Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
I grunt in reply, avoiding his gaze. I made so many mistakes with my brothers. I treated them too roughly, I was impatient, I was angry. I taught them killing, ruthlessness, and death. I did everything wrong, and I’m terrified I’ll do it all again with Hattie.
I became a Lord of Ash. My brothers took the pledge and tattooed it on their hands. We swore we’d burn this world before we let it hurt us again.
But do I want that life for my daughter?
I don’t, I really, really don’t.
There’s a knock and June comes in through the door. She offers to help clean up but Kellan declines for me. “You didn’t make the mess, you don’t have to fix it.” He seems comfortable around my wife, which is good. He’s a gruff one and hard to read sometimes, but he’s absolutely loyal, and I think he likes her. Which means he’d kill for her.
“I was actually thinking about your problem,” she says casually, frowning at the bloodstain near the drain. “Do I even want to know what that is?”
“Melted water-ice. Cherry flavor.” Kellan drapes an arm around her shoulders. But he quickly pulls away when he notices the look I give him.
“What problem, wife of mine?” I roll my shoulders, cracking my joints, trying to ease some of the stress.
“From what I’ve gathered, you have a traitor problem.” She starts to pace, hands behind her back, warming up to the topic. I marvel at the way she moves. Her body is lean and lithe, curvy where it needs to be, perfect in every way that matters. Her hair is long and touches the space between her shoulder blades with a slight, lovely curl. Today, she’s in jeans that hug her ass, flats, and a simple tight shirt, cut low, with sleeves to her elbows.
“Among other things,” Kellan says amiably. “But hey, who doesn’t have a few rats in their walls?”
“You need to get this company merger thing going, right? And it seems like someone inside the family wants to block it?”
“Ignazio,” I say darkly. “But he can’t be alone.”
“No, he’s got support,” Kellan agrees.
“You need to force their hand. Make them stand up and say what they think.”
I stroke my chin. “Sounds like it could easily backfire.”
“Hear me out.” June pauses beside a dark BMW parked on the far end of the four-car garage. “You invite everyone important to a meeting. You make it clear that the meeting is about this merger. You tell them it’ll be put to a vote. Anyone against it can put up their hands and speak their mind. Get it out in the open. Make it clear where everyone stands.”
“And if the majority is against?” Kellan asks, sounding amused. “I don’t know. Seems like a terrible idea. We’re not a democracy. That’s not how families like ours work.”
“Even authoritarian states run better when their people are bought in.” June keeps going. “I can set it up for you. Same venue where we got married. Everyone at a big table, make them say it out loud, force their hand—“
“And then what?” I feel a slight rumble in my chest. “Kellan’s right.”
“You convince them.”
“If I can’t?”
She gives me a withering look. “Then you shouldn’t be Don.”
Kellan bursts out laughing. “Holy shit, bro! There’s no way she just said that.”
June raises her chin defiantly. I glare at her, a storm in my body. “Kellan, would you mind giving me a moment with my wife?”
“Sure, but, uh, if I hear screaming, I’m coming back.”
I cast him a look. “I would never touch my wife that way. Now get out.”
“Whatever you say.” He beams at June. “I’m a fan of you right now.”
“Glad you’re coming around.” She keeps her eyes on me as Kellan exits. I hesitate a moment, seething. “Come on, say what you really want to say.”
“I don’t feel confident I can win that vote.”
The words deflate me slightly. I didn’t want Kellan to hear my uncertainty, but now that he’s gone, I can be honest with her. June nods like that’s what she expected.
“When politicians go vote on a new law or whatever, they don’t go into that room unless there’s zero doubt about which way everyone’s headed. So you do what they do.”
“Which is bicker endlessly and waste time and money?”
“No, you whip the fucking vote.” She shows me teeth. “Come on, big man, I thought you were smart.”
“Careful.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re scary. Rafe, this is how you root them out. Make them realize the tides are turning. Make them reckless. Put everyone in a room and force their hand.”
I approach her slowly, heart thudding. “I don’t hate it.”
“That’s because you’re much brighter than you let on.”
“But you shouldn’t say these sorts of things in front of my brothers.” I close the distance between us. “You’re going to make them talk.”