In his office, our father is standing on the other side of his long mahogany desk with a drink in one hand. The flames in the fireplace leap and dance as we step in, and the man sitting opposite Jack’s desk rises. The man’s broad shoulders fill out the tight shirt, and I catch a glimpse of a familiar snake tattoo peeking out from underneath his shirt.
I look over at Mathew, whose jaw tightens as he moves closer to me.
“The Everetts want to come back to the table,” Jack begins with a vague hand gesture in the man’s direction. “They’ve sent an emissary to plead their case.”
I don’t look away. “They’re too chicken shit to come here themselves.”
Fucking cowards.
I shouldn’t expect more, especially when I’m sure they’ve helped plan the attack on my life.
Given our years of partnership, they should at least have had the decency to face me, not send a nameless henchman to do their dirty work.
I have half a mind to send the man back in a body bag, but I know it won’t do me any good.
“Speak,” Jack Payne commands. He sits down behind his desk. The man’s hand unconsciously moves to his side, where a gun usually is, and some of the air deflates from him. He glances from Mathew to me and back again.
“I’ve been asked to bring new terms to the table.”
I give him a bored look and shift, so the man can see the gun in the waistband of my pants. “This should be interesting. You’ve got a lot of balls showing up here alone; I’ll give you that.”
Some of the color drains from the man’s face, but he holds himself still. “The Everetts are willing to relinquish some of the warehouses and docks they’ve seized.”
“Ourwarehouses andourdocks,” I respond with barely restrained anger. “And what do they expect in exchange?”
The man pauses, and a muscle works in his jaw. “They want the bounty on Michael Everett and Lance Fitzpatrick’s heads removed.”
I throw my head back and laugh, then lower my head and point my gun at the man’s temple. “I have a counteroffer. I send them your head on a silver platter. I think that should get the point across.”
The man throws up his hands and backs away until the desk is digging into his back. “I’m just the messenger.”
He goes as white as a sheet as I approach, looking like he wants to bolt. “Consider this our answer.”
Before the man can respond, I yank him forward.
When I throw him out of the office, he barely catches himself before his face hits the floor. Then he scrambles to his feet and darts off. Mathew joins me in the doorway, his careful and cool mask of detachment in place. We look back at our father, who is standing next to the window with a thoughtful expression.
“We’re done letting our enemies dictate the terms,” Jack announces without looking at us. “Mathew, I think we’ve given their messenger enough of a head start, don’t you?”
Mathew’s face spreads into a slow smile. “Yes.”
The look on Jack’s face almost makes me pity the man. “Good. Take care of it.”
Mathew nods and hurries out the door.
I wait for my father to acknowledge me.
His gaze slides down to my stomach and stays on my bandage. His voice lacks its usual edge when he talks again. “Make sure you put your best men on this. I don’t want them to fuck anything up.”
“I’ll see to it.”
“The bounty was a good idea,” Jack adds before looking away again. He smiles. “It’s time we brought the game to them.”
I stand up straighter. “I’ll triple the bounty on their heads.”
Jack eyes me over the rim of the glass.
I turn to leave, but his voice stops me cold in my tracks. “Include another bounty. Ten times the amount for whoever brings me our inside man alive. I want the bastard to pay.”
