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Remi asks, “How do you know that?”
“Arson called me. Since she couldn’t go to us with this…she asked our New York friends for help.” They both curse, and I share their sentiment on the matter. We all respect each other, but having one of our women go to other men for help is unacceptable and awakens the obsessive beast inside me. No one can protect her better than me, and I should be the first one she comes to with all her trouble. “They dug deep into his life but found nothing that would explain his desire for this marriage.” Maxwell never presented much interest to me besides being a pestering annoyance who desperately wanted to connect with my family. However, he became an enemy number two once he decided to use my woman as a weapon.
“So if we stop the wedding, he’ll expose us?” Octavius rubs his chin, pondering my words. “There is an easy solution for that.”
It’s hilarious, really, how everyone’s solution when it comes to Maxwell is the same.
Killing him so he won’t create more problems for us.
Too bad we have a code and nothing suggests that Maxwell deserves death.
Sadly, being an asshole doesn’t get you on our list.
“Maxwell is smart. We just need to figure out his end goal.” Just as I say these words, my phone vibrates next to me, and I grab it. “Speaking of the devil.” Accepting the call, I put it on speakerphone so the guys can hear him as well. “Maxwell.”
“Florian.”
“What do you want?”
We haven’t spoken since I punched him during the dinner two months ago, and my father called him to inform him that he can forget about any reconciliation for good because he proved he’s Bellamy’s son by stabbing me in the back. Never knew my old man could hold so many grudges, but alas. “That’s what I like about you, Florian. You don’t waste anyone’s time.”
“Yet you waste mine with this phone call.”
I hear him lighting up a cigarette. “I have a proposition for you.” Since I stay silent, he elaborates, “I’ll call off the wedding and free Jimena from her obligations if you give me what I want.” Octavius gets up and walks straight to the bar, snatching the whiskey bottle and another glass for Remi. “She didn’t have to summon all her serial killer connections to figure out my agenda.”
I flex my hand around the glass and chuckle. “For a man who knows what I’m capable of, you seem to be awfully sure of yourself.”
“Call it a family trait.”
“I’d be careful. Your father’s confidence brought him nothing but shame.”
“No need to make this personal, Florian.”
“You made it personal the minute you went after my woman.” My voice drops a few octaves as the guys exchange glances. “You’ll still have to pay for that.” The only reason I allowed this stupid engagement charade was due to Death still hunting us and diverting his attention elsewhere. In a way, it gave Jimena protection from the madman and hid her pregnancy from public knowledge. “You dared to threaten her, Maxwell. I don’t forgive such things.”
“Let’s not overdramatize the situation, shall we? I made a proposition that she accepted. Besides, I never touched her, so there was no need to act like a caveman and leave all those hickeys on her skin.” A beat passes. “I’ll destroy all the evidence I have on you. As long as you give me back my rightful shares in the family empire and our family house.”
“Bellamy sold his shares to the highest bidder thirty years ago, and my father bought them out from that man to secure the family legacy. You have no rightful shares. And I have no idea about your family home.”
“It’s in the roses town.” My brow furrows, and Remi takes out his phone, searching the place probably, and brings it to me. It’s a small town located in the middle of nowhere with a population of less than thirty thousand. “It belonged to my mom.” For the first time, I hear an emotion ring in his tone, and I sigh because his background is shitty. His mother lit their house on fire right before committing suicide with Maxwell in it. He was old enough to remember the madness and had several burn scars. It was the only time Bellamy actually manned up and spent quality time with his son. In true Price fashion, he is not a super shitty father. “Dad sold it to Atlas a long time ago.”
That’s odd. Now that I think about it…wasn’t there also a little girl with him? She was their maid’s daughter who saved him from the fire, and Grandpa even donated some money to her because despite hating Bellamy’s guts, he still cared about Maxwell.
They would have totally brought him to live with us if Bellamy didn’t step up.
“If you want the house, ask Grandpa. He might sell it to you.”
“It’s impossible to talk to any of you. I’ve tried for years, so you left me no choice but to blackmail you into giving me what I want. You have three days, Florian. Either sign off the shares and give me the house back or watch your woman marry me, unless you want the entire world to know what you and your friends do in the dark,” he throws the ultimatum, and my eyes narrow. “The choice is yours.”
“I don’t make deals with cowards, Maxwell.”
“You fucking—”
“I’m giving you my own warning. Threaten my woman or me again, and you’ll learn why they call us the Four Dark Horsemen. Don’t ever think that the information you have gives you immunity.” I hang up on him and finish my drink. I look at Octavius. “I need you to do a little research on someone.”
Remi lifts his brow. “On the girl who saved him from the fire?”
“Yeah. I think this is about her. If he really wanted to expose us, he’d do it already. He doesn’t care about us. He wants her, and for whatever reason, he needs our shares and the house for that.”
