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Caleb sounds interested too, but he also looks a bit wary. “What kind of offer?”
Theo grins. “When we decided to try to force Luca to step down, we agreed that we’d let him name Marcus the winner of the game—but that once he passed over his power, we would redistribute it, dividing things among ourselves.”
“And that offer still stands,” Marcus says.
“Share power?” Victoria rolls the words around as if testing them out. “Why would you be willing to do that?”
Marcus holds her gaze evenly. It’s not hard to believe that less than a week ago, he tried to put a bullet in her head. They’ve moved past the point of wanting to kill each other and into a place of grudging respect, but I don’t think they’ll ever get too far beyond that.
I don’t think Marcus will ever entirely forgive her for trying to take him from me, and I can’t blame him for that.
“Two reasons,” he tells her. “The first is that none of us have the resources or ability to claim absolute power for ourselves. There’s strength in numbers, and dividing up the empire will make it easier to defend.” He shrugs, his eyes glinting. “And the second is that it’s dangerous for anyone to control that much of the city. Luca proved that beyond a shred of doubt. He abused his power because there was no one strong enough to check him. We don’t want to see that happen again.”
“So we’re offering a partnership.” Ryland crosses his arms over his chest, revealing hints of the dark ink on his skin beneath the sleeves of his shirt. “The six of us, each controlling a piece of Halston.”
Victoria glances at Jaden, and I know she’s remembering the years he spent under Luca’s thumb. She did a good job of disguising how much she hated Luca D’Addario while she was playing the game, but I can see it now in the dark cloud that passes over her face.
She and Jaden share a look, a silent communication passing between them. Then she turns back to us.
“All right. I accept. As long as one thing is perfectly clear. I don’t work for you. Any of you. We’re partners, and I won’t be taking orders from anyone.”
Marcus smiles, although the hard glint in his eyes doesn’t disappear. “Of course. Same goes for each of us.”
Caleb hesitates for a moment, his gaze darting to me. I wonder if the fact that we’ve just discovered we’re related makes him more or less likely to accept our offer. It means we’ll pretty much have to be in each other’s lives since we’ll be sharing control of the city, and even though he said he wanted that the last time we spoke, it’s possible he’ll still decide to back out. He was recovering from a gunshot wound and probably on a nice cocktail of drugs that morning, so who knows if he meant what he said.
But to my surprise, his blue eyes soften a little. Some of the tension and mistrust fades from his expression, and he nods. “Yeah. I’m in. My family name doesn’t mean shit to me anymore, so I need to build something for myself. For my own name.”
“Good.” Marcus gives a decisive nod. “As I said, we’ll have to move fast if we want to keep bloodshed to a minimum on all sides. We’ve been making moves on Luca’s trade deals and suppliers, and we’ll need your help to secure those alliances. We’ll meet again soon to discuss details.”
Victoria flips down the designer sunglasses that are perched on her head. With her eyes hidden behind the dark lenses, she glances around the park. “I understand why you chose this as our meeting place today, but if we’re going to be in business together, we should find a more secure location. Someplace we can meet. Neutral territory, but not as open.”
“On it.” Theo grins. “I’ll find us an office downtown.”
We talk in low voices for a few more minutes, hashing out some of the details of how this new partnership will work. I mostly just listen, paying attention to everything I hear. I’ve had to pick up the ropes fast since being thrust violently into this world, and I know I’ve still got a lot to learn. Especially since I have a stake in this too now.
The meeting breaks up with a promise that we’ll meet again in a few days in whatever location Theo secures for us. In the meantime, we’ll keep working on taking over the open pockets that are left in Luca’s absence.
Victoria and Jaden peel off first, walking back the way they came. She leans on him a little, and he wraps an arm around her waist.
Caleb clears his throat, wincing a little as he shifts his weight. “I gotta go. Brenson says I’m still not supposed to be on my feet much.” He ducks his head, then looks up at me, biting his lip. “Thank you.”
“It wasn’t just my decision.” I shrug, deflecting his words a little. The truth is, there’s a good chance the men might’ve cut him out of the deal if he wasn’t my brother—that he would never have been included in the bargain in the first place. I know they’ve given him a second chance because of me, and I hope like fuck that he’ll prove himself worthy of it.
He bobs his head again, and I know he sees through my dismissal, but he doesn’t comment on it. Instead, he just nods to the guys before turning to leave. I watch him go, unable to stop myself from analyzing his gait a little, trying to gauge how much pain he’s in and how his healing is going.
You could’ve just asked him, I remind myself wryly.
Maybe one day, I will. Maybe I’ll be able to have a normal conversation with him at some point—one that isn’t fraught with dozens of conflicting feelings and memories.
When Caleb disappears from sight, I turn back to face my three men. All of them are watching me, of course, a lot more interested in my well-being than my brother’s.
I smile and step up to Marcus, who’s closest to me. Resting my hand on his chest, I press a kiss to his lips. “That went well.”
One of his muscled arms, snakes around my waist, securing me against him. “It did.”
I glance at the other two, my heart beating a little harder. “So we’re really doing this? Are you sure?” Catching Theo’s gaze, I frown. “You told me once that you didn’t even want to win the prize. That you didn’t want to be the one at the top.”
He shrugs, stepping closer to me. Marcus loosens his hold on me without letting go completely, and I turn in his arms to face Theo as Ryland moves in on my other side. I love the feeling of being surrounded by them like this, as if they could block out the entire world until nothing but the three of them existed.
