Theydidn’tbelieveme;I could see it on their faces. Syris’ eyebrows were drawn together, Easton narrowed his eyes on me, and Manic didn’t even look at me. His glare bounced between all the guys like this was their fault.
I tried to not pay attention to them as I stared back at my dad. His face devoid of emotion as he sat back, hands folded in front of his face as he studied me for a few seconds. I stood my ground, knowing if he got a hint of weakness, he would exploit it. That’s just what he did.
“Rayla. You know that we have not heard of any sighting of the Devils since they left over twenty years ago. You only met him once as a small, scared boy. Why do you think that you saw Lex?” I could tell his curiosity was taking over his doubt.
I told him with complete confidence as I stared at him, “I just knew. Not only did he look like a bigger version of that boy I knew, but he knew me, too.” I didn’t want to tell him I felt a connection to Lex, something that was always there and made me believe he was still alive. I didn’t want to tell him what he said; I felt like that would make the situation messier than it already was.
My dad took a deep breath. “Rayla—”
“I want to go find him,” I blurted out. His back straightened, and his whole body turned ridged.
“Rayla, we need to really focus on this drug issue. Carve out the rot and get rid of it before it grows.” His mouth pinched as he looked serious for once, but I was not giving up. I knew it was the right thing.
“Dad, I really think that we need to find Lex and bring him back into the fold. We can take care of the search—”
“If you really saw Lex, and he chose not to come here with you, then we must respect his decision.” The other bosses looked away.
“What if he wasn’t able to until now? What if he finally found his way back? We don’t know what happened.” I tried to get him to understand without telling him he told me he would see me soon. Him coming to me meant he wanted to be a part of the Syndicate, right? I needed them to see it wasn’t a black-and-white situation.
He cleared his throat then looked down at his desk before facing me again, and his eyes filled with regret as he pleaded with me. “We need to focus our efforts on the new threat. Then, maybe, after we have extinguished this person from existence, we can revisit—”
As soon as he opened his mouth, I knew he was going to disagree with me. Did he not believe me? Did he think I made it all up? Or did he really not care about Lex? My chest burned as I panted for breath.1I interrupted his little speech as I took my nail and slowly sliced my forearm. My muscles clenched as I drilled my gaze into my dad. I was not giving up. I knew I was right, and he needed to be brought into the fold. He was one of the five families, and even if my dad forgot, I didn’t. The Syndicate never leaves one of its own behind.
Everyone turned to me, some gasped my name, some had wide eyes. I saw Falcon from the corner of my eye step toward me, but I wasn’t having any of that. I rushed forward, focused on my dad, whose eyes narrowed on my arm.
I wiped my right hand into the blood before my cut closed, then stamped it right in front of my dad on his desk. I glared at him as I bit out, “I challenge you for it.” My hand lifted slowly, the dripping crimson handprint on display before him, red marks on all his papers as he slowly peered down.
Keeping his eyes locked on the bloody handprint, he said, “Are you sure, Rayla? I won’t go easy on you.”
“What the fuck is happening?” Ax rumbled out, just like his dad, and I almost smiled when someone shushed him.
I stood tall and proud, my lips in an unusually thin line as I glared down at him and spoke deep and slow, “I wouldn’t want you to.” With my glare locked on my dad, I lifted my hands to the others in the room. “We already have our witnesses.”
His chair screeched as he stood to stare into my eyes, showing me he would not back down. “Great. Let’s head to the training hall.”
My upper lip curled up in an ugly snarl. “Lead the way.”
He nodded, neither of us paying any real attention to anyone in the room. My dad taught me to never take your eyes off the enemy, which meant he was the one I needed to focus on. Seems he had the same thought process as he called out without taking his eyes off me, “Rick. Cosmo. Make sure to get the bagged blood from the kitchen readily available. I have a feeling this time will be quite messy as it looks like we both have something to prove.”
A couple “yes, sirs” rang out, and the door opened. My dad held his hand out. “After you, my dear.”
I quickly clapped back, “Age before beauty.”
“Oh, shit, they are serious,” Syris said in shock as my dad turned and walked out with me following closely behind.
My dad tipped his head back. “We will need you all to follow us, as this will determine howweas the Syndicate will move forward on this issue.”
The shuffling of feet sounded as they followed us out of his office, down the stairs, and around the corner to head down the hallway where some of our men’s rooms were.
Cosmo opened the side door into the hallway from the kitchen, and Rick pushed a shiny metal cooler cart through. All he needed was a uniform and he would fit right in with the employees at the hotels. I bit the inside of my lip to make sure I didn’t smile or make a joke. It would ruin the mood, and I needed to be ready for this. I needed to win this.
We passed rows and rows of doors in a hushed silence, the rolling of the wheels on the cart was like the ticking of a bomb, counting down as we got closer to the double doors at the end of the hallway.
My dad put his hand on the door, and I stepped up beside him, my hand on the other door when he whispered, “Are you sure? Once we go past this door, there’s no going back?”
I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I pushed forward. “It was already set in stone as soon as I cut my arm. Don’t try to patronize me with your bullshit. As soon as we pass through this door, we’re not father and daughter, we’re the two heads of the Desmond family. They are only here to witness and see how you and I solve our disputes with each other.” I walked in with my head held high, meaning every word I just spoke.
“Then, let’s begin, Boss Rayla.” My dad’s voice was hard and cold, telling me he would take this seriously.Good.I didn’t want him to have the excuse that he held back when I won.
