“Do you want to stay for lunch?” he asks.
My daughter glances at me.
“I’d love it if you could stay for lunch,” I say. “I hardly ever get to see you, but the tension at the mansion makes me think you’d be better off away from here.”
“Does that mean you’re okay with me going on the cruise?” Chi-chi asks.
I glare at Declan, who smirks. He engineered this meeting and the outcome he wanted. He knew I would protest the cruise,so he brought up lunch, hoping I would push back, and I did. Now I can’t say I don’t want my daughter away on a cruise he sent her on without asking me.
This is a very dangerous man. He’s deceptively pretty, deceptively calm and easygoing.
Nathalie comes back to the table. She’s soaking wet, and since she’s wearing a white shirt, her hard nipples stick out.
“Towels are in the closet by the door,” Declan says. “See yourself out.”
“Asshole,” she says as she storms past us.
Chi-chi gets up. “I’m going to head out with Nathalie. I need to tell her to pack her shit and move out of my apartment before I go on my cruise. Thanks for the tickets.”
“Welcome. I would consider it a personal favor,” Declan says, “if you took your grandpa with you.”
“My dad?” I ask.
Declan nods.
“A personal favor, you say?” Chi-chi rests her hands on the table.
“Mmhm,” Declan answers.
“I want a favor too. Have the cops drop all charges against her and leave my mother alone. She’s been through enough with my dad. She doesn’t need a man complicating her life again.”
“The charges will be dropped.”
We wait for him to say more, but he stares at Chi-chi as if he’s all done with favors.
“Chi-chi!” Natalie screams from somewhere inside the house. “Are you coming or what?”
Chi-chi purses her lips. “I gotta go. More on this later.”
My daughter rushes after her girlfriend. I glare at Declan, who rubs the back of his neck. “I overstepped a little.”
“A little?” I stand up. “I’m off to dress. I’m upset you didn’t talk to me before dealing with my daughter. Don’t do it again.”
Chapter 21
This is dark
Declan
The three of us remained secured in the family quarters until the dust of Dina’s “release” settled and the cops replaced the detectives who worked on Dina’s case.
The new detectives are outsiders, meaning not Selnoan natives, which could work out either way for us, good or bad. I’m not sure yet. They’re arriving for a meeting tomorrow, and I’ll feel them out. I got good advice from my uncle Endo, namely a reminder that everyone has a price.
Even Ivan, who hasn’t responded to my dinner invitations. I invited him and his wife, thinking he’d accept if he knew he was safe with the women in attendance. But he’s ignored the invites (I sent three).
The new asset we placed in his ranks indicates that Ivan thinks his refusal will offend me. It would if I allowed my ego to run my life the way my father had. My killer instincts suppress my ego. I’m not offended. If anything, I’m amused.
But we can’t live within these walls forever. If the safety measures I’m imposing on us stretch for too long, meaning westay within our walls for another week, we risk appearing as if we’re afraid. The person who controls the city should also roam the city unafraid. You control nothing if you aren’t free.
