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Unsurprising. When my father gets out of prison he’ll have a chore reigning those two in.
I have little doubt Sophie is telling the truth. But she also has a loose tongue. The last thing I need to do right now is provoke a war with my cousins.
My face stays neutral. My mouth stays closed.
Sophie thinks nothing of my silence and pouts over a different topic. “You’re so lucky that your father loves you. He gave you this club, he tells you his business. To my father, I’m just a cow that was sold at auction.”
There’s a knock at the door and Fiona breezes in. She’s not quick enough to mask the spark of annoyance at the sight of Sophie lounging on the sofa.
Fiona eases into the chair in front of my desk. “Time for our meeting.”
There is no meeting scheduled.
Fiona crosses her legs and gazes at me expectantly.
I get the message.
“Hey, Sophie?” I say. “Can you do me a huge favor and go help Bruno at the bar while I’m in my meeting?”
She hops up instantly, all smiles. “Sure, I can help run the bar.”
Fiona has the good manners to wait until Sophie has flounced out the door before rolling her eyes. “Bruno won’t forgive you.”
“I just gave him a raise. He’ll forgive me.”
She smirks and bounces her leg. “Did you hear that Sophie took her dress off and got on stage last night? She smacked face first right into a pole. And that wasaftershe sobered up. That hot mess is turning into a considerable babysitting job.”
I roll the cool dice between my palms. “I’ll give you a raise too.”
“I’ll take it.” She tilts her head. “A postcard arrived from Veronica.”
There’s a twinge of angst in my chest as I recall the sad-eyed young girl who nearly met a terrible fate at the hands of my cousins. “Everything cool now?”
Fiona nods. “She’s all set up in Santa Fe. New name, going to school. She says she feels like she can breathe again. She knows it’s all because of you and wanted to say thanks.”
The sudden buzz on my phone interrupts the conversation. I flip it over and curse when Talon’s name flashes on the screen. My first instinct is to ignore the call but I’d rather just find out what he wants and get it out of the way.
I put a finger to my lips as a message to Fiona to stay quiet and steel myself for a close encounter with an asshole.
“What is it?” I say as a greeting. “I’m busy.”
His answering chuckle is not a good sign. Nothing good follows a laugh from Talon. The sound is a trigger. My mind snaps back to the sight of his cold smile as he watched my bare chest get branded with ink.
“I know you’ve got time for your favorite cousin. First, I wanted to congratulate you on your new celebrity status.”
Seriously? He has no reason to take the slightest interest in who I’m dating.
“Noted. Anything else?”
“Yeah.” There’s an audible cracking of knuckles. “Get your slutty ass down here for an emergency family meeting. My usual headquarters.”
“Since when am I required to jump every time you snap your fingers?”
“Since your Daddy got himself locked in a cage and didn’t giveyouthe keys to the kingdom.”
“Fuck you, Talon.”
He sighs. “Why do you have to be so difficult? Didn’t want to do this but if you don’t show up here on Essex Street in the next fifteen minutes we’ll be at your doorstep to drag you out by your hair. And you can count on the scene gettingrealfucking messy.”
