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“Crystal clear,” Harlen Beckett says. “Let’s do this.”
Carver nods and I take a deep breath, getting my pen and paper to write down the results, not doubting for a second that someone will eventually question the voting. “Alright, those in favor of Richard Michaelson Sr?”
Two hands raise and I take my time, jotting down the results before moving on. “Justin Chamberland?” Six hands raise and just as before, I take caution and time writing in the results. I move on to our third dummy vote which gets far too many votes, but not enough to have me sweating.
Leaving Carver and King’s applicants till last, I let out a shaky breath and hope this goes our way, but judging by the minimal votes for the first two guys, we should be hitting a home run. My gaze shuffles to King’s, knowing he’s bound to be feeling the nerves. “Alright, next up, Calvin Huntington,” I say. “Please raise your hands if he has your vote.”
Hands rise all around the table and I let out a discreet breath of relief.
One down. One to go.
I write down every single name who voted for the Huntington family to step into leadership of Dynasty before finally looking up around the table at the impatient men. “Last but not least,” I start. “Can I have a show of hands of those who vote to induct Charles Vandenberg?”
I wait and watch as hands slowly raise around the table, trying not to look at Carver, knowing that the second I do, our whole plan will be given away. So instead, I count the hands, knowing before even glancing down at my paper that we’ve already won the second seat.
“Thank you,” I say after tallying the votes. “That concludes the vote and as of now, we once again have a full house and will accept both the Huntington and Vandenburg lines into Dynasty. Calvin Huntington will be offered the Scardoni Estate, along with it, the Scardoni seat at this very table. Charles Vandenburg will be offered the Harding Estate and along with it, the Harding seat at our table.”
Heads nod all around as everybody rises, more than ready to get out of here. “Earnest,” I say before he gets a chance to scurry away and hide in the privacy of his own home, most likely to step into a brand-new diaper. He turns around and raises his brows in question. “Will you ensure that the Harding Estate has been cleared of all their belongings in preparation for the Vandenberg family moving in? They have a young family and I’d hate for them to arrive to a less than stellar property.”
“Of course,” he says as Carver and King step in beside me. “Is there anything else that I can do for you?”
I nod. “As we discussed earlier in the week, I plan on having a formal celebration to welcome our new families. Can you pass the message along to our main event coordinators? I’d like a big party, every member of Dynasty—past and present generations to be invited. It is a momentous occasion and should be celebrated as such.”
Earnest nods and gives me a small smile. “Consider it done.” And just like that, he scurries out of the room, leaving me with Carver and King who watch me as though I’m about to fall to pieces. “Wanna get out of here?” Carver questions, slipping his hand into mine and leading me toward the door.
I pull back and the guys stop to look back at me. “What’s wrong?” King asks, his brows furrowing. “I thought you would have been dying to get out of this room.”
“I am,” I say, “I wanted to—”
“Climb back under that fucking table and give me what he got?” Carver suggests, cutting me off.
A wicked smirk stretches across my face. “I’ll climb under any table for you,” I tell him before dropping the subject and letting them in on the secret. “But I was hoping you guys would come with me down to the cells. I know I shouldn’t care, but I wanted to check in on Ember.”
King sighs. “You’re too pure for your own good.”
“I know,” I grumble. “And I know that I’m going to regret it, and all it’s going to do is cause me pain, but I just need to make sure that I made the right decision.”
Carver steps in beside me, his thumb rubbing back and forth over my knuckles. “Is there anything we can say to change your mind?”
“Have you ever been successful in changing my mind?”
“Good point,” he mutters, giving my hand a tug and pulling me out into the long hallway. “Let’s make it happen.”
CHAPTER 20
The boys remain at the main doors of the cells as I walk ahead, trailing my feet through the long, daunting hallway, each step I take echoing off the walls and rebounding through the empty cells around me. I feel their eyes on me, watching me with concern. They don’t want me here and fuck, I don’t want to be either, but we need answers. There’s no backing out now. I haven’t come this far just to turn on my heel and run like a bitch.
