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Lilliana is the youngest of us all, and I didn’t ask her to join this secret meeting. For good reason. I’m going to protect her, and I need the cooperation of everyone here to do it. I know she would be pissed if she knew I was excluding her.
“Is anything in our life ever safe?” I reply.
Arie shrugs. She’s always been overly cautious.
“No. But poking the devil doesn’t seem smart,” she retorts.
“Better the devil we know than the one we don’t.”
“Are you even listening to yourself?” Lucas asks.
I rap one fist against the desk that rests between the wingback chairs in front of the fireplace, meeting wide-eyed glances. No one has tried this and lived to talk about it.
But there’s a first time for everything, right?
“I’m guessing this has to do with … the plan?” Dean points his toothpick at me, and I nod.
“Are we all still on board?” I ask, glancing around at everyone.
Arie won’t meet my gaze, so I focus on her.
“Arie? You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to be. But if you stay, youstay.”
“I know,” she says, glancing up.
She nibbles on her bottom lip, and Geo fidgets in his chair. I watch him, knowing he wants to do something to comfort her but won’t let himself. I wonder if Arie has any idea.
I wait for a minute, the silence stretching on as I let anyone who wants to leave, leave, but no one walks out.
“Good.” I place both palms down on the top of the table and lean forward. This feels monumental in a way and sickening in another. “First order of business is to update you all with what I know right now. I had a meeting with the bosses. Your fathers.”
“Aren’t you one now?” Ginny asks, blowing a bubble with the gum in her mouth.
Her lackadaisical attitude grates on my nerves. She comes off as not serious, and I briefly wonder if she will be a problem.
“Yes, and no. Apparently, I have to get married to get what my father left me.”
“Married?” Dean asks, leaning forward. He drops the toothpick from his gaping mouth and then bends to retrieve it, expertly throwing it in the trash basket beside the desk.
I can’t tell if his theatrics are just that and he knew beforehand or if he’s truly shocked.
“Yes, which halts our plans until I can.”
“You are actually going through with it?” Ginny asks, swinging her legs around and raising her eyebrows at me.
“What other choice do I have? I need my father’s records and money, everything he’s withholding from me from the grave.”
There’s no love lost between all of us and our fathers. We’ve all grown up the same, locked in this power play between families, who are constantly trying to outdo the other, prove whose children are the best, see who can inflict the most damage on their psyche. That’s why we are all gathered here in the office to talk. We’ve been referring to it asthe plan, but it’s so much more than that.
It’s a way for us to stop the cycle of abuse. Parents are horrible to their children, and they continue the trend, but I don’t want to. I don’t want children, and I don’t want to ever be compared to Bertrand. We are in this Mafia life, but we don’t want to put up with all aspects of it.
I’m not leaving the family. This is the only way of life I know, but I’m damn sure cleaning up around here.
“Damn. Fucking bastards,” Ginny murmurs, and I have to say I agree with her. “So, what is the plan? How do you think we are going to bring them down? They are ruthless, Connor. You’ve seen it firsthand. I’m of the opinion that our little ragtag team won’t do much. Not without an army that’s loyal to us.”
“Is it the girl from the funeral?” Dean interjects, and my head whips to him.
I grit my teeth, trying to decide if I should call him out in front of everyone or see what he has to say after the meeting. I decide on the latter and ignore him for now.
