Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 434(@200wpm)___ 347(@250wpm)___ 289(@300wpm)
A mystery to deal with later.
It takes Cohen and his group twenty minutes to hit every business on the street. People come out in ones and twos. I have files on all of them. The Rodriguez family who run the textile businesses. The Smiths, owners of the market and two of the restaurants, each run by one of the Smith siblings. The Phan family, clustered around their patriarch, Chinh. They handle weddings, funerals, and everything in between. All of them have been here for generations, since well before my grandfather’s time.
Not everyone shows up, but I don’t expect them to. These families will take the news back to the others, and Old Town will decide whether it wants to dig in its heels or roll with the new wave of things.
I wait another minute, giving them time to settle. When I speak, I very intentionally don’t lift my voice, though I project it to everyone here. “You know me. You know why I’m back. I’ve won this faction by the laws of Lammas, and I fully intend to reclaim my rightful role. I have no interest in fucking with you. Tithes won’t change. My people will ensure that everyone behaves and no one bothers you.”
Chinh moves forward. He’s a short Vietnamese man with a shock of white hair and a lifetime’s worth of laugh lines on his face. He looks like a kindly grandpa—he used to slip peppermint candy to me and my brothers when we were kids—but underestimating him would be a mistake. He has influence with more than just his family here; he’s arguably as powerful as Eli was before I took his seat.
Chinh eyes me. “Your father made promises, too. Things didn’t turn out the way he said they would.”
I don’t bristle at his implications. I knew what I’d be pushing against when we came back. My father was a hard man, and he only got harder as time went on. I’ve made my peace with the fact that everyone in Sabine Valley will look at me and see the shadow of the monster he used to be. It will take time to prove them wrong, but I’m not above using their caution against them. I hold Chinh’s gaze. “I am not my father.”
He studies me for a long moment before he glances at Harlow and Eli at my side. “No, I suppose you aren’t.” He takes a whistling breath. “We’ll discuss it. You’ll have your answer within two days.”
It’s not what I want to hear, but I know better than to push my luck. Old Town doesn’t bend for anyone, and they’re determined to put me in my place before they roll over. Not quite a toothless threat, but I can afford to sit on my hands for two days if it smooths the way to the next step. I nod. “I look forward to hearing from you.”
Chinh nods and turns. The small crowd parts around him as he walks away, his family falling in behind him. People disperse quickly after that. He’s their voice, for better or worse, which means they’ll be rushing to hold a meeting and discuss their options.
They don’t have any, but better for them to figure that out for themselves than for me to shove the knowledge down their throat. I glance at my brother, and he nods at my silent question. Finnegan’s already done his thing and we have ears in the Phan building. We’ll hear every word they say and be prepared if they decide to fuck with us. Good. “That’s that.” I push to my feet and brush off my pants. “Let’s go.”
Harlow starts to life next to me. “That’s it?”
“Yeah.” I nudge her with my shoulder, enjoying the surprise she’s not quite able to cover up. “Did you think I’d threaten and snarl and maybe beat up a few people?”
“Can you blame me?” she murmurs. “You like to threaten.”
“Each situation calls for its own unique approach.” I look at Eli. “Nothing to say?”
He shrugs. “You’ve learned how to be subtle in the last eight years. I’m still processing.”
Asshole. I raise my brows. “Walk and process at the same time. We’re done here.”
We head back to the SUV. Cohen motions for us to stop a reasonable distance away and nods at Maddox. We all watch the blond stalk the SUV and start going over it. Eli snorts. “You think someone planted a bomb? Really?”
“It’s what I’d do if I wanted to make sure someone went down and stayed down.” Having Eli and Harlow with me means it’s less likely to happen, but there might be people in the faction willing to sacrifice both of them to ensure a Paine doesn’t sit on the throne again. Eli’s father wasn’t my family’s only enemy; he didn’t pull off that coup alone. No doubt his allies aren’t happy to see us show back up again.