FULL NOVELXO Chapter 226
Chapter 226 Two Hundred and Twenty-Six
Christian pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke to his Duchess as gently as he could to avoid starting a scene like his cousin, “How are we supposed to assess how sorry one is, Annie? There's no scale for that.” Annie then challenged her husband, “Do you mean there's no scale, or that you don't want to believe that there is one?”
That hit Christian. Like Xandar, he didn’t want anything but the worst for Greg. The Duke sighed, and pecked a kiss on his Duchess's temple before reluctantly asking, “What's the scale?”
Annie answered without hesitation, “His demeanor. By watching the way Greg speaks about everything he has done, we'll be able to know if he’s being sincere, or if this is just a tactical move.” She locked eyes with Lucianne, and suggested, “Maybe you should talk to him, Lucy.” “NO F*CKING WAY!" Xandar exclaimed, and instinctively wrapped Lucianne even tighter in his chest, like someone would snatch her away if he didn’t hold her close enough. «
Lucianne’s rage returned when she tried to loosen his grip as she asked her mate, “Why?! Because I'll leave you once I see him?!"
Christian answered before his cousin could, “Because there are other people who can do that, my Queen!”
“Like who?!” Annie challenged.
Christian responded to his wife in haste, “ME! AND HIM!" He motioned at Xandar. 2
Seemingly out of nowhere, Toby muttered to himself, “That plan is doomed to failure.”
“I have the King's Authority, Toby. Ican make him answer anything I want.” Xandar declared.
Juan spoke, “That's the problem, Xandar.” When all eyes were on the Alpha, Juan explained, “Assuming that the King's Authority is like the Alpha's Authority, emotions are a key element in emitting and maneuvering the power. Given how much you loathe that other Duke, your anger may suppress any apologetic statement that Greg Claw may make.”
Xandar looked at Juan in disbelief and asked, “You're taking my cousin's side over your sister's? After everything that he's done to her?”
“I'm on my sister's side. And from whatever we've learned from this,” he lifted up the report before placing it back on the table and said, “I'd say the only thing he did to Lucy of his own accord was piss her off in the dining hall and on the training ground. Although I was pushing for him to be punished because he gave Sasha Cummings access to the rogues, Lucy has convinced me that... Cummings may have been able to find an alternative way to contact them. And Greg's intentions seemed to have changed later on, especially when this report said that he attacked Helena Tanner in her own house after the Oleander blade she ordered hurt Lucy, albeit unintentionally.”
When a short moment of silence followed, Juan added, “This in no way makes me forgive him for his involvement in the Jewel Pack attack. All I'm saying is that a balanced indictment is...fair. And to see how far we should tip the scale in his favor, we should see whether he'll return to his old ways if and when he is released from prison.”
“And you propose that your sister be the one to talk to him?” Xandar asked in dissatisfaction. Juan uttered, “Yes, not just because her emotions would be in check should she need to use the Queen's Authority but also because your cousin seems to only want to tell her anything. The computer chip for the corruption, the location of the founders of Wu Bi Corp...he addressed the messages to HER." “Because...he’s in love with her.” Xandar's onyx eyes were a shade darker when he said what everyone else was afraid of saying. Everyone read the report, which had transcripts of recorded conversations in the Kyltons' residence, and the gossip confirmed Greg's feelings for the future Queen.
Juan knew that was coming, and before his sister could throw a fit again, he said, “I'm not going to lie, Xandar. If it were Hale, I may be reacting much worse than you are right now. But I know Hale wouldn't love anyone else the way she loves me, so with...probably a lot of persuasion from her, I would let her see Greg on the condition that I go with her. I would want to witness the entire exchange with my own eyes and listen to the way they speak to each other with my own ears. If he puts a claw out of line, I'll tear him to shreds.” “That's true.” Hale muttered with a smile by his side.
Xandar's eyes moved to Lucianne, and after staring into her hopeful orbs and pondering for a long moment, he planted a deep kiss on her forehead that sent a shower of sparks through Lucianne’s being before he repeated Juan's words in a low voice, “If he puts a claw out of line, I'll tear him to shreds.”
Greg was lying in the prison bed with an Oleander bracelet on his right wrist. It was getting boring. How did inmates entertain themselves here? “There has to be something’, he thought to himself. He sat up and looked around the small space before hearing heavy footsteps getting closer to his cell. A policeman emerged, unlocked his door and said, “We need you to be ready in the interrogation room. You have a visit from the Crown.”
Of course he did. As he left his confined space without another word, he was secretly impressed that his cousins got to this phase of facing him in prison in such a short span of time. He and his animal thought the two would take at least a month before the King came down here and used his Authority to make him vomit whatever sh*t there was in his head.
But Greg wasn't worried. He had already told Billy to activate Codes Orange and Black, which would involve the evacuation of everyone under his care and supervision. They would've been safely evacuated by now. Even if that goody-goody cousin of his forced him to spit out whatever he knew, his information would be outdated and useless. His people were safe, and that was all Greg needed for now.
Then again, maybe he didn’t come for information. Maybe the other Duke just wanted to kill him for what he did to his Duchess...or maybe the King wanted to beat him up for falling in love with his mate...or it was both.
They reached an empty room with a one-way mirror, and the policeman got him to sit while he waited. He doubted that he'd be able to see Lucianne. After handing over the recordings, his secret that he kept to himself had come out. There was no way his cousins would let the Queen come after the police handed them the report.