuckles against the paper. “It’s all here. Signatures available upon request. Have a lawyer look it over, if you want.”
“You fucking know I will.” I’m pushing into Haven’s hand, but she just pushes me right back. When I glance down at her, she’s staring up at me with wide ‘chill, dude’ eyes.
Jace pauses en-route to the hallway, turning with the edge of the door clasped in his hand. “Not Emerson, though.”
How the fuck does Jace know Emerson is the Jordan family lawyer?
“If you think—”
“I’m not being difficult,” Jace says calmly, which just makes my own strained, barely coherent voice seem even more bullish. “It’s merely a conflict of interest.”
“How can—”
“Emerson drafted the letter in advance of the meeting, in case the vote was affirmative.” Jace smiles grimly. “Upon Ezra’s request, of course.”
Haven limps around to face Jace, her hand falling away from my chest. “That’s bullshit. He wouldn’t do that to his own brother.”
An invisible force is squeezing around my chest, making breathing, talking, thinking almost impossible. So thank God she said it, because right now I don’t think I can speak.
Jace doesn’t look at her, directing his words to me. “Emerson and I met with him yesterday afternoon. He’s finally lucid enough to speak after you nearly put him in a coma, by the way.” A lifeless smile pulls at his mouth. “I’m sure you’re thrilled.”
“Yesterday?” I croak. “When yesterday?”
Jace flicks his gaze over my room, then back at the paper, silent as he smooths down the edge of the tape.
“You’ve got till noon, Kai. Whatever’s still inside this room by then is going onto the sidewalk.”
“Can Ezra really do that?” Haven asks, turning to me as soon as Jace pulls the door closed behind him.
I’m glaring at Jace so hard, it feels like my eyeballs are going to explode. But then it’s like someone flips a switch, and all the anger and frustration and fear snuff out.
“Doesn’t matter. No one wants me here anyway. Jace got the votes.”
