One
Andre
“No,” I snap into the phone. “I will not be at that meeting. You can either talk to Vito or you can fuck off.”
Vito cocks an eyebrow, shaking he’s head at my words.
“Andre, if you do it this way, it could mean war. How are you going to fare if we go to war when you already won’t leave that fucking fortress you call a farm? You need to be smart about this.” King’s tone holds an edge of a threat.
My free hand balls into a fist as I lean back in my chair. “Kingston, please correct me if I seem to have misheard you here, but did you just fucking threaten to go to war? Do you really understand what it means when I tell you to fuck off? You will get nothing in or around this state—or any that border us. Do not mistake the fact that I don’t deem you worthy of leaving my home for meeting as me being fucking weak.”
King growls in frustration because the man knows that I am not joking when I tell him he will have a really hard time moving his shit if Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee are no longer options. I say nothing else, waiting for him to finally make the correct decision.
“Fine, Andre. You fucking win. I’ll meet with Vito to send the information,” King finally concedes.
Smirking, I reply, “I knew you were a smart man. We’ll be in touch.”
“One last thing,” King says as I go to hang up the phone.
“Not in the mood and damn sure do not have the time,” I growl.
“I understand, but this is not about business,” King’s voice holds a hint of something I can’t place.
“You have my attention,” I state flatly.
“My sister Tinsley seems to have run off, and we’re having a hard time locating her,” he starts, and now he has my full attention. “I’m putting out feelers with all the families to ask them to keep a watch out for her.”
“Can’t say that I’ve ever met your sister to know what we need to be on the lookout for, but if you send me the information, I’ll share it with my guys and get back if we find anything.”
“Appreciate any help I can get on this,” King snaps, his annoyance at my lack of care rubbing him wrong.
I hang up the phone, tossing it on my desk and sighing.
“That man really does fucking hate you,” Vito tosses out as he types away on his phone.
“Hate me or fucking not, I will not bend for anyone. They need this deal more than we do at this fucking point.” I stand getting ready to leave my office. “We’ve got the Irish from the north, our cousins from the south with their connections to the ports in Savanah, which means he needs us and not the other way around.”
Vito stands coming to my side as we make our way out of my office.
“You’re not wrong about that,” Vito agrees just as his phone rings in his pocket.
He answers the call, and I watch as the man I’ve known for more years than I can remember goes from cold as ice to slightly less icy, as he talks to Loretta. I turn to go to the kitchen, shaking my head. Just as I make it to the kitchen, I stop when the voice that haunts my every moment of every day and night hits me. I stand there and just listen to her talk, letting it warm my frozen heart.
“There is no way that Andre would do that,” Tinsley laughs freely.
“I’m telling you, girly, that he did! He and Vito were wild young men. Nothing Andre’s father did could get them to toe the line or follow orders. Now here we are many years later, and Andre and Vito are finally doing what they need to do. Still not towing the damn line but making it happen in the end,” The tone of Silas’ voice tells me he is getting lost down memory lane.
Silently, I make my way into the room and across it until I can lean close to Tinsley’s ear. “I wasn’t aware that I was paying you to sit around and gossip.”
Tinsley jumps, covering her mouth as a scream tries to escape her throat. She turns and glares at me over her shoulder while simultaneously Grandpa bursts out laughing. Standing to my full height, I smirk down at her shrugging.
“You're such an asshole,” she says just above a whisper as she turns back to her toast.
My smirk turns into a genuine smile at her boldness. I lean back down and softly sweep her hair off the back of her neck. “Asshole I may be, but I don’t remember that being what you called me the first time we met.”
She shivers as my breath skims across the shell of her ear. Tinsley looks at me over her shoulder once more with eyes cold enough to cut. “I chose to learn from my mistakes, not to repeat them.”
My smile is genuine, as it always is when we get into these sparring matches. “With a mouth like that, Santa’s going to put you on the naughty list.”
