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“The only part of our arrangement I didn’t keep was staying too close to you. You think I didn’t know there would be consequences of staying close? That woman has all four of you by the balls. One snap of her fingers, and I’d be dead and Ashley would be free. I’m not that desperate and I’m certainly not an idiot.”
“What about dealing with our fathers’ prior arrangement to have Emily killed?” I asked, speaking up for the first time since he arrived. “What do you have to say about that?”
“I told you, I broke one part of our agreement. The other, I took care of. There wasn’t a threat to Emily’s life. All of the prior negotiations and bounty are over. I know how your fathers handled that mess, so I knew how to get rid of it.”
This made me tense. I stared at Earl.
He wasn’t a stupid man. “You knew how to erase it because you put it in place,” I said.
Earl smiled. “Well, well, well, I had to wonder who would figure it out eventually. The fact it was you, I’m rather impressed.”
“Cut the crap. You did this to start with. You gave them the ammo they needed to take Emily from us?” Caleb asked.
Earl sighed. “I need a drink.” He stepped toward the drinks table, pouring himself a large shot of brandy. “Do you want one?”
In response, I glared.
“That’s our booze, asshole,” River said.
“I know.” He took a sip, smacking his lips together. “Your fathers, they came to me with so many … options and concerns. They truly felt this girl, Emily, my intended, was a problem. Of course, she was supposed to be my sweet virgin, but we’ll call that water under the bridge.” He waved his hand across his face, then took another sip. “So good. They first wanted to kill Emily. To get one of their MC contacts. Make it look like a complete accident.”
“Let me guess, you decided against that out of the goodness of your heart?”
He laughed. “I’m not that stupid. I’m a man who has built his empire from the ground up. I know you all have had this handed to you on a silver platter. It was so easy for you all, you merely took it. But for those of us who came from nothing, we had to bleed. You know nothing about me, and anything you do find out, well, it’s not exactly the truth.”
“Why don’t you cut the crap and get to the part where we don’t want to kill you? Right now, I’m feeling mighty ready to kill you,” I said. My fingers were still wrapped around my gun, and it would be so much fun to just off him. To take his life. I wanted to more than anything else in the world. When I thought of Emily, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I loved her and I knew if there was anything he could do to keep her alive, I’d take it.
“Patience. Your fathers are not going to take a hit out tonight. They’ve lost one of their own. Congratulations for taking care of him. Ace, he’d been more for me killing Emily.”
“You weren’t down in that basement,” River said. “You don’t know what went on.”
“I do know what they intended and I was the one who played out what would happen if your guys ever found out what they did. With their own personal sense of loss, they saw my reasoning was sound. They weren’t exactly the sanest people around now, were they?” He finished off his shot. “So, I got them to make a deal. If you arrived, I would do as was negotiated. I’d put a hit out on Emily in the case of you following her. I was the one who set it up. Your fathers, they funded it. If you didn’t arrive, they were going to handle Emily their own way.”
“You think this is your helping your cause right now?” Caleb asked.
“Yes.”
Vadik charged toward Earl and his guard drew his gun. I pulled out mine, aiming it at Earl. Caleb and River did the same.
The only one not carrying was Earl. He chuckled.
“Seven years. We’ve been in control for a lot longer than a couple of months. You had the power to bring us what we wanted. Why didn’t you?” Vadik asked.
Exactly my thoughts.
“You think I’m just going to hand you what you want? I knew you were all time bombs waiting to go off. Your fathers believed with Emily out of the way, they could control you. Week after week, month after month, I heard the damage you all were responsible for. At first, I had to make sure you had taken real power. Your fathers have a lot of friends, which I’m sure you’re more than aware of. Then, I had to go see Emily for myself, to see that she was still alive, and that she’d even work to fit into my plans.”
