After Hastings left, Kincaid led me to the couch-déjà vu-and went to get us both something to drink. When she returned with two bottled iced teas, I hadn’t even let her ass get comfortable on the couch before I was spilling out my humiliation again.
And,once again, I told her everything. I told her everything from the moment Stone showed up at my motel room to when he stormed out, leaving me a mental and emotional mess. I even told her how I sat on the floor and cried forever because I was so fucked-up over all this.
When I was done, Kincaid dropped back against the couch and just blinked at me. Then she took a drink of her tea as if it were spiked, then blinked at me some more.
When my nerves couldn’t take it anymore, I cried out,“What?”
“I’m just not sure what to give you first,” she replied. “The bad news or the worst news.”
I letout a pained sigh. “Great.”
“But before I break the terrible news to you,I’d be remiss if I didn’t give you points for going up against Stone Lexington,” she said. “I mean, I knew you had spunk when you wouldn’t let Alexander intimidate you at the initiation, but I never imagined you’d have the balls to bump dicks with Stone fucking Lexington.”
“So, is this the part where you tell me I’m screwed?”
Kincaid let out a deep sigh, and she even looked a bit regretful, which would have turned my stomach into knots if I hadn’t already been a mess.
“Saxton named me as his supporter when we were freshmen,”she began. “That was the earliest they could make their commitments with the beginning of this year being the deadline to choose someone.”
“But…butStone didn’t choose me until the night before,” I reminded her.
“And that should tell you all you need to know about how powerful Stone Lexington is, Rylee,” she said softly. “The Order and the other initiates had already known he had originally opted out of choosing someone, and that was another example of his power. No one has ever refuted the rules like that before.”
“How do you know allthis?” I asked. She spoke as if she were a member and not a supporter like the rest of us girls.
“Saxtonand I are friends, Rylee.Real friends.When he chose me, he also chose to share what he knew about the other initiates and what I should expect being involved with The Order.”
“AreRoss and Jennifer friends?” She shook her head. “Fox and Alexis?” She shook her head again, but this time, at the mention of Fox’s name, her eyes shifted a bit. It was minuscule, but I noticed, nonetheless.
“No, they’re not.Jennifer and Alexis were chosen after a lot of consideration,” she explained. “And The Order prefers it that way. If the members have no emotional connections to their supporters, things are less likely to get messy. If they knew Saxton and I were friends, they might fear that he’d choose me over The Order one day. That is, if push ever came to shove.”
“That’s why the Hera contract is such a big deal,” I surmised.
Kincaid nodded. “Stone essentially told them that you are going to matter more to him than The Order, and with that declaration, the only way The Order can control his loyalty is to make you an extension of him, making you practically a member yourself.”
“Christ, this is all so crazy,” I muttered.
“And that’s where the bad news comes in,” she grimaced.
I steadied myself. “Okay, hit me with it.”
“Part of the problem is that you still don’t believe this is real,” she said, but not unkindly. “You haven’t let yourself really believe that all this is real, but it is, Rylee. It’s real and The Order of the Cronus is still standing because you’re talking about men who have the money and power to make anything happen. It’s rather scary if you think about it long enough. If you think some of these men that make up the history of The Order haven’t killed to make The Order what it is today, then you’re deluding yourself.”
“And let me guess,” I replied. “That’s the bad news, not the worst news, right?”
Shenodded. “Because Saxton had wanted me to know what I was dealing with, he had given me a rundown on all the initiates.” She looked regretful again. “Saxton is the calculating type. He assesses. Ross is the patient type. He’s a thinker. Fox is the commanding type. He’s a leader.”
“And…andStone?”
“Stone is the confrontational type,” she said. “He’s volatile, Rylee.”
Mychest felt like it’d just been kicked in. “He’s going to do everything he said he would, isn’t he?”
Kincaid nodded. “If you don’t love him, if you have absolutely no tender emotions for him, whatsoever, then I say you fight him until only one of you is left standing,” she said passionately. “But if you love him, or care for him-in anyway-then, Rylee, find a way to forgive him or else you will have destroyed your life, and the life of the people you love, for nothing. For pride.”
Mulling her words over in my head, I said the only thing I could. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you care about him?”