Chapter 57 The Line in the Sand
Grayson POV
I stepped into that boardroom with the smell of burnt rubber and lobby drywall still clinging to my jacket, and the first thing I saw was Aria standing at the end of the table with a look of defiance that made me want to roar with pride even though my blood was boiling with enough rage to level the building.
My sister Delilah was standing nearby with her mouth open like she couldn't believe I had actually driven a truck through the front doors of her precious corporate headquarters, and the executives were all shrinking back in their leather chairs as if they expected me to shift and tear their throats out right there on the mahogany table.
I didn't care about the lawsuits or the property damage, because the only thing that mattered was the fact that they had tried to lure Aria into a trap while I was busy dealing with the mess at the docks.
"Grayson, you have lost your mind, and you are destroying decades of our family's reputation with this pathetic display of animal behavior!" Delilah shouted, finally finding her voice as she stepped toward me with her finger pointed at my chest.
"We are in the middle of a legal proceeding regarding a serious security breach, and you just provided every board member in this room with enough evidence to have you removed from the Hart Industries charter by sunset."
"I don't give a damn about the charter, Delilah, and I certainly don't care about what these suits think of my behavior when they're sitting here helping a rat like Jess frame an innocent girl," I growled, and I walked past her to stand right next to Aria, putting my hand on her shoulder so everyone in the room knew exactly whose side I was on.
"Jax already sent me the data trace while I was on the way here, so I know exactly where those files came from, and I know that you were standing in this room when the upload was initiated."
"It doesn't matter where the files were opened, Grayson, because the optics of this situation are a disaster for the pack," Sterling said, trying to regain some of his composure as he straightened his tie and looked at the other board members for support.
"If word gets out that the Alpha of the Nightfangs is protecting a human who is linked to Iron Fang bank accounts, the other packs will see it as a sign of weakness and they will move on our territory before the week is out. You have to choose right now between the reputation of your people and this girl, because you can't have both in a world where the Syndicate is watching every move we make."
I looked at Aria, who was watching me with a mix of fear and hope, and then I looked at my sister, who was practically begging me with her eyes to just hand the girl over and save our family's standing in the city. I knew that Sterling was right about the optics, and I knew that my own men would probably have questions about why I was risking a war over a baker, but then I looked at Jess who was trying to sneak toward the back exit while everyone was arguing.
I moved faster than he could blink and grabbed him by the collar of his expensive shirt, slamming him against the wall with enough force to make the decorative plates rattle on their stands.
"You think I'm going to sacrifice her to save a reputation that you're already busy pissing away with your lies?" I asked, looking at Jess while he whimpered and tried to pull my hands off him.
"You’ve been with this pack for five years and you thought I wouldn't notice when you started playing both sides of the fence, but you made a mistake when you touched her things and you made an even bigger one when you thought I'd believe a single word that came out of your mouth."
"Grayson, let him go, because you're making this so much worse than it needs to be!" Delilah screamed, grabbing my arm and trying to pull me back, but I was like a stone wall.
"If you walk out of here with her, the Hart family is done with you, and I will make sure the board strips you of every asset and every title you have left in this city."
"Then start the paperwork, Delilah, because if being a Hart means I have to stand by and watch my own sister help a traitor destroy an innocent person, then I don't want the name anyway," I told her, and the room went completely silent as the weight of that statement settled over everyone.
I let go of Jess, who slumped to the floor in a heap, and I turned back to Aria and Jax with a nod that told them it was time to leave.
"We're going back to the clubhouse, and if any of you or your security teams try to stop us, I won't be coming back with a truck next time, I'll be coming back with the entire pack."
"You're making a mistake that you can't come back from, brother, and the pack will never forgive you for choosing a human over their safety!" Delilah called out as we started walking toward the door, and I could hear the bitterness in her voice as she realized she had lost her leverage over me.
"The pack is about loyalty, Delilah, and I think they'll understand loyalty a lot better than they understand the corporate backstabbing you've been doing in this room," I replied without looking back, and I kept my arm around Aria as we navigated the hallway toward the private elevator.
As the doors closed and we started the descent toward the lobby, the silence in the small space was heavy, and I could feel the rift that I had just created between me and the world I had grown up in.
I had just traded my family's legacy and my business reputation for a girl who smelled like flour and had no power in this city, but as I looked at Aria and saw her lean her head against my shoulder, I knew that I had made the only choice that actually mattered. The war was coming, and it was going to be a lot harder now that I had turned my own sister into an enemy, but at least I knew exactly who was standing beside me when the first shots were fired.