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“Mafia,” I say. “I get it.”
“You don’t,” Maz says. “Yet. Look, these families are all powerful. Including mine. Including Birdie’s. Just because we’reThornsdoesn’t make us doormats around here. We all have a purpose.”
“We all have big families too,” Birdie says. “And we know our role. Doesn’t mean we can’t have fun or fight when we need to.”
“Right,” I say. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Archer is the next in line,” Maz says.
She pauses.
She gives me a minute to let that sink in.
When it does finally hit me, I tilt my head.
“Wait a second,” I whisper.
“There it is,” Birdie says. “Come on, Jaci, say it.”
“If Archer is next in line…” I whisper. “That means he’s… anHeir.”
“He should be anHeir,” Maz says. “That’s the crazy part of it.”
“So, he chose to be aSavage?” I ask.
“Something like that,” Birdie says. “What he’s doing is causing a lot of problems for a lot of people. Not just his family either. Things are very tense when it comes to that family. And others.”
“That explains some of the attitude then,” I say. “He’s a dickhead. He’s supposed to be anHeir. He chooses to be aSavage. So he treats everyone like shit.”
“It’s a lot more than that,” Birdie says. “You’re not supposed to break ranks around here. Archer has a mission in mind.”
“A mission?” I ask.
“How far do we go here?” Maz asks.
“All the way,” Birdie says. “She’s here now. She has to know everything.”
Maz hands me the vodka bottle. “I’m just saying this for my own peace. If something ever changes and you don’t actually belong here, you can never say anything we’re telling you. Not to anyone. This isn’t like some old high school rumor shit, Jaci. This is literally life and death.”
“Maz, the guy had a knife in his hand,” I say. “He wanted to hurt me. It takes a lot to make me nervous. Because of where I grew up. But I’ll admit this to you both right now. Archer scares me.”
“Good,” Maz says. “He should.”
“Let me finish,” Birdie says. “I don’t know every detail here, okay? This is what I’ve heard. What I believe. There was a death in the Amatti family. Someone that Archer was very close to.”
“Archer’s parents didn’t pop out five boys or anything like that,” Maz says. “Okay? Other families have a lot of kids. So, the wholeHeirandSavagething is easier. For Archer though, it’s all on him. And he refused theHeirstatus.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because of the murder in his family,” Birdie says.
I swallow and shiver. “Murder?”
“Murder,” Maz says.
“I think it broke Archer,” Birdie says. “As anHeirthere’s a sense of legacy. There are things you can and cannot do. I personally think Archer would be smarter to take theHeirstatus and build a crew to get his revenge.”
“But Archer wants the blood on his hands,” Maz says. “That’s why he chose theSavagestatus.”
