Chapter 120 The Price of Protection
Lucian's POV
I watched Briar's hand hover near my arm, trembling, before she pulled back and tucked it against her side. The small gesture twisted something in my chest. Every time things got difficult, she was the first to retreat, the first to build walls between us.
I understood why. Her own family had sold her to settle a debt. Marcus Vance had taught his daughter that trust was dangerous, that caring meant vulnerability. But understanding didn't make it hurt less when she looked at me like another threat to guard against.
Dominic's words from earlier echoed in my mind. "You know what coming back means, don't you?"
I had. Coming back to the Sterling family meant losing my freedom, meant being trapped in their world of political marriages and Pack alliances. It meant becoming exactly what I'd spent years running from.
But it was the only way. Dominic had built his empire through manipulation and cruelty. To bring him down, I needed access to the records he kept locked in the Sterling estate. Once I had evidence of his crimes, Julian would lose his protection. And without Dominic's power backing him, I could finally deal with my half-brother without starting a war.
I needed to give Briar a world where she didn't have to look over her shoulder, where Julian's obsession couldn't reach her. Even if it meant sacrificing everything I'd built.
"If this is about what happened with Ash, you don't need to apologize," I said, keeping my voice neutral. "Stop putting everything on yourself."
I lifted my hand from her shoulder and let it fall to my side. "But there's something else we need to talk about," I continued, my tone cooling. "Something you need to know."
"After Julian took you from the mountain lodge, I assigned someone to watch over you," I said bluntly. "To make sure you were safe."
The color drained completely from her face and her mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. She knew exactly what I was referring to.
I stepped around her and started up the hospital steps. My coat brushed against her as I passed and suddenly there was a tug on the fabric. I stopped but didn't turn around.
"Do you..." Briar's voice was barely audible. "Do you believe what I said to him?"
I looked back over my shoulder at her. She was still holding onto my coat, her knuckles white with tension. Her face was tilted up toward mine and there was something desperate in her expression,.
"What do you think?" I asked quietly.
She held my gaze for a long moment, searching for something in my face. Then her fingers slowly released their grip on my coat and her hand fell back to her side. The loss of that small connection felt like a door closing between us.
I continued up the steps, each one feeling heavier than the last. At the top, I paused without looking back.
"Go home and get some rest," I said.
"Are you..." Briar's voice was strained, like she was forcing the words out. "Are you coming back to the apartment tonight?"
I kept my eyes forward, watching the automatic doors of the hospital entrance slide open and closed. "No."
---
I sat outside the ICU until dawn broke. Through the glass, I watched Ash's still form connected to machines monitoring every breath, every heartbeat. The doctors grew more concerned with each check.
"We need to continue monitoring him closely," one told me at four AM. "The next twenty-four hours are critical."
Ash had always been the loud one, filling every room with energy and laughter. Seeing him like this—so quiet and broken—made my chest ache in a way I hadn't felt since our mother died. I'd promised her I would look after him. I'd failed. I'd let Julian get close enough to do this.
Footsteps approached from down the hallway and I looked up to see Detective Morrison walking toward me. He was holding a tablet and his expression was professionally neutral.
"Mr. Kincaid," he said with a nod. "I have the preliminary results from the crime scene investigation."
I stood up and gestured for him to continue.
"The fingerprints on the broken bottles were too degraded to be useful for identification purposes," Morrison explained. "And regarding the cufflink you found, while it's an expensive piece, the manufacturer confirmed they've made similar items for multiple clients over the years. Without additional evidence, we can't definitively tie it to any specific individual."
I'd expected this. Julian's lawyers would have already been working to ensure any evidence was compromised or explained away.
"We've pulled surveillance footage from all the nearby businesses," Morrison continued. "But there's a significant amount of material to review. It's going to take at least three days to go through everything properly."
"I understand," I said evenly. "Thank you for the update."
Morrison nodded and headed back down the hallway. I watched him go, already knowing that the surveillance footage wouldn't show anything useful.
My phone rang again and I glanced at the screen. Dominic. I walked to the window at the end of the hallway, wanting to be away from the ICU where my voice might disturb other patients.
"Some things don't need to get messier than they already are," Dominic said when I answered.
I let out a cold laugh. "What's the alternative? You want me to send Julian to join him? Make it even?"
"You're really going to turn on your own brother over some bastard?" Dominic's voice rose sharply.
"Listen carefully," I said, my voice dropping to ice. "I only have one brother and his name is Ash. And if anything happens to him, if he doesn't wake up, I will make Julian pay with his life."
There was a long silence on the other end of the line. When Dominic spoke again, his tone had shifted to something almost defensive.
"Julian's been obsessed with that girl, I'll grant you that. But otherwise, he's never gone this far," Dominic said. "I know I've made mistakes in how I raised him, but I watched him grow up. I know what he's capable of."
He continued, his voice taking on a softer edge. "When he was seven, his cat died and he cried himself to sleep every night for a week. He hid it from me because he thought showing emotion was weakness, but I heard him through the walls."
"So you're making excuses for him," I said flatly.
"I believe he could trash a bar. I believe he could get into a fight," Dominic said. "But beating someone half to death? That's not who Julian is."
"You only know how to protect him," I said. "Is that it? Because I'm not the son you raised, I must be the one lying? I must be the one who set Julian up?"
The silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable. Finally, Dominic let out a long breath.
"I failed you and your mother," he said quietly. "I know that."
I leaned against the window frame, my reflection staring back at me from the glass. This was the opening I needed and I had to play it perfectly. I let my voice crack slightly, injecting just enough emotion to sound genuine while keeping my expression completely cold.
"The day my mother died, she was on her way to bring you medicine," I said. "Your secretary had mentioned you were having migraines and she wanted to help."
Another long silence. I could almost hear Dominic processing this information, feel him absorbing the guilt.
"You said you wanted to come back," he said finally. "There will always be a place for you in this family. I'll make the arrangements."
"Okay," I said softly, turning to look out the window at the parking lot below.
The morning sun cast long shadows across the pavement. Near the entrance, I spotted Briar pacing with a bouquet of flowers. She'd take a few steps toward the hospital, then retreat to her car. Open the trunk, put the flowers inside, pull them back out. Over and over again.
"You'll need to clean up your personal entanglements," Dominic said, pulling my attention back to the conversation. "You know what's expected."
My eyes stayed locked on Briar's figure as she made another aborted attempt to enter the hospital. The morning light caught her hair and I could see the exhaustion in the way she moved, the hesitation in every step.
"Understood," I said, and this time the catch in my voice wasn't manufactured at all.