“Something about Pandora,” my father repeats. “I told him I had no idea what the children were doing. That I trusted my son to sort out his own problems.”
Children.
Like this is all schoolhouse shit, and we’re little kids throwing sand in each other’s faces.
We’d done so much worse to Pandora.
She’d delivered a man’s head to us.
“I am sorting things,” I answer as steadily as I can. “But I can’t exactly kill her. That would bring the full Pavone wrath down on us.”
My father stays silent, and I wrack my brain for more to say, some other defense that explains why things are spiraling.
“It would,” my father agrees. “You need leverage against the family.”
I wait, but my father doesn’t offer any suggestions on that front. Finally, when the silence drags on for too long, I say, “What do you want me to do?”
I try not to sound like I’m sulking, but I don’t think I succeed. I’m trying so hard to keep control of the situation, but everything is tilting, falling apart around me.
My father scoffs. “Get Zayden to help you. He must know people who have ties to the Pavones.”
My heart stops in my chest. “Zayden?”
“Yes. He has access to more of the information. And he was more proactive after the fire, too. You could learn a few things from him.”
I grit my teeth. I can see what my father is doing. He’s trying to pit me against Zayden to make me work harder. Never mind that Zayden complained that my father barely gave him the time of day, and I could tell he was starving for scraps of approval.
“Zayden can’t help,” I say carefully. “Although if he was working on something, I’d like to hear what it was. Is.”
“Can’t help?” my father repeats. “Why can’t he help?”
Fuck. I was hoping to keep this from him a bit longer. Even if my father didn’t give two shits about Zayden, he’s going to be mad about this. Zayden’s father is one of my dad’s underlings, and this is going to have some severe blowback.
“Zayden… disappeared,” I say. “I haven’t seen him since last week.”
If I fudge the dates—except, no, Zayden had talked to my father on the day of the fire. Had he been in contact after that too? Shit.
“If he disappeared, then find him,” my father hisses. “That should have been the first thing you did. And why is this the first time I’m hearing of this?”
“I don’t know!” I shout. “Zayden’s an ass, okay? He was— He’s always trying to undermine me, and go against what I tell him to do. I didn’t really think it mattered if he went on a bender or something. It’s not any of my business.”
“Don’t yell,” my father snaps. “And of course it’s your business. Assets cannot be allowed to simplydisappear.” He mutters something under his breath. “I’m going to send somebody up there to help you. Clearly, you can’t do this on your own.”
Well, fuck. I shake my head, even though he can’t see it. “I can, Dad. I just need time, okay?”
“No. I’ve got just the person in mind. He’ll help you with your Pavone problem too. You can expect him in a few days.”
My father hangs up on me, and I want to throw the phone against the wall. I manage to contain my rage, but only barely.
My Pavone problem? This wouldn’t evenbea problem if Zayden hadn’t gotten all the guys riled up against Pandora. Or if my father hadn’t insisted on taking care of her somehow.
Christ.
I open my text conversations and find the thread with Pandora.
Blaze
Did you involve your fucking parents in all this?
