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“I have no idea,” he admitted, “that’s why I need some more answers before I call her.”
“With your father gone, will you have to stay away from your sister any longer?” Eden asked. He hadn’t even thought about that yet. The news of his father’s death was shocking, but it did give him more freedom than he believed he’d ever have. He knew that once he took over as head of household, his father would constantly be looking over his shoulder to make sure that Bowie followed the old ways and his father’s stringent rules. Now, with his father gone, he wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. He’d be able to reestablish a relationship with his sister if that’s what she’d want, and that meant everything to him.
“I’m not sure about anything,” Bowie admitted. “I guess that will depend on my sister and what she and her family want. I’d love to be able to see her again, but her husband, Rock, isn’t my biggest fan, and he hated my father.”
“Maybe Darcy will be able to convince her husband to give your relationship a chance,” Eden said.
He chucked, “Are you always a glass-half-full kind of person? You always seem to look on the bright side,” he said as if that was a bad thing.
“I can’t help it,” Eden said. “You have to remember that I’ve had a very different life than you have. I wasn’t part of a mafia syndicate or anything of the such. I got to choose my life and what I wanted to do with it. You were basically molded to become what your family chose for you to become, but all of that can change now. You have a get-out-of-jail-free card. I guess the question is, how will you use it now, Bowie?” she asked. He didn’t have the answer to her question yet, but Eden wasn’t really asking him for a firm answer right now. It was something that he definitely needed to think about, but he had to admit—his future was looking bright, even if he did just lose his father.
* * *
They drove over to Carter’s chateau and found him standing on the porch when they pulled up to the house. “How did you know that we were coming?” Bowie asked, stepping out of his rental car.
“Security cameras and I heard the news about your father. I took a stab in the dark that you were going to show up here, so I got a shower and dressed early to meet you here. My wife and kid are still asleep, and I’d rather not wake either of them. How about we talk on the back patio?”
“Of course,” Bowie said. “Do you mind if Eden joins us? We can talk freely around her.” Carter shrugged and looked Eden over before nodding his agreement.
“Thanks,” Bowie said. He turned back to motion for her to join them and she got out of the car.
“Hey, Eden,” Carter said.
“Hello, Carter,” Eden called back.
“Follow me guys,” Carter said. “I’ve had breakfast and coffee brought out to the patio. We can eat and I’ll tell you what I know so far. I’m assuming that’s why you’re here, right?” he asked Bowie.
“Yeah, I’m hoping that you have more information than I do. My father’s assistant, Helen, was a sobbing mess and didn’t have many answers for me,” Bowie admitted.
“Well, let’s see if I can fill in any of the blanks to help you out,” Carter said. They followed Carter out to the back patio where there was more food out than three people would ever be able to eat.
“How many people were you planning on feeding?” Eden teased.
“I guess my chef over did it,” he said. “I really didn’t tell him how many people to plan for, just that I was probably having company and would need a buffet set up. Coffee?” he asked.
“Please,” Eden breathed.
“I’d love a cup too,” Bowie said. Carter poured them all coffee and told them to grab a plate of food so that they could talk. Bowie wasn’t quite used to calling the shots, but Carter took it to the next level. He seemed to exude confidence and was a natural-born leader. He thought about asking Carter to help him out with a few pointers, but he also knew that might lose him some respect from the other families. Bowie didn’t need it getting out that he was unsure of his new position in the Wrath family. In fact, he needed to put on a show of confidence now that his father was gone, and he’d be stepping into that position sooner than he expected.
“So, what do you know?” Bowie asked, cutting to the chase. He took a bite of his eggs while waiting Carter out.
“You really don’t like to waste time, do you?” Carter asked.
“I don’t,” Bowie admitted. “I’d really love to know what happened so that I can keep Eden and my sister’s family safe.”
“And you,” Eden whispered. “You need to stay safe too,” she reminded. It was nice that she seemed to care about his well-being. It had been a damn long time since he had someone like that in his life. The last person who cared that much about him was his sister, Darcy, and he missed it—he missed her.
“Me too,” he agreed, reaching across the table to pull her hand into his own.
“Do you know how my father died?” he asked Carter.
“I do,” Carter admitted. “I got the call from the states about an hour ago. Damion Pride called to tell me that your father had been shot to death. I’m sorry, man,” he said, “in case I forgot to tell you that earlier.”
“Thank you, Carter,” Bowie said. “I appreciate that. Did Damion have any idea who shot my father?”
“Yeah, he’s pretty sure that it was the Gluttony syndicate. They seem to have their hands in everyone’s business these days. Damion believes that they found out that you came here to talk to me about joining our syndicates and they killed your father to send you a message.”
“Well, message received, but it changes nothing for me,” Bowie admitted. “I still want to join your families. I don’t want the Wrath family aligned with the Sloth or Gluttony families any longer. How can I be when they go after their allies? I won’t watch over my shoulder every day, but I can’t live the old ways that my father did. He did everything according to syndicate laws and he still ended up dead. I won’t be like him, Carter,” Bowie admitted.
