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“Not. A. Word.” I stood from my chair and trudged my way to my room to go and get ready.
After the three-hour ride and a heated back and forth between my wife and me, we finally made it to the Valdez compound. It was about twenty minutes away from our estate and was actually used more as a base for our soldiers to be trained than anything else.
“Sirs,” the guards at the top of the stairs by the entrance greeted my brother and me. “Your father is in his study.”
I nodded in acknowledgment and walked through the door into the foyer. I had not expected to hear voices coming from the living room, least of all the boisterous laugh of a man I swore my father hated.
I turned and, sure enough, there was the red-headed leprechaun Lucky John. His real name was Jonathan Fynch, but he had cheated death so many times that he had gained the name Lucky for himself.
My father sat next to him in the armchair across from him. Each man had a glass of whiskey in hand and a matching grin on their face.
I cleared my throat, announcing our arrival. “Papa.”
My eyes found Lucky’s. I didn’t miss the way a short burst of anger flashed across those beady little pupils of his. Let’s just say that Lucky and I did not have a good history. With both of us being kingpin heirs, there was always this unspoken air of competition between us, and, well… I was always the one who ended up on the top most of the time. And Lucky, well… he was lucky to have made it out of our youth alive.
“Andres, it’s good to see you.”
“The same can’t be said for you, unfortunately.” Even seeing him like this brought a bitter taste to my mouth. “Papa, you deal with trash now? Have we sunk this low?”
I could hear him grind his teeth from where I stood. My father looked less than pleased with my comment. He gave me his disciplinary look that had worked on me as a child. Now, though, as a full-grown man… it didn’t even make me flinch.
The problem with being raised by a monster is you turn into an even bigger and scarier one.
“Go to my study, I will be with you both in a minute. Lucky and I were just wrapping up.”
Valerio must have seen my itch to fight him, because he placed his hand on my shoulder and pulled me away from the scene.
When we were well away from the living room Valerio stopped us in the middle of the hallway.
“You good?”
I nodded, but in fact, I was anything but good. Lucky being at the compound meant something, and I didn’t like not knowing what that something was.
My father was definitely up to something. I could feel it all the way down to my bones. Why was he suddenly meeting with Lucky John? The Irish and us had no business with each other, and all things considered, we were meant to view them as the enemy. They were after my wife, so you would think that he would want nothing to do with the very people trying to take her down.
Valerio and I walked toward my father’s study, my head spinning, trying to understand why the hell my father was talking to Lucky John.
“I don’t like what I’m smelling.” Valerio pulled out a cigarette and lit it right there in the middle of the hallway. “Papa is up to something.”
I hummed my agreement, but my mind still swirled with a million and one possibilities of what the fuck could be going on. Not only was I looking into Dimitri, now I had to pay attention to my father and whatever he was plotting, too.
“What are you thinking?” My brother inhaled the burnt tobacco and released a puff of smoke from his lips. I always hated when he smoked, but at least now he limited his packs to one a day. It was a start. “I know that look on your face.”
“I’m not exactly sure if my hunch is correct, but if it is…” I let out a humorless chuckle. “Then we have a bloodbath on our hands.”
I hoped for everyone involved, mainly me, that my father hadn’t gotten mixed up in something that would have us facing barrel to barrel.
Chapter Twenty
Savina’s POV
The breeze blew through my hair as I looked out to the ocean. I couldn't remember the last time I had been out to the port. Before I got married, I used to do a lot of groundwork. Now, I was more or less a caged bird that was only to be observed and preserved.
I hated it. And uncle knew I hated it, but still he held his ground. My safety was the top priority of the Syndicate. I was the last of my bloodline, and until I produced an heir with Andres I was to be protected at all times.
I hated feeling like a helpless princess. I had been one, once before, and I refused to be her again.
I looked out at all the ships that were coming into and out of port. A number of those were ours, leaving with drugs, firearms, and other traceable goods. And to think that I got to do as I pleased all under the nose of the authorities. It was thrilling, really. There was this kind of high that could not be explained that was associated with my line of work.
