“Danny and Alex had some reservations about killing Elijah at first because of how important he was to Benito. Hisretaliations are amping up, and they worried what this would do.”
It made sense for them to show Gideon all the angles he might have been missing, but Elijah was responsible for hurting Matteo.
“How, if they knew Elijah didn’t give a shit if Matteo or Owen died?”
“Once Elijah confessed, that was the moment they both wanted him dead too.”
“Was he hard to break?”
Gideon nodded. “Took a long time. In the end, he was telling me everything in between begging me to kill him.”
“What else did you find out?”
“The main thing I needed to know was why it took Benito two years to move in. It eats at me. After Lorcan, I was at my weakest. It was perfect.”
“And Elijah told you?”
“Yeah. He waited to see which of us would still be standing and he’d take the winner, so to speak, down. Problem was, while I was weak, I had loyal supporters. Then, after I had my fingers in all the pies, with the mayor, commissioner, and such in the city, it was too late.”
“Loyal supporters?”
“He tried to talk to some of the business owners in Northchester, thought he’d get them to support him and turn on me. Told them I was hurting, needed to rebuild, and that their investments weren’t being handled well.”
“None of them told you?”
He waved the question away. “They felt no need because when he got to the motorcycle club, Elijah said they threatened Benito—if he tried to slither his way into this town, they’d kill him.”
My brow dipped. “Which MC?”
Gideon’s expression was grim. “The Bastard Princes.”
My eyes widened. “The ones who were killed in the clubhouse fire a year ago…” It wasn’t a question. It had been ruled an accident by the arson detective. Alcohol, cigarettes, and electrical wires had brought the place down, but now listening to Gideon tell us they stood up for him, threatened Benito, it seemed the wannabe governor had made moves earlier than we’d thought.
“So, he was threatened, and where he thought he’d have allies, he didn’t?”
“Yes. So he decided in order to take my power, he had to be put in a position that would give him everything he needed to take what was mine and tear me apart.”
“And he chose governor?”
“Politicians were never my thing. Sure, I had the mayor in my pocket, but that was for a good reason. For over two years Northchester has been thriving, calm, and they all saw that.”
“Then elections started to rear their ugly head, and he gathered people you didn’t rub shoulders with to help him get on the ballot.”
“Pretty much. The people who sided with him had powerful friends, and so on and so on until here we are.”
“And you’re pushing back, so he’s pushing harder.”
“He wants to win so he can get rid of any affiliation I have in this town and state. But my reach is far.”
“He had to see how it would fail.”
Gideon hummed. “He did…that’s why Elijah said Benito’s goal is to show the people of Northchester, this state, and all others around it how dangerous I am, show them my true colors, and if it meant he had to tear it all down to build it up, he’d do it.”
“I mean, sounds like he’s gonna make you look like a bad guy in front of everyone but, Gid, they all know who you are.”
He sighed. “They do, and I’ve kept them safe.”
“You have.”
