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I hugged her back. “Just don’t die on that thing.”
Brenna hugged Asher and Dean next. Asher gladly accepted the hug, but Dean looked so uncomfortable.
“Brody has something planned for you tonight to celebrate,” I told her as we headed downstairs.
“Did he invite my mother?” she asked me with whatever she was feeling locked down tight.
“She’s back in rehab,” I answered.
She stared at the ground as she walked, appearing deep in thought. “Good.”
As we approached the chamber, Asher took his post along the wall with the other enforcers. Brenna and Dean each grabbed a door, opening them both for me to walk through. The male voices in the chamber went quiet and the high-ranking members in the Quinn family who sat around the table stood as I entered the room.
The clacking from my heels echoed in the room as I made my way toward my father’s chair. It felt foreign coming to this end of the table where Jamie and Conor would flank me instead of Louie and Sean. The weight of everyone’s eyes as they watched me pull out my father’s chair and sit in it added even more weight to the moment.
Dean and Brenna took their posts behind me as the men at the table took their seats. Everyone except for Sean showed respect as they stared at me. Sean held a smirk, as if he was the cat who’d caught the canary.
“Shall we begin?” I asked the table.
“I would like to be brought up to date on things,” Sean said.
“If you’d cared to show up yesterday, you would know,” Jamie said in a curt voice.
“I would have if I’d known I was supposed to be here.” Sean’s eyes flicked to me. “I lost my phone. I have a feeling it fell out of my pocket at the don’s club during the exchange.”
Brenna let out a single cough behind me. I wished I could have let myself react.
Sean looked back at Jamie. “I didn’t hear the news of Stefan until later and tried to stop by, but everyone was gone from the manor. I also heard the rumor that the princess didn’t waste any time claiming her father’s throne. Given where she’s sitting now, it seems that rumor was fact.”
“She’s Stefan’s heir,” Rourke said, glaring at Sean.
“Yes, but is she ready?” Sean argued. “She is still a baby in this world and some in the family would prefer someone that isn’t still wet behind the ears.”
“Her father has been preparing her to take his place since she was thirteen,” Conor said.
“And in the twenty-four hours she has been in charge, she has put things in motion for an alliance with the De Lucas,” Jamie said.
Pensive, Sean leaned back in his chair. “Has the alliance been made?”
“He’s coming to the house today to give me his answer,” I announced.
“He’ll agree to it,” Louie said with certainty.
The muscle in Sean’s jaw twitched. “Not that I need to ask, but it sounds like everyone at this table is in favor of her taking her father’s place.”
“Who do you think should be sitting here?” I asked, refusing to look away from him. I studied him, taking in every movement, every flicker of emotion he couldn’t hide.
“Your uncle,” he suggested.
Conor shook his head. “Not only do I not want the position, but this family belongs in the hands of a Quinn.”
“Rourke, then. His mother is a Quinn,” Sean suggested next.
Rourke pointed in my direction. “That chair belongs to my cousin.”
“What about Dylan?” Sean asked the table.
Jamie, who had his arm resting on the table, fisted his hand. “That traitor will never be the head of this family.”
