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"He won't say you are his in a letter, because you'd have written proof. He will buy you a house and all the furniture to go in it. Call it his parting gift." Gregory gives a shrug. "That's more than he gave me."
"Parting gift? What is this?" I should care, this man is as much my brother as Porter is, and our encounters consist of me knocking him out and covering his dick.
"I've been kicked out of the family. I was never Dad's favourite, and being beaten by a kid was the final straw for him."
"I am so very sorry for what I do."
"You didn't shoot me, so I am grateful for that. And if it wasn’t you, it would be something else."
Shooting him wouldn't have helped the situation with freeing Porter, but I am glad that he is alive too.
Chapter fifty-three
Knox
Thisisallalot to take in. My two boys need to process all of this. I need to work out what happens next.
Tiffany left us with nothing, and in her need for money, and probably some attention, she came up with this plan.
I'm guessing she wanted to go to her father for help, but if he suspected Porter, she never actually asked him for money. She went for subtle blackmail, pointing the blame at Porter. God only knows how she connected Nico to all of this, but she thought it was big news considering all the trouble she went to in order to tell me. But her plan was doomed, because she was too clever, and I was too dumb. I only saw what was right in front of me. Killing Gavriil may not have been part of her plan, but it brought about her failure and ultimate death. No one gets away with playing the family twice.
I'm no sexist but give me a man to fight any day. Men just go for what they want, women duck between the lines, using manipulation and double meanings. It's how mum is so good at living this life. She has dad wrapped around her finger and he doesn’t even know.
"Porter, take Nico for a muffin."
Nico looks relieved to escape but Porter clearly wants to stay. Dad overstepped his boundaries when he acted for my family. Porter's anger is on the verge of bursting out, and I need to separate the pair of them before this becomes something far worse.
"This way, boys. "Gladys welcomes the boys towards the kitchen and they leave as ordered.
Caeo rises up to follow; his position as bodyguard to my boys has never made me happier. He no longer has to look to my father for permission first. His only concern is reassuring me that the boys are safe so I can focus on the two threats in my home.
Yes, Dad and Carter, through Gregory, are both the biggest threats to my happiness right now.
"Dad, you can go home now. It's going to take short visits to make this better." I walk off before he can answer. "Gregory, please join me in my office."
Divide and conquer.
Gregory follows me with a frown on his face, but his scepticism is overruled by his desperation.
"Tell me what happened," I order.
I like to tell Nico that my enemy's enemy is my friend. He made his bottom lip bleed trying to digest that information the first time I said it. Telling him that reminded me who to trust, and hopefully it has helped him. I need to work out if Carter is an enemy. Not just because he is a distant rival, but because I currently have more of his sons in my house than he does in his own.
"What makes you think something happened?" Gregory mutters.
"Your father has kicked you out." I stare at him, wondering if the hint he gave Nico was the truth or a cover to get him 'in'. I need to know if he has been kicked out of the family or if they wanted him planted as a spy.
"How do you - I got taken down by a child."
"He's not a child."
"He's a scrawny kid of eighteen. He took me and Tiffany down, while wrapped in bandages and with a broken arm."
"That is a testament to his strength and determination, not a slight against yours."
"Dad always says he has no time for girls and gays. I'm the latter. I'm the third son, keeping myself out of the way running a few nightclubs, but now - Well there we are."
"I am in need of a right hand man, someone to run my clubs for me. The rest of the business still falls to my dad." It sounds like this man has made an enemy of his father, and if he is an enemy of Carter's, then I need to keep him close.
