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“My father told me everything,” Keen hisses. “You think you’re so fucking perfect, Henry. But you fucked the fuck up. We’ve been planning this for years. We were just waiting for the right time.”
“And what is your purpose, Keen? What do you hope to gain from attempting to ruin the relationship between Wells and Parker? What do you hope to gain from threatening your cousins?”
“You need to be knocked off your pedestal,” he growls. “You should not be the director. You shouldn’t have even been part of the family. You should be dead.”
“Oh, shouldn’t I?” my father asks. “Interesting. I was chosen as the director by my father, chosen and given the title before he passed. I won’t go over details, but let’s just say that I earned the title, and others did not.”
Keen growls, though Junior doesn’t say a word. I watch Junior. Trying to determine if he’s with Keen or if he truly had no idea and doesn’t agree with him. Junior is much better at being a member of the family than Keen ever was. Keen is too much like his father.
“You’re pathetic,” Keen barks.
None of us jumps to beat the shit out of Keen. It’s pointless. He’s already dug his grave and has both feet inside. He’s dead tonight. He may as well continue talking at this point. He knows it, too, and so do his brothers, all of whom stay completely quiet.
“What kind of deal do you have with them?”
“Them?” Keen asks, his lips in a smirk.
The director chuckles. “The Simons.”
There is silence as Keen stares at my father. Then, as if Wells can’t handle it for another moment longer, he takes a step forward, his chin tipped down slightly. “You are worthless, Keen,” Hendrick murmurs. “A worthless piece of shit.”
“Oh yeah?” Keen asks. “And you’re better than me?”
Hendrick shakes his head once. “I’m not. That’s your problem. You have it in your head that we think we’re better than you. We aren’t. We share the same last name. We share the same motto. A life for a life. The family is the most important part of our world. And yet, you do not live by those mottos, do you?”
There is only a moment of silence, and then Keen bursts out in laughter. He obviously does not believe any of what Hendrick has said. Which I find comical because if anyone in this family is a fucking disaster himself, it’s him—Hendrick and Keen know that as well as anyone else.
“When will this be finished, Director?” an executive asks from behind us.
“When I know exactly what Keen has planned. He’s made a promise to this family, a vow, and given his life. Enough is enough,” my father announces.
Keen doesn’t speak right away, but all eyes are on him. When Junior moves, none of us expect it. However, he doesn’t do what anyone expects him to. He doesn’t take his brother’s side. Instead, he moves around Keen and stands on our side. The youngest brother does the same.
Now, every officer of the family looks down at Keen, who is still very much on his knees in front of us.
“You don’t have any other choice but to tell them the whole truth, Keen. Whatever that may be.”
Keen snarls as he stares at his brother. “You are a goddamn try-hard, Junior.”
“No,” Junior snaps. “I am loyal to the family. You are a traitor.”
My father doesn’t say anything. His gaze doesn’t shift from Keen either. I watch as he takes a step forward, crouching down in front of our cousin. I know this is the end. Keen is done for. He was when he walked into this meeting, but these are the final moments of his life.
The director doesn’t ask questions many times. If he doesn’t get an immediate answer, he’ll just figure out another way to get what he wants. This is something Keen knows. He’s been playing with us, and while I might find it slightly amusing, my father doesn’t have the patience for it.
“You’re not going to talk. That’s okay. I’ll figure out what I need to when I need to. However, you’ve wasted your life, Keen. I know you thought you could get the sister. A young, prized virgin bride, but I have news for you. She is worthless to the family, just like you are. She is no prize. Her sister is, but Coleman has already claimed her for himself. You just wasted your life, Keen.”
Without another word, I watch as my father pulls his knife from his waist and slides the blade across Keen’s throat. Blood sprays everywhere. All over my father, me, my brothers, along with Junior.
It shouldn’t be poetic, but it is. Keen thought he had some kind of plan, that he had the upper hand, that he was smarter than the director, but he was not, or maybe he was, and we haven’t figured it out yet. It doesn’t matter because even if he was… he isn’t around to find out.
“I think it’s time I said something,” Junior announces.
ChapterTwenty-Two
COLEMAN
I’m notsure what he’s going to say, but it’s clear that Junior has something on his mind. I also wonder when we’ll stop calling him Junior because I have a feeling he’s not much like Uncle Dean.
