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“I know that look.” He chuckled. “Okay, spill. What are you thinking?”
I shrugged. “You said that I need allies. He would be a big ally along with the Gold Family.”
My phone buzzed and I checked it. “It’s my father. He’s called a meeting. Got to go.” I jumped out of bed and started getting dressed.
Eli sat up, watching. “You want me to take you?”
I bent down and gave him a kiss. “No, but thanks.” I slipped my silk cami over my head and pulled up my skirt. “I just hope it’s nothing serious.”
Eli curled up with the pillow, watching me dress. “Call me if you need me.”
As I hurried down the stairs, I dreaded the meeting for a few reasons. Either he had gotten bad news from the doctor, or they wanted to talk about me. And I didn’t feel like talking about either topic. Nate was in the car waiting for me in the driveway.
“Do you know what this is about?” I asked as soon as I got in the car, slipping into my shoes.
“I think it’s about you.” He quickly backed the car out of the drive and we were on our way a moment later. “They want to hear your plans for the business and…Reggie has something he wants to propose.”
I quickly slipped into my suit coat, glad I had come straight over to Eli’s house wearing my business clothes. “Shit! Whatever it is, I’m not going to like it.” I flipped down the visor and quickly checked my makeup and hair in the mirror.
Nate bit his bottom lip.
“Stop biting your lip and tell me what you don’t want to tell me.” I flipped the visor up, knowing my hair was a lost cause.
He smiled. “I think what he wants to talk about is the human trafficking. He wants to expand. Brainstorm ways to grab more girls and find better, more efficient ways to ship them.”
My arm slammed into the arm rest. “Dammit!”
“Stay levelheaded, Addie.” Nate kept his eyes on the road, his voice level. “He knows what he’s doing.”
I tapped my forefinger on my bottom lip. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, counting to ten. “He wants for everyone to see how I’ll react. He wants me to tell them that I’m going to end this business venture without me having a plan to recoup that money.”
Nate nodded. “He wants you to blow up so the family will see you as irrational and emotional. So don’t be.”
“I really don’t want us to be involved in selling people!” I stared out the window, watching the scenery pass, wishing there was something else I had to replace it with.
“And I understand that,” he said calmly. “But unless you have plan, it is what it is, but it doesn’t mean that it always has to be this way.” He looked into my eyes. “Addie, you need to show them that you can make sound decisions and do what is best for the family. And—”
“And making money is what’s best for the family.”
“Exactly. You can do this.”
I took a deep breath. Be calm and rational. I repeated the words to myself over and over and over. I was still saying them when I walked into the house, knowing I had to come up with something quick.
“Addie, you missed dinner.” My father said as soon as I walked into the study. Nate slid the doors closed behind us as soon as we entered the room, leaving my boys outside. “Do you want something eat?”
I shook my head. “I’ve already eaten.” I sat at the far end of the table. It may have been my imagination but some of the faces were a little friendlier than the last time we had a meeting.
There was Nate and Kent. Kent smiled at me like he always did, relaxed. Joe sat next to Kent and he even he smiled. I hadn’t seen him since I shot Frank and Matt. Chris, Anthony and Jimmy no longer had a permanent scowl on their faces when they looked at me.
“Reggie, you had some business you wanted to talk about?” My father poured himself a drink as Reggie stood up.
“Yes, sir.” He placed his hands on the table. “I know that we’ve talked about expanding some of our businesses and I wanted to propose we do the same thing with our trafficking business.”
He glanced in my direction, but I didn’t move. I didn’t open my mouth. I could feel my father’s eyes burrowing into my skull, but I pretended like it wasn’t a big deal. I tried my best to keep my face as stoic as possible.
“We could make some good money and our partners are open to it if we want to.”
My father leaned back in his chair. “What do you think Addie?”
