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My brow arches and I fix my lips into a hard line, the disappointment clear on my face. “You want me to cheat the vote and have absolutely no respect for the very system that I put in place?”
He shakes his head, rolling his eyes and barely holding onto the scoff that sits on the tip of his tongue. “No, I want you to play the same game that every single one of those heads would have played had they been in your position,” he explains, his tone dull, informative, and straight to the point. “Think of it as survival of the fittest. You have to do whatever you can to get a step up in this world, even if it means taking out an enemy before they even get the chance to be one. The numbers have only just stacked up in your favor, but now you need to keep them there.”
“You can’t deny it,” Cruz says, still looking over my shoulder. “The guy might be a dick with a chip on his big ass shoulder, but he has a good fucking point. You can’t risk guys like Beckett, Irvine, or Kennedy adding new players this late in the game. They can’t be trusted.”
“I know,” I say with a heavy sigh. “I’m just over trying to figure out who wants to slit my throat while I sleep. I mean, do we even know who’s on our side anymore? I think we need to adjust the seating plan at the council table.”
The boys flick their gazes around the table, trying to figure out who belongs where in the pecking order. “Well, we know that we have Danforth, Carver, and King who will always have your back no matter what,” Cruz says. “Brooks, Winston, Luca, Easton, and Crawford are pretty safe bets. Sebastian Whitman has always pleaded innocent, but he could turn at a moment’s notice.”
“Daniel Crawford is a bit shady like that too,” King mutters. “But for the most part, I think he can be trusted.”
“So, who does that leave?” I ask.
Carver jumps in with a list that I’m sure has already been burned into his mind. “Kennedy, Beckett, Rhodes, Irvine, and Montgomery.”
“But Matthew Montgomery jumped ship. He announced in front of everyone that I have his loyalty now.”
Carver’s lips scrunch in thought. “So he says,” Carver mutters, his eyes narrowing in distrust. “But he’s a fucking slimeball. It suits him to show loyalty now, but that fucker will jump right back to the bad side at a moment’s notice. Don’t trust him.”
I nod, sinking back into my seat and beginning to feel deflated. I’ve always been one who saw the world as black and white, but here in Ravenwood Heights, they’re giving 50 Shades of Grey a whole new meaning. “Okay, so we have seven safe bets, two more who are a little shady, and five that can’t be trusted.”
“Yep,” Grayson says. “The ball is in your court, Ellie, but if Whitman, Crawford, and Montgomery don’t like what they see and settle back in on the dark side, we’re back to square one. It’s more important now than ever to get these two new applicants on your side. If we had the numbers like that, I can guarantee that Whitman, Montgomery, and Crawford will never be an issue. They only like to play for the winning side. You’ll be un-fucking-stoppable.”
“Right,” I say, feeling the power beneath my fingertips. I grab the applicants’ files and start launching them toward the guys. “Then help me figure out who the fuck to put up for this vote.”
The boys get to work, all but one who continues to stare at me from across the table. “Can I help you?” I question, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning right back in my chair. I pull out every single ounce of cockiness that resides within me as I raise a brow and press my lips into a tight line.
King just stares at me as the others ignore us, more than used to our back and forth over the last few days, but fuck, the sexual tension between us has been knocking me right off my feet, but neither of us are going to be the one to back down and admit defeat, despite how badly we each want it. I guess that’s the downfall of being with someone who’s just as stubborn as you are.
“Can you?” he questions.
I clench my jaw, hating nothing more than when he answers my questions with a bullshit question of his own. “I don’t know, King. Your attitude has been all over the place that it’s too hard to get a read on you now. Did you get your period? Or is this new overly-emotional thing something we should all get used to? I mean, if it was your period, you should have told me and we could have tried to sync our cycles. We could have been blood brothers, though the word sisters seems a little more appropriate. Don’t you think?”
