“Someone with the Morrils has been trying to dig up dirt on Sarah for a hit piece,” he said. “You know how you’ve said you’ve been trying to build her up so that the fall is that much greater? Well, I guess someone in that family thinks you’re taking too long. They’re digging around to family friends, associates, asking questions. They want to expose Sarah as the one who killed Virgil.”
“What?”
The sole word I uttered barely matched the anger that I felt. I could have smashed my phone in my hand, I felt so fucking angry. I swore, if it was Leo Morril, I would break his fucking neck with my bare hands. Jail? Bad press? I didn’t give a fuck. I could lose all my money, my entire empire, and it would not matter if someone in the Morril family hurt Sarah.
She was mine, mine alone, and no one else’s. I might have wanted to break her at some point, but no longer desiring to do so was not suddenly permission for someone else to step in and take the reins. Most especially the fucking Morril family.
Fuck!
“I’m certain of it, Cassius,” Dante said. “They know you’re associated with her publicly. It doesn’t matter what happened a couple days ago. The truth takes far longer to emerge than rumors, especially salacious ones. They can score a double whammy—they can hurt you by hurting her and by having you associated with her.”
Fucking hell!
I stormed out of the cemetery before I did something sacrilegious. Fuck, I was so fucking furious. I probably scuffed my shoes along the way, I didn’t give a fuck. Shoes could be replaced, even shoes costing several thousand dollars. Sarah’s reputation? Sarah’s livelihood? Our reputation?
Those were priceless.
But it went beyond reputation. Reputation was simply the reflection in the mirror of the real person, at times distorted, at times accurate, but never the real person themselves. What the Morrils were doing… if they wanted to fuck over one of us, if they wanted to fight us in a boxing ring or a dark alley, so fucking be it. But to drag Sarah into this game?
A thought flashed into my mind to call in the Reapers. Have them vandalize the Morrils’ off-Strip property. Have them senda warning to the family. They wouldn’t have to kill anyone. They wouldn’t even have to kill any animals. Just do some fucking drive-bys, some fucking property crime, let them know they were stepping into territory they had no business being in.
But no.
One, Prince and Crush had been pretty fucking clear. They were not getting involved. That was their choice, and no amount of money or influence would change their minds.
Two, there was no use in having the lesson I needed to stop getting involved if I didn’t then follow through on that lesson. This was my chance to take matters into my own hands; could I be smart about it?
“Have you done anything so far, Dante?”
“No,” he said. “I wanted to run this by you first. Adrian, Lucas, and I won’t be affected by this, outside of being asked for comment we’ll ignore. But you’re the one most ensnared in this, Cassius. We want?—”
“I will take it from here,” I said. That sounded nice. I took in a breath. I had brothers who would help me. Why decline that? “Whoever they are talking to, Dante, get them on our side. Whatever tabloid or media outlet they’re using?—”
“That’s Adrian’s world, but I don’t think that’s worth pursuing,” Dante said. “He’s right beside me.”
“The harder you try to squash something in media, the bigger its exposure,” Adrian said. “I’m not saying let it release. But honestly, Cassius, if this came out tonight, and we said nothing, no one would remember in a week.”
That was true on a general public level, but it was not true on a more specific level. I would never forget whatever was said. Sarah would never forget what was said. Those closest to her would forever associate her with the article. Jane in Reno might not remember, but no one in our circle gave a shit about Jane in Reno.
This was targeted character assassination, and I would have none of it.
“Do what you can to work your influence with whomever they’re talking to,” I said. “I have a phone call to make.”
I didn’t even say goodbye before I hung up. I was already dialing Sarah’s number before I took my next breath. If I couldn’t stop this—Iwouldstop this, but just in case something fucking crazy happened—Sarah had a right to know what was coming.
“Cassius,” she answered.
Her voice was cold and flat; there was maybe a hint of surprise in her voice, but nothing about her sounded eager to hear me. That was tough to swallow but understandable. I had told her I was keeping the Reapers in my life on the plane, and she’d heard nothing to suggest otherwise. Actually, if anything, whatever she would have heard since would be reinforcing that.
“I need you to listen to me carefully, Sarah,” I said, using the hardest tone I could. “The Morril family is planning a hit piece on you. I don’t know if anyone’s tried to contact you, but they’re using you to hurt me and my business. I will go on record to help, but?—”
“Do whatever you want, Cassius.”
The bluntness, the lack of emotion. Oh, that fucking stung.
“I am moving on,” she said. “I’m packing up my things and going back to Phoenix as we speak. I’ve already accepted the step down in my career as a result. If anything happens, it’s for you to clean up.”
“I’m trying to help you!” I said. “Fuck, Sarah, don’t you get it? They want to ruin your name, your image, and drag me down in the process. They know if they can’t come at me directly, they’ll come after you.”
