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She’s well and truly asleep—or at least appears to be—by the time I get back to bed, and I put a decent distance between us as I lay on my own side. I’m exhausted from the day, and it’s not long before I’m asleep too.
I wake before her to get ready for my meeting, and opt to leave her sleeping, not wanting another repeat of our fight from yesterday. Her phone remains blissfully dark, and I choose not to think about that text message from Niall—the contents of which I still don’t know—as I head to the warehouse.
I’m one of the first to get there, Viktor and Luca arriving not long after. “I sent Levin back to New York with Caterina,” Viktor explains as we assemble. “She didn’t want to be without the children for much longer.”
“She’s taken to them, then?” I glance at him curiously. It’s well known that Viktor has two children from his prior marriage, two daughters, but it wouldn’t be unusual for a second wife to largely hand them over to a nanny.
“She’s their mother now,” Viktor says firmly. “And she’s quite taken to the role. She’s eager for our son to get here, of course, but she’s no less a mother to my two girls—and they adore her as well, even my oldest, now.” He smiles as he says it, his harsh Russian features softening, and I notice that when speaking of his wife and children, he looks almost like an ordinary man.
That’s what love does to you. It softens you.I don’t intend to be the taskmaster to my children that my father was—be they sons or daughters—but neither do I plan to coddle them. The world we live in—the one they will grow up in—is rough and dangerous, and I don’t wish them to be ill prepared for it.
Liam wasn’t well enough prepared. Our father ignored him and I couldn’t do the job of being a good son to our father and a father to my younger brother both, so he grew up with less direction than he otherwise might have had.
Now he’s paying for it, and I won’t see something similar happen to my own children.
“What’s the plan?” Luca asks, his hands in his pockets as he faces us. “Liam beat us to the punch with the priest’s blessing for his marriage. You’ve married Saoirse. The O’Sullivan families and McGregor families are one. We need to decide how you’re going to approach the Kings.”
“I know he’s your brother,” Viktor says gruffly. “But this would be a lot easier if Liam were removed from the playing field altogether, so to speak.”
“You mean kill him,” Luca snaps. “That’s not acceptable. Not to me, as a part of this alliance, and not to Connor—”
“You’re letting your wife’s friendship with Anastasia muddle this up again—“
“Enough!” I shake my head, stepping forward and silencing them both with a glare. “There will be not another word about Liam being killed. He isnotto be harmed. He will be exiled with his wife—and both Manhattan and Chicago are off-limits to him,” I add, glaring at Luca. “As I said before, I won’t have him plotting with your wife.”
“There’s no plotting,” Luca says coolly, but he doesn’t argue further.
“I want to try for a peaceful takeover,” I say calmly. “Liam likely has already heard that Saoirse and I are married, but if not, we make sure that news gets to him. We then try to arrange for a meeting of our two sides, without weapons or violence, if Liam’s side will agree to that. At that meeting, we will propose that Liam and Anastasia be allowed to leave Boston unharmed, as long as they do so within seventy-two hours of the meeting, and do not enter Boston again, nor Manhattan or Chicago. Their safety will not be assured in any of those three cities after that time. If Liam agrees, he may go, and I will then take up the seat and address the Kings as to how I plan to run the table, going forward.”
“And if they don’t agree?” Viktor frowns. “If they won’t meet unarmed, or won’t agree to Liam’s exile, or banning him from the three cities?”
“Then we’ll address that then. Let’s begin with the offer for a peaceful meeting.” I glance at Graham, who has been uncharacteristically quiet up to this point. “I want an attempt at taking over without bloodshed.”
When the meeting is over, Graham glances at me. “When are you meeting Saoirse to go to the new apartment?” he asks, and I frown.
“A few hours. Why?”
“Come shooting with me. I’m heading to the range.” He claps a hand on my shoulder, and I stiffen. “A little father and son-in-law bonding time.”
I’m not exactly thrilled that Graham is my father-in-law now, nor am I eager to spend time with him, but I nod anyway. It might be an opportunity to gain some intel on how he plans to react to my new leadership, and when it comes right down to it, I have nothing better to do for the next few hours. Certainly not go back to the hotel early, and risk another argument with Saoirse. That’s the last thing I have the energy for just now.
Jacob and Quint come along with me, as well as a few members of Graham’s security, and we ride to the range in Graham’s car.
I’ve never been a huge fan of shooting practice, but especially in our current situation, it’s wise to stay sharp. We don’t talk much for the first few rounds, but I’m more careful with my shots, hitting the target spot-on almost every time. I’m not trying to threaten Graham, exactly—just intimidate him, maybe a little.
“We haven’t talked much about what I expect out of our relationship, son, now that our alliance is complete with your marriage to Saoirse,” Graham says as we’re between rounds, guns set aside and unloaded. Everyone is taking a break, ear protection off, and I feel Jacob tense behind me as Graham speaks.
“Whatyouexpect?” I ask carefully, keeping my voice as neutral as I can.
“When your father held the seat, I was his right hand,” Graham begins, pulling himself up a bit taller. “He trusted me and my opinions, and my word, above anyone else at the table.”
“Until he didn’t listen to you, and got himself killed,” I point out grimly. “What’s the purpose of this lecture, Graham?”
“No lecture,” he says calmly. “I’m only saying that since before your father held the seat, it is an O’Sullivan who has sat at the right hand. Your brother kept me there in name, but we all know Niall Flanagan is the one who he listens to—to his detriment, I might add.”
“I thought Niall encouraged him to marry Saoirse.” The man’s name is bitter on my tongue, but I know what I’ve heard regarding that matter.
“Not enough, plainly. Now it’s your turn to take the seat back, Connor, and as your father’s advisor and your father-in-law, I expect that you will not break with tradition—”
