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“Let’s start with how you got hitched to Guy Maranga,” Creed said, his voice cutting through the tension in the room.
“And how we didn’t freaking know,” Apollo growled from across the room, his expression dark.
Yeah, these guys weren’t as happy to see me as I thought they might be. I could feel their frustration seeping into the air, thick and heavy. They wanted answers, and I wasn’t entirely sure how much I was ready to give.
I glanced at Leo, who was sitting behind his desk, casually sipping his whiskey like this wasn’t a bomb about to go off. He wasn’t going to jump in and rescue me here. This was on me. Iwasn’t sure if I was going to tell them everything—certainly not about Guy being dead and me being in charge now. But they deserved to know at least some of the story.
“I worked at Wayne Plastics until two years ago, I think,” I started, my voice steady but guarded. I looked over at Sig, who gave me a slight nod. It was hard to believe it had been two years already. Time really did fly when everything around you was falling apart.
“A few years after I started working there, I met Mark’s brother, Jason,” I continued.
Murphy, sitting on the edge of his seat, couldn’t resist chiming in. “You marry him too?”
Leo, mid-sip, choked on his whiskey, and Sig cleared his throat. The tension in the room was broken for a moment as Leo regained his composure, but it didn’t last long.
I moved closer to the front of Leo’s desk, leaning against it to ground myself. “Uh, well, I did marry him... and then found out he was Guy Maranga.”
That admission hit them like a punch. I could see it in their faces, the disbelief, the questions forming in their minds. Apollo’s jaw clenched, and Murphy shook his head as if trying to shake off the absurdity of it all.
“There goes my next question, if you knew who the hell he was before you married him,” Apollo muttered.
I sighed, the memory of it all flashing through my mind like an old, faded photograph. “That would be no. I didn’t know who he was. I was lonely, and at the time, I figured being married was what I wanted.” I paused, the weight of my past settling in my chest. “I don’t really need to go into details, but my life wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows after I married Guy. The rumors of him being a hard and ruthless man were true.”
“And now we’re about to get into bed with this guy,” Murphy muttered under his breath, more to himself than anyone else.
“Things have changed,” Sig cut in, his voice firm but calm.
I nodded in agreement. “They have.”
Apollo’s gaze locked onto me, unblinking, intense. “You wanna go into what those changes are, or are we just supposed to nod our heads like sheep?”
I knew at that moment I couldn’t spin the story the way I had planned. These men were smart, too smart to let me slip past without giving them the truth. My eyes met Sig’s again, and I could tell he knew what was coming next.
“The things I tell you in this room,” I said, standing straight, my voice hardening, “do not go out of it. That includes your girlfriends, family, everyone.” I looked at each of them, my eyes narrowing on Apollo, Creed, Murphy, and Princeton. “If I find out what I say leaves this room, there will be consequences.”
Leo shifted in his chair. He knew where this was going, but he wasn’t about to interfere.
Creed raised an eyebrow and his skepticism was evident. “Okay,” he said with a chuckle, the disbelief still lacing his voice.
“Pretty sure whatever you’re about to tell us isn’t more shocking than the fact you married Guy Maranga,” Princeton drawled, his tone dripping with sarcasm. The others murmured in agreement.
Leo grinned, his voice cutting through the thick air. “Try not to drool on the floor when your jaws hit it, fellas. Or shit yourselves.”
I took a deep breath, knowing that what I was about to say would hit them harder than anything I had said so far. “The reason why things changed two years ago,” I began, my voice steady but firm, “was because after suffering from cancer for years, Guy died.”
The air left the room like a vacuum had sucked it out. The silence was almost deafening as the weight of my words hit them.
“And when he died, I took over,” I added.
It was as if time stood still. They stared at me, processing what I’d just said, trying to reconcile it with everything they thought they knew about me. The tension that had been building since I walked into the room exploded into a heavy, oppressive silence.
Apollo was the first to speak, his voice low and sharp. “You took over?” His words were more an accusation than a question.
I nodded. “Yes. I took over his businesses, his connections... everything. I inherited his empire.”
Murphy shook his head, letting out a short, bitter laugh. “So, what? You’re the new Guy Maranga now? The queenpin?”
I didn’t like the way that sounded, but I couldn’t deny the truth in it. “It’s more complicated than that,” I said, trying to keep the edge out of my voice. “But yes, in a sense, I’m in charge now.”
