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Like we need a countdown timer for our dreaded return.
“The fact you needed us to come home to save your ass speaks legions,” Tim responds. “There were three of you still here. Three, and two of you are grown-ass men. If you can’t keep shit under control between you, then you don’t deserve to lead when Dad dies.”
“Which is why I came to get you,” Lix exclaims. “You’re Timothy the Third. You sit at the head of our table.”
“I don’twantto be Timothy! I don’t want anything to do with this family, and sixteen years away should’ve been hint enough for you to listen and leave me the fuck alone.”
“We stayed away,” Felix argues. “They were calling you a traitor. A pussy. They called you a deserter. But I stayed, and I carried the family. I raised Cato, and placated Dad. All those fucking years, I never came knocking. But now we don’t get a choice, because the family’s burning, and if we die, so does your sweet Doctor Emeri.” He brings enraged eyes to me. “As does that other chick I’m not supposed to mention.”
He looks back to Tim. “You can be pissy all you want. You can fight me, and you can hate every second of this. But the fact is, youneedto be here. Whether you like it or not, if you desert again, it’s your beautiful doctor friend who pays the price. So now it’s time to harden the fuck up. Take your rightful place at the head of the table, and demand the respect your birthright grants you. Clean up this mess, then go wherever the hell you want. But if you leave before we’re secure, you’re gonna regret it.”
“Two minutes,” the driver inserts again. “Finish it out.”
I glance to the rearview mirror and study his shadowed eyes. “Where do his loyalties lie? The driver.” I look to Felix in the dark. “Where’d he come from?”
“Foley works for the family.” He turns to Tim. “That means his loyalties are with you. Use him as you please, but know that if we fall,hedies with a knife in his throat too. Pastore won’t onboard our men if he takes over. It’s too risky. He’ll just end them all.”
“So I guess we’d better do it up right,” I growl.
The car winds toward our home, which is hidden behind trees and security posts, and, to the unaware observer, amidst lovely gardens. What they don’t see are the guards. The guns. The escape routes, and the watchtowers overlooking the entire perimeter.
I see the specific copse of trees I once made out with my teenage girlfriend beneath. Then the small hill we’d hide behind to talk. Laugh. Escape the life of being part ofthe family.
When not on my family’s property, we attended a private school in the city that only the rich and elite could afford. Though that might imply celebrity status and peers whose parents were famous, what it actually meant was a tightly secured school for children just like my brothers and me.
Every family, though fighting for turf and business, knew not to target the children. There would be no bloodshed in the school halls. There would be no power play but for those between teens vying to be top dog.
My high school girlfriend was the niece of one of those families, and though no one liked what we had, the agreement stood: no harm would come to a minor, no matter which side of the city they came from.
Until the day my father broke the treaty and had her killed.
Me marrying Minka, after she had that one date with Pastore, will be considered another play—unintentional on my part, sure, but in their eyes… shots fired.
Jesus, no wonder shit has escalated.
“We’re entering the estate,” Foley announces as we cross from street to driveway.
“We need to present a united front,” Felix rushes on. “No matter what. We get Micah back. We let Pastore know we’re not to be trifled with. Dad dies, and life goes on.”
“I’m not staying for weeks.” I don’t look out the windows to see my childhood stomping grounds. I don’t bother spying the guards hidden from those who don’t know better. Instead, I glance down at my phone and the text chat that remains void ofherall day long.
She’s angry. And I’m an idiot for leaving.
An idiot with no other option.
As the car circles our driveway and slows near the front entrance, I type quickly, “I love you. I’m sorry I left. I’ll call you in a little bit, okay? Before bedtime. Please don’t go to sleep without talking to me first.”
Hitting send, I watch the bubbles jump and wait for the ‘delivered’ notification to arrive, then I lock my screen and glance up as the car stops and three guards create a formation that blocks our view of the front of the house.
My phone vibrates in my hand before I get a chance to put it away, sending a jolt of electricity through my veins when I look down again and see Minka’s name.
While Tim and Felix move to exit the car, I unlock the device and hungrily read every single word of her reply. Few as they are.
“I can’t sleep without you. I already told you that.”
Then a second message pops up.
“This isn’t the deal we made, Archer.”
