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I don’t return this gaze.
I told Evander the truth because Evander lives in Chicago and doesn’t touch my social world. He’s a neutral third party—and I knew he wouldn’t judge me.
Carmine’s different.
He’s a gangster like Evander with a very flexible idea of morality, but he’s been different ever since he met Brice. Family matters more to him now and I know it’ll piss him off if I tell him the truth, or maybe that’s just me projecting my own feelings, but either way I can’t bring myself to say it.
“I have my reasons,” I mumble, and both Brice and Carmine stare at me like I’ve gone insane. “Private fucking reasons.”
“Since when did you have privateanything?” Carmine asks, looking honestly stunned. “Ford Arc is… private? I’m talking to the guy that proudly brags about how many women he’s slept with, right?”
“Last I heard, he was well over—” Brice starts but I cut her off.
“Things are complicated, all right? Grandpop’s health isn’t perfect.”
They both go silent. They know what Grandpop means to me—he’s the head of my family, the man I look up to, practically my real father.
Even if Grandpop’s asking me to do something to Kat that doesn’t sit well, I still love him.
I still look up to him.
And the thought of losing him—
Well, I can’t go there right now.
I clear my throat and sit up straight.
“Kat and I are good, all right? Shit’s complicated but we’re figuring it out.”
“Here’s to shit being complicated then,” Carmine says as a toast.
I drink, feeling a sour pit in my belly. I hate this, hate hiding things from my friends, hate knowing what I’m going to be forced to do to Kat even though I’ve been actively avoiding it. Grandpop’s pressure campaign hasn’t eased up at all and if I don’t deliver something soon, he’s going to give up on me entirely.
And I don’t know where that’ll leave me.
“Well, hello there, Ford,” a voice says and I turn.
My cousin Riley’s standing with his wife, Janice, a willowy blonde woman that looks like she’s going to fall over any second. I turn to them and stand and shake Riley’s hand, and something feels wrong in my gut. It’s the way Riley’s looking at me with that smug grin—like he knows something.
“Riley, Janice,” I say. “Funny running into you two.”
“We’ve been coming to the Oak a lot more these last couple of weeks,” Riley says and beams at me. “I figured, with everything going on, I should start to put myself out there again, you know? Make society contacts and all that.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” I say very slowly.
Riley looks confused. “Well, with you and your new fiancée—”
“Katherine,” I say quickly.
“Right, Katherine.” Riley glances at Janice like he can’t think of what to say next.
“Your grandfather has been speaking with Riley ever since you decided to enter in your littleengagementto a Stockton girl,” Janice says, her chin tilted upward like she wants to use that pointy chin as a javelin. “He’s beengroomingRiley ever since.You know, for when he passes over control. Considering we now have a baby on the way—” She puts a hand on her belly and the smile on her face is the vilest thing I’ve seen in my life. It’s the most punchable grin I’ve ever seen on a pregnant woman.
I have to bite back a nasty retort and take a slow breath. They’re fucking with me—they have to be fucking with me—this is another way for Riley to try to make me screw up. If I cause a scene and shout my cousin down or threaten him in front of his pregnant wife, it’ll be a good excuse to make Grandpop turn against me.
But a kernel of something rings true.
Grandpop’s been talking to him about taking over my position for the last fewweeks. Ever since Istartedthings with Kat.
