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I chose my words carefully, knowing that if I spoke wrong, I’d end up as dead as my father. As Antoni.
“Let me guess, you think you should lead? Because I’m not interested in a coup that kills everyone at this table.” I let a condescending smile tip my lips and saw Kosas and Ajilon relax into their chairs.
“On the contrary. I’m willing to let you take the helm, provided I get to maintain a certain power level.”
“And how would we do that? Give you your own territory to run under her banner?” Haru asked quietly. The quietest of the bunch, he listened more than he spoke, and I got the feeling he knew more than the others because of it.
“Marriage.”
The men at my back growled as one while I fought to keep my posture loose and comfortable instead of tensing up with them. Marriage had not been on my bingo card for the day.
As expected, the table exploded in a flurry of angry words. My marital status had been a heavy debate for years, with everyone wanting to make an alliance and unite their families with mine. O’Bannon was the first to succeed, and the only reason he had was because I’d refused to lose Greyson.
Cash walking in and asking for my hand right out of the gate was an insult they couldn’t allow.
Surprisingly, Haru laughed. “She’s not going to marry some upstart whose only claim to strength is that he’s good at hide-and-seek.”
Taking the out, I teased Cash. “Sorry, Beckstrom, but he’s right. Besides, you’re not my type.”
Uncowed, he laughed. “Don’t worry, I have someone else in mind. Someone I bet you’ll really enjoy.” He tipped his head, intense eyes meeting mine. “My little brother.”
Alarm bells rang in my head, especially when his smirk turned into a full-blown smile that sent eyes darting between us.
I’d read the file so many times in the last day that I could recite it from memory. Cash didn’t have a younger brother. He’d drowned decades ago. I’d even had Greyson check his Social Security number and his mother’s history to verify it.
So, what the hell was Cash playing at?
Two-Bit caught my eye, and the look on his face… He knew something. He knew something, and it had everything to do with this.
Fuck me running.
I sat back in my chair, feigning relaxation despite the way my body thrummed with anxiety, and my mind raced. I had to play my part perfectly, or the sharks would swarm and my men and I were dead. “I’d rather chew my arm off than be related to you.”
“I wouldn’t say that quite yet. You haven’t even been properly introduced.”
But hadn’t I? My mind went back to the warehouse and the call that had made Cash leave. The reason I was still alive, other than Rafael.
Fuck, Rafael. Did he know that Cash’s brother had survived too? I hoped not, or I’d have to kill him and deal with those consequences as well.
Nate’s hand rested on my shoulder, a silent reminder to get out of my head.
Throwing off the potential homicide of yet another uncle, I clapped like Cash had promised me a unicorn. “Okay, Cash. Introduce us. Show us this mythical, reincarnated brother of yours. I insist.”
“You heard her. Come here.”
At first, there was nothing but silence. Unease blanketed my skin as Cash’s grin got wider and wider. “Come on, little brother. Cat’s out of the bag now. Show the queen what she’s buying.”
There was a moment of stillness, reminding me of the moment before the bomb strike, one that promised carnage and pain and blood on the other side.
Then Nate’s hand dropped from my shoulder.
I twisted, wanting to be sure he was okay. I wouldn’t have put it past Cash to have hurt him right in front of us, but there was no blood that I could see.
His face, though. That caught my attention.
Brows furrowed with pain and a thousand emotions flitting across his face.
Longing. Heartbreak. Regret. Acceptance. Fear. Remorse.
