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“You’re right. It isyourfailure! You were so busy with the boys, trying to prove you were as tough as the men, that you just forgot about me.”
Tears swam in her eyes as she spoke, another sign I’d failed her where it mattered most.
She flung bitter words at me. “I am strong and smart and fucking capable as hell, but because I’m not swinging a dick between my legs, you think I’m weak. You don’t just hate women; you hate yourself for the sin of being a woman!”
Her tears disgusted me. “You can go now,” I ordered. Or maybe it was the honesty in her words. Either way, I needed her gone. “Go.”
“Gladly,” she growled and rose from the chair as if on wings, flew across the room and slammed the door behind her.
When Kat was gone, I turned to face the window, taking a drink with one hand as I swiped at one lone, angry tear.
CHAPTERFIVE
Sadie
I woke the following day with a sledgehammer pounding inside my head.
“I’m too fucking old to deal with hangovers.” In my teens and twenties, the recovery time from a night of over-indulging was nonexistent. I could wake up at the crack of dawn full of energy and focus on what I needed to do for the day. Now, the alcohol stayed with me a bit longer, but that didn’t change the list of things that I needed to accomplish. Things only I could oversee. That would never change.
Business, especially my business, didn’t stop for illness, hangovers, or even funerals. Nothing stopped this train, and nothing stopped me.
I stared at my reflection for a long time, noting the extra lines on my face, the dark circles under my eyes, the years I claimed like a badge of honor but wore like an unwanted mask.
It was nothing a quick coat of makeup couldn’t fix or at least hide. I reached for the black and gray Chanel suit and my black patent leather Jimmy Choos. I made my way down to the formal dining room where Jasper, Virgil, and Terry expected me for a meeting.
“Good morning, boys,” I said, entering the room with the swagger befitting my stature.
“Almost afternoon,” Jasper growled and reached for the platter of scrambled eggs. “Glad you could join us.”
I waved away his words and took my seat at the head of the table where I belonged. The breakfast spread was just what I needed to ward off the effects of this hangover. I started with a thick slice of toast slathered in whipped butter. “We need to discuss Addison Beck.”
“Jasper’s girlfriend?” Virgil laughed around a giant bite of food. “She is becoming problematic. Showed up at the casino the other night to issue a thinly-veiled threat to Maisie. Almost got her skinny ass kicked.”
I nodded at Virgil’s words even though it was the first I had heard about it. Usually Maisie couldn’t stop talking. “She’s moved beyond problematic into being a pain in my ass.” I turned to Jasper so he could see how serious I was. “Whatever you must do to deal with her, do it.”
Jasper shook his head. “You can’t kill every problem, Sadie.”
I blinked innocently and looked around the table. “Did I say to kill her? No, I said, deal with her. I saw the glint in her eyes when she looked at you. Use it to your advantage.”
Jas snort-laughed. “Seducing her won’t work. She’s too determined to see this family fall.”
Terry barked out a laugh that echoed in the dining room. “If you’re worried about your ability to seduce the ginger Fed, then it’s been too long since you’ve gotten laid.”
“Fuck you,” Jasper shot back while Virgil laughed. My meeting would spiral into the past if these three kept talking shit to each other around the breakfast table.
“Boys!”
My shout got their attention but sent a lightning rod of pain that shot from my forehead down my spine. “Business.”
“The business is Beck,” Jasper reminded me.
“I know, and if your cock can’t get the job done, maybe your gun can. Either way, we can’t afford to have that gossiping Fed be the undoing of everything I’ve built.”
I would kill the bitch myself before I let that happen. Hell, I would burn it all to the ground before I let the feds get their hands on my empire.
Jasper snorted his disapproval but kept his mouth shut, which I welcomed at that moment.
“Sadie, she’s not the threat you make her out to be. If we’re not careful, we’ll have an even bigger target on our backs.” He stood and dropped his napkin on the table. “But you know best, right?” He didn’t wait for an answer before he stalked off with Terry on his heels.
