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“Quiet,” Geo says to her, lethally calm.
Ginny shrugs, and to be honest, I’m surprised too. It seems our fathers weren’t quite as old school with marrying the women off early since Arie is in her mid-twenties already. She’d be considered an old maid in Viktor’s world.
“Who is it?” Geo asks.
Arie turns to him. Her mouth gapes slightly, and she stares, not answering. I don’t know if it’s because Geo asked or because the question was asked in general.
“Lucas?” Geo turns to him when Arie remains frozen.
“She doesn’t have to say if she doesn’t want to,” Lucas says, pulling his sister into his side.
“It matters if you are under my roof. I will have someone else to contend with.” Anger rises in my chest at all the pushback I’m getting from Lucas.
I’m getting sick of his shit. Was pointing a gun at his temple not good enough for him?
“You are the one forcing us under your roof,” Lucas says.
“Because I can’t fucking trust you,” I roar. I can hear the blood pulsing in my ears. So much for remaining calm. “This way, I can watch over you like the child you are acting like. Tell me the damn name,” I say, still yelling.
Arie’s lips move.
“What?” I ask—or maybe I yell at her too. I don’t know. I need a fucking drink.
She speaks again, a little louder. “It’s Joey.”
12
CONNOR
Ihad to shut shit down after that bomb was dropped. Geo was about to explode, and I needed to defuse the situation and keep him from going off half-cocked to kill his older brother. In all honesty, it’s probably not even Joey’s fault. Not that I like the guy, but in this life, most of our decisions are made for us by the men who supplied half of our DNA.
I grip the steering wheel, checking the rearview mirror to make sure Lucas and Arie are behind us. I wouldn’t put it past the fucker to try and go home. That’s not his home anymore, not if he wants to live.
I glance over at Geo, who is staring out the window.
“You good?” I ask. I generally wouldn’t delve into feelings with Geo, but that was something that none of us had expected.
“Fine,” he says.
His short reply tells me all I need to know. He’s not fine, but I need to drop it. I think maybe he’s watching the side mirror and staring at the car behind us, not actually looking out the window. I’m starting to think it might be a bad idea to have Arie living under my roof. But I know I can’t chance Lucas going off on his own again. Everything rides on me being able to pull this off.
Before we left, I made sure everyone had their assignment. I’m going to show up, pretend like I believe it’s my right since I’m the head of the Soltorre family now, and then once I know they are good and fucked up, I’ll call in my reinforcements, who will be waiting outside, and transport these men off Dahlia’s property to meet the end they deserve.
It’s foolproof, right?
“Call Brigette and let her know we will have two more at dinner tonight. And for every night after. Then, when we arrive, I want you to take Lucas’s and Arie’s phones. I should have already done that.”
Geo nods. He’s a goal-oriented person, like me. I know that he likes having a plan. Likes having something that he needs to do. He takes his phone out, and I hear him speaking quietly to who I assume is Brigette on the other end.
I check the rearview again, seeing Lucas still behind me.
“Should we post guards by their doors?” I ask.
Geo is quiet for a moment. I know he’s considering all angles of the argument, for and against doing that.
“No. I believe Lucas. I don’t think he’s up to anything, and I truly think he thought he was helping us, no matter what asinine way he went about it.”
“You do?” I cock an eyebrow for no reason since Geo isn’t looking at me. “Why else wouldn’t he have been up front with me in the first place about working with his father at Fleur?”
