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The men were still guarding the room where we found him lifeless on the floor; they didn’t allow even me in and said that his final will was to be buried in a closed casket as to not traumatize his family and friends.
Ask me if I thought it was okay that he’d hand-picked the men to bury him, and I wasn’t one of them.
I was pissed and hurt.
I was broken.
The weight of the world crushed my shoulders, I knew I’d have a lifetime of bruises.
“No.” I shot to my feet. “Serena, as is her right, will take care of the funeral. Nixon, as pissed as you are, we have to put out one fire first. The De Lange treaty ends in less than six days. You have to agree to his terms for now, once the treaty ends, we’ll see if he’s for or against us, but the fact that he wants Bella means he wants allegiance. We protect the many, sacrifice the one, do you understand what I’m saying?”
Nixon glared at me and stormed across the room, shoving the desk against me until I was pinned between it and the wall.
I stared straight back.
His steely blue eyes bit into me. “That’s my daughter you’re talking about.”
“And the rest of the Families? What about Junior’s son? What about your grieving eldest? Your wife? Your nephews, nieces? What of them, Nixon?” I shoved the desk toward him. “As your Capo, I’m not asking, I’m telling you. Either agree with my decision, or I’ll send you off to Florida to sip some martinis and retire on the beach.” I slammed my fist into the desk. “Any act of violence toward me or the other bosses, blood or not, will be taken as an immediate threat.” I reached for my gun and held it out in front of me, dangling it from my pinky finger. “And will be retaliated and paid for in blood. Are we all understood?”
My dad nodded his head at me first.
The others followed.
Phoenix slid down onto the ground and shook his head. “Impossible.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
He looked out of it, then again, it was his son. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned to me. “I respect your decision, and now I need to make one of my own.”
He got up and sighed. “Was there anything else with Junior? Do you know?”
I grit my teeth. I didn’t want to answer the question, but I knew I had no choice. “He was branded, freshly branded, on the right shoulder with a phoenix, beneath it; in Latin it read, rise of the De Langes.”
“More good news,” Maksim said under his breath.
“Shit.” Ash rubbed down his face with his hands. “Shit.”
“For now…” I ignored the looks of horror on people’s faces around me. “…Ivan has men around him, he’s on campus, easy to watch, he’ll most likely move into one of the De Lange compounds with Bella. He’ll want things to look normal, so he’ll still go to school with her, then after the marriage, we’ll move them into different housing.”
Ash let out a snort. “Seriously? A mafia boss just going to chemistry with you?”
“Nixon did it,” I said. “Didn’t you?”
Nixon’s look of anger didn’t make me look better. “Yes. I did.”
“So, it can be done and has been done.” I shrugged. “For now, you know your places. They’ll make an appearance at the orientation party tonight with the other cousins, everyone will show a united front while we plan for a funeral followed by…” I shared a look with Nixon. “Elaborate wedding fit for a princess.”
Nixon snorted. “I think what he means is, we’ll be preparing two funerals, both very real, both very damning, both leaving scars on us all, some more than others.”
He stormed out of the room.
Chase and Tex followed, the rest of the guys, Dante, Santino, Sergio, and every other mentor simply left with him.
Leaving us to pick up the pieces, create beauty out of something horrific.
Ash pulled out a chair. “We have no time to mourn.”
A tear slid down his cheek before he shoved his fist into his mouth to keep the sounds of crying from filling the air.
