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“Are you sure?” Redmond asked.
“I’m sure. We’re family, after all.” I flashed Cosima my best smile.
She looked surprised. “Family?”
“I guess you haven’t heard. I’m Maeve’s daughter.”
Cosima took a step back. Her mouth opened and her jaw worked but she didn’t make a sound for several seconds. I smiled sweetly and let the revelation sink in.
She gathered herself a moment later and waved at Chuck. “It’s okay. I’ll speak with her.”
The soldier grunted. “Like I get a fucking say,” he muttered and walked off.
“Chika. Go.” Cosima glared at my former employee.
Chika ripped her eyes from me and stalked after Chuck.
“Guess we’ll leave you to it then.” Palmira took Redmond by the arm and tugged him away. “We’ll be right over here, sweetie.”
Redmond looked like he’d rather cut off his own fingers than leave me alone with Cosima, but he let Palmira drag him to the far end of the bean.
I stepped forward, studying Cosima. “I guess you’re my aunt.”
“Are you really her daughter?” Cosima sounded distant and tired. “I never knew. Truth be told, I barely knew Maeve at all. None of us did. She kept the family at a distance.”
“It’s true. I didn’t want it to be for a long time, but it’s true. My father was the head of the Servant family before he passed, and he had an affair with Maeve. I’m the product of that transgression.”
“I suppose he raised you then.” She pursed her lips. “That’s like Maeve. Make a mistake and burden someone else with the end product.”
I grimaced and crossed my arms. “I don’t love the idea of being a burden.”
She waved that off. “You understand. I truly didn’t know Maeve had a daughter. I knew about the little boy, but—” She shrugged and smiled. “I suppose I’ve been trying to kill my own kin this whole time.”
“You killed Neil. What’s one more matter?”
“Fair point. But that boy wasn’t as innocent as he may have seen. He was like the rest of us.”
“What’s that?”
“A killer. Cold-blooded and ruthless.”
I tugged at the hem of my shirt. I didn’t like where this was going. I pictured Neil as a scared, angry, lost boy, thrust into a fight he didn’t want—but that might’ve been a fantasy. Anyone in the orbit of the Oligarchs got infected, and the power and unlimited resourced twisted them into something wretched and dangerous. Neil wasn’t any different from the rest of us.
He was corrupted too.
“I want to end this,” I said, pushing aside my self-loathing and barreling forward. “I want to bring peace to the family and take control of Maeve’s empire. I’m the rightful heir.”
“Assuming it’s true that you’re her daughter.” Cosima tapped a fingernail against her cheek. “I’m betting you’re too proud to take a blood test.”
“I’d do it if I thought it would change anything.”
“I’ll have to take your word for it.” She sighed. “I know when I’m beat. Between the rest of the leeches and your boyfriend, I can’t hold out for much longer.”
“Redmond’s not going to kill you, even if you deserve it.”
“That’s good to hear. What about the rest of my people? And Chika?”
I glanced over to where Chika stood glaring death at me. “I don’t know why you care.”
“I’m curious, truth be told. It doesn’t matter what you decide, but I’ve found that what a person does when they have power over another says a lot about who they are.”
I let that sink in. What sort of person was I? My whole life I’d had power over others, and what had I done with it?
Sought out my own pleasure. Given myself strength at the expense of those around me.
I’d been a selfish prick.
“Chika can live. But she’ll be punished.”
“That’s nice to hear.”
“You’ll get a piece of the assets. Businesses, money, that sort of thing. So will everyone else. I won’t take it all.”
Her eyebrows raised. Again, she looked surprised. I liked shocking her. She seemed like a woman that wasn’t easily unsettled.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I believe this family will be stronger if we all work together. I understand that I will always be an outsider, even if I am Maeve’s daughter. I was raised by the Servants and I’ll always be one of them.” As I spoke, I knew the truth of what I was saying, and it hurt to hear it out loud. After how I’d treated my sister and my brothers, I didn’t deserve to call myself a part of their family, but I pressed on. “If I share some of the wealth and power with you all, I hope you’ll see it as a good faith gesture. I want prosperity, and while I will be the head of the family, I don’t have to be a dictator.”
Cosima let that sink in. She considered my words carefully, fingers steepled, before inclining her head.
