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The hotel room was lavish. Thick rugs, fancy furniture, fully stocked bar and even a small kitchen area. The bedroom was absurd, with a massive king-sized bed surrounded with antiques, all done in shining lacquered wood.
It was the sort of luxury I’d grown up with. The Servant manor wanted for nothing. It was a prison, but a beautiful prison, and I’d grown accustomed to its perks. This hotel room reminded me so much of home.
And I hated it.
I left home for a reason.
“There for three main targets,” he said finally, coming to an abrupt halt. He turned and stared at me. “There’s Fairfax, Maeve’s nephew—”
“I thought they were all cousins,” I said, interrupting him.
He waved that off. “Mostly cousins. Can I finish?”
I nodded happily. I liked annoying him.
“There’s Fairfax. He’s strong, but he doesn’t have enough turf, and his soldiers are mostly hired hands. We could bribe them and be done with him without any bloodshed.”
“That’s a good option.”
“Then there’s Jami. She controls parts of the northside and has a few of Maeve’s old businesses, though she’s tied up in court fighting her siblings over it.”
“And she’s an actual cousin?”
“Yes, she’s an actual cousin.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Then there’s Cosima.”
I sat up straight and nodded. “Cosima. She’s the strongest?”
“That’s right.” He walked over and sat down in an armchair with a grunt. “Maeve’s younger sister. Controls most of central Chicago and wide swaths of the south. She’s got the best legal claim to Maeve’s legitimate businesses due to their tight family bond and thanks to an old will Maeve wrote out years and years ago that was magically unearthed after her death.”
“I’m guessing the will isn’t real.”
“Probably not. I don’t think Maeve planned for her downfall very well.”
“Why doesn’t Cosima simply get the family if she’s the next blood relative?”
“She should, but the others don’t see it that way. Cosima wasn’t close with the family until the last couple of years, and there are those who believe she doesn’t have the right to take over as leader.” He stretched his legs and watched me carefully. “Neil won’t be a big issue. Jami’s busy fighting with Cosima.”
“Which means Cosima is the one to kill.” I patted the couch and leaned forward. “So why haven’t you done it yet?”
“Because it’s not that simple. She’s got resources—”
“I thought you were a big, bad Oligarch. You sneeze and the world blesses you.”
He rolled his eyes. “Funny, coming from a spoiled rich girl like you.”
I clenched my jaw and didn’t speak. I sat back slowly, arms crossed over my chest. If that was what he thought of me, then he didn’t know me at all.
I wasn’t spoiled. Rich, yes—I grew up with luxury. I couldn’t deny that.
But spoiled?
Being spoiled suggests someone cared, but nobody in my life ever gave a damn about me. Not my mother, and certainly not my father. My mother was too busy scheming and planning to notice what I was doing, and my father treated me like I was a cancer on the bottom of his foot.
The others never noticed. Darren was too busy learning to become the heir, and the others were too young. Penny, in particular, was naive enough to think we were all treated well.
Only Liv saw the truth. Liv saw a lot of things when she was alive. I suspected for a long time that was part of why she jumped.
She couldn’t live with the horrors lurking beneath the surface.
“What’s your plan then?”
“I know where Cosima does business. I want to provoke her into a fight, especially now while she’s distracted by Jami and Neil. Once she turns her attention our way, we’ll keep on the offensive until she makes a mistake, and then—” He ran a thumb across his throat.
“Real clever. Except you assume she’ll screw up.”
“You don’t think so?”
“She’s gotten this far. That doesn’t suggest a woman prone to blunders.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“No, your plan is solid. Let’s go on the offensive while her attention is elsewhere.”
His eyebrows raised. “Are you a contrarian for fun? Does it get you off?”
“No, sweetie, and I hope you never find out what gets me off.”
His eyes lit up and sparkled. “I suspect I will once you’re my wife.”
My jaw closed and I tried not to let my discomfort show. The kiss came rushing back—his lips, his taste, his hands—and I tried to push it away.
“Kill Cosima first, then we’ll talk about my kinks.” I stood and began to head back to the bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to shower. I want to be there when the first hit goes down.”
“Absolutely not.” He stood and followed.
“You don’t get to order me around, you know.” I grabbed some clothes and drifted into the bathroom. He came to the threshold, but didn’t enter as I turned on the water, nice and steamy hot.
