AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I think about it, “We’ll call the Ravens in, and then you can tell me if they need to improve anywhere or if that’s something that we don’t need to worry about.”
Rip nods in agreement, his massive arms crossed over his chest, “Yeah, that works. It will be interesting to see their reaction to you defending yourself against yet another attack that comes from one of them.”
“Good point. I hadn’t thought of that,” I reply. Everything is just slightly less straightforward than it used to be, and it’s taking some getting used to. I’ve suddenly got a hell of a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.
“I will call them in now,” already pulling out his phone, Sawyer tells us and then adds with a slightly sheepish look, “Erm, you need to have someone come and fix the door. I kicked it down when I thought you guys were in danger.”
I burst out laughing, and Ace snickers at Sawyer's admission.
Mal claps him on the shoulder, “Don’t worry dude, if you managed to kick it down, then it needed replacing anyway. We don’t want something that someone can break into.”
Sawyer’s eyebrows crease slightly, and I think that it’s because he’s confused about what Mal has said, but I realise I’m wrong when he says, “I can put you in contact with a contact of mine. As you know, Treyton was a violent man, but he was especially so when he had been drinking, which was regularly. He’d always try to get to my mother, who had separate quarters from him; I bought her a steel-reinforced door that is almost impossible to break down.”
“Yes please, Dude, that will be exactly what we’re looking for,” Rome replies, understanding in his eyes.
“Great, I’ll call the cleaners, and then I’ll find the number of my contact for you. I’ll be back in a minute.” He replies as he leaves the kitchen, passing Gerald, who is on the way in.
He looks far less worried than he probably should be, considering that he no doubt heard the gunshot.
“Ace, Hades and Cerberus sound pretty worked up in your room,” he announces first, “I wasn’t sure how they’d react to me if they were worried, so I thought it would be best to come and get you.”
“Shit, I thought I’d left the door open, although I’m glad that I didn’t,” Ace replies, sounding worried as he walks out of the room.
Chapter Four
Turning back to look at the rest of us, Gerald’s gaze lands on me, and I see a hint of concern as he asks, “I heard the gunshot. I presume everything is under control?”
I nod, “Yeah, it was just one of the Ravens who aren’t keen on me taking over. I imagine that there might be a couple more before the week is out.”
His eyes narrow, “We need to get the security upgraded around the property. Your grandmother has pretty high-tech security fitted; however, she had far fewer people wanting to kill her regularly, or should I say wanting to kill her regularly who knew her location.”
“So there were people that wanted to kill her?” Rome asks curiously as we yet again learn something about my grandmother that gives us more questions than answers.
Gerald’s eyes twinkle as he smiles, “I will get some quotes drawn up for better security so that we can get up and running as quickly as possible.”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that you didn’t answer the question,” I grin, knowing full well that he’s once again going to ignore me.
“Before I forget, the sale is going through on your grandmother’s business, and it should be finalized by the end of next month. I will let you know when it’s all done.” He replies, changing the subject entirely.
I can’t help the quiet chuckle that escapes before answering, “Thanks, Gerald. I appreciate you dealing with all of that and also the security. We need extra, especially since there will be assassinations at some point.”
Gerald doesn’t bother replying as he inclines his head and walks back out of the kitchen. I think it’s very telling how he doesn’t even question the assassination thing; he just accepts it as something that will be happening.
“You know you could abolish that tradition,” Sawyer announces as he walks back into the room and catches the end of the conversation, “the cleaners are on their way.”
I nod, “If I’m being completely honest, I hadn’t thought of that. I do think that it's something to consider, but I think we’d also need to be aware that there are most likely going to be members who don’t want to follow the ban and do it anyway.”
“You could replace it with something less barbaric?” Mase suggests.
“Like what?”
“Well, you could put it to a vote? I’m not sure how well it would work, but I think abolishing the tradition of the assassinations is a good idea.” He replies thoughtfully.
“Something like that would ease the transition, but we’d have to think about the best way to present it,” Sawyer replies.
“Why haven’t any of the past leaders tried to abolish it before?” I ask, confused about why it's been allowed to carry on even though it's detrimental to the leaders themselves, especially since at the end of the day, it is impossible to please everyone, so at least one person is going to try to assassinate the new leader within that first-year limit.
The guys all share a look, clearly having realized something that I haven’t.
