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I take a sip of my water. “Sorry to hear about your pal Pierce. I imagine you’re pretty shaken up. You were such good friends.”
He looks around to see if anyone is listening. “Carrington and I weren’t friends. We were associates. You never did understand the difference.”
“Oh, take your definitions and shove it. When I tried to tell you that I was afraid of him because he attempted to drug me at a bar you could not care less.”
“What?” Josh gapes at me in horror. Then his face collapses. “Tessie.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” my father replies smoothly. “But in business and in life there are always choices to be made.”
“Choices, huh? Yeah, I can see your guards now. Two of them are standing just outside by the door. How did youchoosewhich one to send with Pierce’s thugs to mutilate the man I love?”
He falters, then smiles. “Do you need help finding a doctor, Tessie Belle? The proper meds should help with those hallucinations.”
“Juststop. It’s over. The man talked. If he’s still alive he’s not in great shape. But he was a member of your security team. You paid him to go with those bastards Carrington had assembled. You said you needed to have your own man in there to make sure this task wasdone right.” I can’t stop my voice from shaking. With rage. With grief. “You were trying to inflict maximum suffering, to destroy Micah simply because you didn’t get your way. You’re fucking evil.”
At last, he can’t stay composed. He shifts in his chair and his forehead breaks out in a sheen of sweat. “Trauma inflicts a lot of mental damage. That’s the only way I can explain how you came up with such an insane story.”
“Trauma my ass. Did you kill Micah’s father too? I think maybe you did.”
Josh has been sitting across the table in stunned silence, but now he looks up and breathes fire. “You swore to me, Stuart. You swore to me on the graves of our parents, on our brotherhood, that you hadnothingto do with the attack on Micah.”
People at surrounding tables are now beginning to notice the commotion and stare.
Stuart Ballerini takes note and sweats even more. “Josh, let’s go back to my office and-”
“YOU FUCKING SWORE TO ME!” Uncle Josh slams his hand down on the table so hard it cracks.
Gasps rain down from all directions. My father’s security guards run in but halt at the door when they see the chief of police.
Josh is looking downright murderous. “She could have been killed.Tess could have been killed.”
In the wake of this accusation, my father remains completely still.
Then his mask of civility finally slips off. The sheer hatred on his face is cold enough to penetrate my bones.
My uncle sees it too and grabs for me.
“Tessie, get behind me right now.”
I scamper out of my chair, glad for my uncle’s protection.
Stuart Ballerini sits back and stares at us, an odd gleam in his eye. “Well, isn’t that cute. The two of you.”
Josh plucks a radio from his belt. “I’m bringing you in, Stuart.”
“The hell you are.” He spots the steak knife Josh dropped and seizes it. He runs his thumb lightly along the blade.
The radio crackles in Josh’s hand. “Need backup at the Emerald Café. Suspect’s name is Stuart Ballerini.”
My father draws a drop of blood on his thumb and gapes at his brother. I believe he’s honestly shocked. He thought he’d be able to talk his way out of this, that Josh would never turn him in.
He gets to his feet.
Josh draws his gun.
People scream and crawl under tables. Some of them run through the door. The mayor’s security guards watch the scene with their mouths open. Their boss marches right past them, out the door and into the bustle of downtown.
“Stay here,” Josh hisses to me and then addresses the room. “Everyone, remain inside. This is a matter for the Emerald City Police.”
