Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“How mad is he?”
“Livid. I haven’t seen him like this in a very long time.” Carson’s eyes dart to the study doors. “I wouldn’t go in if I were you.”
“I have to. Listen, Dara’s outside in the car. Can you keep an eye on her for me?”
Carson hesitates. “I don’t know—”
“I love the girl, okay?” I grab him by the shoulder and pull him close. “I love her, Carson, and I’m not letting her go.”
He must see how much I mean it in my eyes. I glare at him, not willing to let go until he says he’ll make sure Dara’s safe while I deal with this. Eventually, he nods.
“All right,” he says with a deep sigh. “I’ll check on her.”
“Thank you.” I release him. “This was never my plan. I tried to fix things, but the McLarens were never going to let me.”
“I know, bro,” Carson says, shaking his head. “But it still happened.”
He walks off. I take a moment to compose myself before shoving my way into the study.
Chapter 39
Finn
Fathers stares at me from behind his desk. An empty whiskey glass sits at his elbow; his shirt’s open at the throat and his sleeves are rolled to his elbow. His hair’s in disarray from anxiously pulling at it, a gesture that used to scare the hell out of me as a kid. Whenever Dad was combing his fingers through his hair over and over, that meant I was going to get hit. Sometimes with a belt, sometimes with his fist. Always until I bled.
I stand in front of his desk. He doesn’t say a word, only tilts his head to the side as he takes a cigarette from his desk and lights it. Smoke blooms around him as he sits back. “I quit this shit ten years ago,” he rasps, taking another drag. “And I still think about having a smoke every day.”
“Why do you have a pack if you quit?”
“I made Mickey give me his.” He gestures in the air. Mickey’s one of the guards. “I didn’t think I’d actually smoke them until you showed up. Now I can’t help myself. Might as well get fucking cancer, considering the kind of sons I have.”
“They lied to me,” I say, keeping my back straight. I won’t let him bait me into anger.
My father has a presence. It’s like he can suck the light from a room with a gesture. I’ve heard the soldiers describe him as a monster behind his back, not because of his temper, but because of the way he draws every eye nearby and effortlessly directs the emotional tenor of a room. I’ve seen him whip a group into a frenzy and terrify hardened criminals with nothing more than his voice. I’ve seen him silence powerful businessmen with only a shake of his head.
Now he turns all that weight onto me.
But this is my father. I’ve been dealing with his disappointment for years now, and I won’t let him break me.
“You should have done better,” he says, exhaling more smoke.
“I had a deal with McLaren. I gave him everything he wanted, and in exchange, he was supposed to forgive me. Now he’s saying that never included the vote.”
“Did it?” Dad asks, glaring. “Did it include the vote?”
I work my jaw. “It was implied.”
“God damn it, Finn.”
“I can fix this. Give me time to come up with a solution. At the very least, I’m going to make that Clive piece of shit suffer for humiliating the family. Give me time.”
“For you to do what? Start a street war with a politically connected man? You going to break into his house and cut his throat? You gonna kill his daughter?”
“Yes,” I say and mean it.
“Then you’re stupider than I thought. You know why I wanted to work with McLaren?” Dad leans forward, stubbing out the cigarette. “Because McLaren’s got friends. I can’t just take what he has because there are people loyal to him for some fucking reason. I needed his fucking help, and you know how I feel about needing anyone but myself.”
“I can fix this,” I repeat.
“There’s no fixing anything.” Dad stands, leaning forward on his hands. “That wife of yours is finished. I want her out of this family. File for divorce, send her somewhere else, and make sure she never speaks a word about our organization ever again. Unless she disappears, I will make sure she’s dead before she ever pushes that fucking baby from her poisoned body.”
My hands shake with rage. “Don’t talk about my wife and my child that way.”
“You’re lucky I’m not killing you both on the spot,” Dad snarls at me, pointing a finger toward my face. “You are on probation. All decisions will be run through me for the foreseeable future. Your crew is mine now, Finn, because I can’t trust you to make the right call. You fucked up, and now you’re done.”