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Fucking Maurice. He’s never been able to keep secrets from Henri. I’ve never understood their bond. Here it is, screwing me over yet again.
I ask, “And you think she’ll want you once she realizes that her life is now in our hands?”
Several emotions flicker across his face, making me chuckle.
“This right there is why Grandfather left me with everything. You and Maurice are too soft to do what needs to be done.”
“And you’re the heartless beast. His protégé and golden child. I’m well aware, Luca, but I still want in.”
I tap my fingers on the desk, thinking. Dove is mine. That much I know. But Henri has something that I want. Something that my grandfather left him because he knew it would piss me off. This might be a win-win situation for me. I get the girl and everything else that should be mine.
“I’ll let you in on one exception.”
“The muskets?”
I laugh. “God, no. You can keep that morbid reminder of our childhood. I want the ring.”
“No.”
“Then I guess we have nothing left to talk about. You can see yourself out.”
Henri doesn’t move, not that I expected him to. He’s predictable, one of many flaws he never overcame. He’ll give me what I want just as he thinks he can really beat me at a game I’ve spent my whole life playing.
“What is it with you and the ring? He didn’t want you to have it. More importantly,shedidn’t want you to have it, either.”
He’s talking about my mother, who’s only dying wish was that I did not get her ring, and that it be passed on to Henri’s mother. That ring is mine, and everyone knows it. It takes every ounce of willpower I possess not to pull out my gun and shoot him right between the eyes.
“I don’t expect you to understand.”
He stares at me as if he thinks he can break me. He won’t.
Finally, he nods. “You can have the ring if you win Dove.”
I don’t even bother hiding the grin spreading across my face. “Deal.”
We shake hands, just as my phone dings with a notification from the security feed in her house. Since Henri knows my secret, I don’t feel bad for opening the feeds on my computer screen. The apartment is tiny, but that didn’t stop me from installing multiple cameras in every room. Some might call what I’ve done an invasion of privacy. I call it monitoring my property.
The little brother bursts through the door first, talking a million miles an hour. He’s carrying a box of pizza that he puts on the table before grabbing two plates. Dove enters next, carrying her infant sister’s carrier. I can’t see her face clearly, so I hit the zoom key. Her hair is down, covering most of her face. When she turns her head, I see the bruises that Henri mentioned.
My fist clenches. “You’re sure it was her father?”
“Positive.”
Pressing the intercom, I tell my assistant, “Have the pit bosses find David Potts. I’d like a word with him.”
“Yes, sir.”
Potts is likely at the casino trying to win back his money. Oh, I’ll let him win. And then I’m going to rip the fucking carpet from under his feet.
Henri says, “I want to be here when he arrives.”
“You removed yourself from the family…businessyears ago. What makes you think you can demand to be here now?”
The Henri I knew years ago would have huffed at my words, exploding in anger. This Henri is different. He leans back in a casual pose that would probably strike fear into the hearts of weaker men. Good thing I’m not weak.
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
