Chapter 175

Gwen snarled in Anthony’s direction. “The only thing you can do to make up for all the trouble you’ve caused is to burn in hell.”

He nodded. “I suppose I deserve that. But please hear me out.” He turned a pathetic look on me. “You’re a reporter and the one who’s out for truth for everyone. Aren’t you interested in hearing what I have to say? Getting the whole truth before you act?”

I let out a huge sigh. He’d played upon my only remaining sympathy for him. “Make it quick,” I snapped.

He nodded but stayed on his knees. “I understand how upset you must all be. And if I were in your shoes, I’d probably have a hard time forgiving myself, too. But it wasn’t my choice. I swear. I was being forced. And if you agree not to press charges against me, I’ll help you take out the real problem.”

“And who would that be?” I asked.

If possible, he went even more pale, glanced around nervously, then swallowed hard. “It’s the Alpha King,” he said.

All of us stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment.

Anthony studied my face carefully, and then his gaze flicked to the others in the room. “See,” he said. “There are a couple of you that aren’t surprised at all by that revelation. I can tell. I can see it in your faces. Some part of you knows that I’m telling the truth.”

Still, no one said anything. After a moment of silence, he straightened himself up, a little bit of color coming back to his cheeks.

“I’ll sweeten the deal,” he said. “I’ll make a public apology specifically about your families. I’ll make sure to apologize to everyone else I hurt, as well. But I’ll spend most of the time trying to undo the damage that I did to your families. I know your story did a lot to help those people, Elena,” he said, appealing to me again, “but nothing will repair the damage like a public admission from me that everything I reported was wrong.”

“And why should I trust you?” I asked. “You tried to take me down the same way you took them down.”

He nodded and fidgeted. “I know. But if we’re going to appeal to the public, you and I are the ultimate team against the wrongs that are being done here. Me, for being the one who did them, and you, for being the one who exposed the truth. If you put me out there in front of people, and I do the admitting, then we should get people to trust us. That’s the best way to repair the damage to your loved ones,” he said, waving his hand at Gwen, Charles, and Theo in an emotional appeal to me.

I crossed my arms and stared at him. “These aren’t just my decisions to make,” I informed him. “I hear what you’re saying, but I need to have a discussion with Theo and Charles before I agree to anything.”

I crossed to Theo, who still clenched the gun in his hand so tightly that his knuckles shone white. I put a gentle hand over the top of his, gripping the weapon.

“Theo,” I said soothingly, “I want you to hand the weapon over to David and come and talk with me. Okay? If you hurt him now, you’re only going to end up hurting yourself.”

Theo didn’t take his eyes off Anthony but gave a sharp nod and a shuddering sigh. Then he stepped over to David, handing the weapon off. David kept an arm around Gwen’s chest, keeping her back from Anthony, though she had quit struggling.

I took her hands in mine and looked into her face. “I want you to stay here with David, please. I’m going to talk with the other two, and we’re going to come up with a plan. I promise to consider your best interests. Do you trust your son and me?”

She clenched her teeth so hard her neck tightened, but she nodded her head. “I trust you to do right by my son and our family,” she gritted out, “since I just told you that I expect you to be a part of it.”

I gave her hands a squeeze and then let go. “You have my word.”

Theo, Charles, and I retreated from our apartment and into David and Theo’s living room. I stood between the pair of them and the door.

“What could you possibly have to discuss with us?” Charles snapped. “Let’s turn the bastard over to the police. Although I’m not entirely opposed to having Theo just end him now.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re not sending Theo to jail for murder. Anthony’s here, and he’s unarmed. We’re not just going to shoot him in cold blood. We’re not the bad guys, remember?”

Neither Theo nor Charles looked like they would have minded being the bad guy, at least in this. I crossed my arms and glared at the pair of them.

“Look, we could wash our hands of this right now. We’ll call the police. David and Theo can keep Anthony subdued until they get here. I honestly have no idea how Anthony managed to avoid being arrested in the first place. But the news said they’ve got a warrant out on him. I’m sure they’ll be happy to see him.”

“Once again,” Charles snapped, “what is there to discuss?”

I stared at him, willing him to listen and hear what I had to say. “The discussion is on whether or not we should do that.”

“Of course we should,” Charles snarled. But Theo’s scowl faltered.

I turned to Theo, appealing to him since it appeared his rational side had a better hold than Charles’. “You know what I’m going to say, don’t you?”

He looked reluctant to admit it, so I outlined it for him, putting into words what he found too distasteful to admit. “We need to work with Anthony because it does no good to just turn him over. If he wasn’t the one pulling the strings, if the Alpha King really is behind this, then Anthony is just a tool.”

“Well, obviously, he’s a tool,” Charles said, tossing in the insult.

I ignored this and continued. “The Alpha King will just replace him as soon as he’s out of the way. In fact, we might even be doing him a favor by turning Anthony in and clearing the way for him to employ a new tool.”

“If the Alpha King is really the problem, the only way we’re going to stop all of the bad things from starting up again, only more discreetly and with people we’ll have a hard time finding a second time, then we need to take down the king now. And Anthony is the key to doing that. If we let our biases get in the way and refuse to work with him, we may never get another chance at the king. And none of the stuff that we’re trying to fix will ever really improve.”

Charles and Theo let out matching growls. But it was Charles who spoke first.

“And you’re sure this is the best course of action?” he asked. “You really think you can get my family and my father exonerated without the public seeing this slime go to jail?”

I nodded. “I honestly think that working with Anthony is what’s best for your father.” I turned and looked at Theo. “For your sister, for me, for everybody. Nothing will change if we leave the king in power—other than who he’s using as his tools.”

Theo and Charles both exchanged a look and then the two of them drooped, giving up.

“Do what you need to do,” Theo said. “As always, I have your back.”

“And I trust you implicitly,” Charles added. “If this is really what you think we need to do.” He swallowed hard and looked at me, his eyes glistening with emotion. “But you understand the risks of taking on the king, right?”

I let out a sigh that trembled from my body, shivering all the way down from my head to my toes. “I know very well what it probably means to take on the Alpha King. But I also meant what I said when we discussed this before. If we let things continue as they are, I don’t see us having any sort of peace in our lives.”

“We’re always going to be caught in the middle of this,” I continued, “and it’s always going to be a mess. As much as I hate to say it, I think we’ve hit a point where we either need to fight for ourselves or give up altogether. And I don’t think either you or I are the kind of people who can stomach giving up.”

Charles nodded. “Then let’s go get the king.”