I can’t help it; I burst out laughing. “Really,Dad. You missed your calling for Broadway. Your acting skills are spot on.” Then I cock my head to one side. “Except, in your effort to appear as if you know nothing, you’re far too calm. Surely, you’d be shocked to hear such news?”
“I am shocked, but I’m not sure I believe it, and I have no idea what you’re talking about, Cain. I hope you haven’t brought me all the way here to waste my time.”
God, the bastard. I’ve just told him that one of his men betrayed us, and even if he hadn’t instigated it, I don’t think he’d have cared. He’s a stone-cold sociopath.
“Not at all. I wanted to tell you something. Something important.” I hold his gaze.
“Get on with it, then. I really think this could all have been done over the phone.”
“I have to say that you’re taking one of your men’s betrayals really fucking well, Father. Aren’t you the man who says loyalty is paramount?”
My father’s jaw ticks. “I don’t have time for this. You said he did you wrong, and now he’s dead. You shot him, as you should have. Well done, son. I just don’t understand why I’m here when you could have told me all of this over the phone. Where are the rest of my men? I want them back home with me. If the Prophet is dead, the threat is gone, no?”
“I’ll be sure to pass on the order.” I try to keep my voice as calm as his. “You’re here for something much more important, as I said.”
One of his men shifts his weight from one foot to the other, and I have to fight not to check the positions of my men.
I can see Samuel growing more uncomfortable with each passing second. He can sense something is very wrong here but doesn’t yet know how to act. The armed men behind my father would normally know exactly how to act, except I am also my father’s eldest son, and rightful heir to his business. If I was any old person, I’d probably already be dead because my father would have ordered them to open fire.
“What is it, then? Spit it out.”
“I wanted to tell you in person that I’m going to marry Ophelia Sinclair.”
I watch my announcement get the reaction that the news of Felix’s death and betrayal didn’t. His eyes darken, his jaw clenches, and a muscle ticks beside his mouth.
“You will do no such thing.”
“Our families will be united. The Lockwoods and the Sinclairs. One big, happy family at last.”
Truthfully, I don’t want Ophelia’s father to be part of my family—especially not after what he did to Roman—but if having Ophelia in my life for good also means accepting her family, I’ll do it. And if it means destroying my father’s dreams for the future, I’ll do it with a smile.
“Over my dead body,” he snaps.
I shrug at that. “Tempting.”
“What the fuck are you doing, son?”
Red climbs up his throat, and I want to laugh at him, but I bite it back.
“Don’t call me son. Why do you hate the Sinclairs so much?”
He scoffs and shakes his head. “They are an insult to our way of life. They call themselves mafia, but they are weak. Too emotional to make the hard decisions, which is why they have achieved so little while I have gone on to rule cities.”
“Or perhaps they would have achieved more if it wasn’t for them grieving over their missing daughter for the past seven or so years.”
He gives a flick of his eyebrows. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting for the girl to find her way home again.”
“Wasn’t expecting it? Or hadn’t planned for it?”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, you planned the rest of it, didn’t you? You planned for Ophelia to be taken when she was only a child. You planned to hand her over to your friend, the Prophet. How did the two of you meet, huh?”
“What are you saying, Cain? This is ridiculous. You’re letting that girl twist your head around until you don’t know what way is up and what is down. You need to snap out of it.”
“We know someone set Ophelia up all those years ago, and, since Felix admitted to betraying us, it makes sense that you were the one to plan it.”
“Son—” he starts.
