“We make a deal. They leave. Simple,” I say this as an explanation for her.
She slowly lifts her head and looks up at me, fear evident in her green eyes and I hate the sight of it. Taylor Heorte is a fearless bitch who fears no one, not even me. “Okay,” she says quietly.
“What the fuck does this cunt have over you?” Zav says in an even tone, but the force behind the words is enough to have grown men cowering. That’s the thing with my son, he may not speak often but when he does everyone listens.
She drops her chin to her chest and pushes her tongue into her cheek. “I can’t tell you.”
“If I’m about to put my entire brotherhood at risk here, I need to know.” I’m talking to her as the president now, not her stepfather.
“I ran the books for Hunter’s family.” I reel back into my chair and stare at her dumbfounded. Trent and Zavier are looking at her with betrayal.
“Look who is a fucking hyprocrite!” Trent hisses, making her flinch.
“I didn’t know what I was doing!” she defends.
“Explain it now before they fucking get here and blindside us, Taylor!” Zavier clips out in a tone laced with ice.
“I thought I was just doing admin. It was the first job I got when I left. I had no idea that I was cooking the books and funneling money into shell companies and the owners weren’t real people. I saw the birth certificates, drivers licences and social security numbers. It all looked legit. I swear, I didn’t know. You have to believe me!” she begs.
“How did you find out? How did you even get involved with them?” I ask.
“It was the night I showed up here. I worked for Hunter. We started hanging out and then began dating. One night I worked late and Ford came to see me, he was the accounts guy. When he saw what I was putting into the spreadsheets he said he had never heard of those places before. I told him he was crazy because Hunter sent all the files to him after he double checked my work. I told Hunter about what happened and he just brushed me off and said Ford was losing it. I let the matter go and didn’t think of it again until a few weeks later. We went out to dinner and on the way home he pulled over and told me to wait in the car. He was acting weird so I shadowed him. That’swhen I saw him down the alley with Ford and I saw him… shoot him right in the head.”
“No blow back on him or his family if she got caught,” Zav says. I nod my agreement.
“What does that mean?” she asks.
“It means you were an idiot,” Trent hisses, earning a scowl from me.
“I can bet that half those accounts are under your name and you just don’t know it.” Her face falls.
“I would never do that.”
I nod. “I know. The thing is now this isn’t just about a murder, they are going to want something else,” I say.
“Like what?” she presses.
“A solution oryou,” Zav adds, making her eyes widen in terror. She opens her mouth to speak, but snaps it closed when he pushes off the wall and comes to stand in front of her, forcing her to crane her head back in order to maintain eye contact. “He’ll get one of those things but never the fucking other. You fucked up and put our family in a shitty situation.” She cringes in regret. “But, we will never turn our backs on you, no matter what. The Frondozo’s may think they run shit but they don’t. The Broken Cupid Brotherhood is filled with brothers with scars, but this brotherhood will heal after the fight that is about to go down because we protect our own.”
Taylor is sitting on the sofa with Trent and Zavier on either side of her. Tiny is posted in the back corner of my officewith Tank on the other side for extra protection, not for us but for her.
“You keep your head up and never look down. Do not fucking cower or appear scared, am I clear?” Trent says, pulling her focus to him.
“Promise to have my back?” A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. She used to say that same thing to him when they were younger.
“Back and front.” His answer has her smiling and some of the tension draining out of her just as the office door opens. My prospect Kurt steps aside to allow our guests in. I recognize them all instantly.
Monte Frondozo—the Don of the family enters first, followed by his brother, Vegah Frondozo. If the rumors are true, Vegah is the younger brother but he was the one meant to lead the family but refused. He’s a dark motherfucker and I know just from looking at him that the stories about him being ruthless are true.
Following behind Vegah are Monte’s three sons: Courtney, who is the oldest, Vladimir, who is the middle child and then the final one is the little shit, Hunter. Pulling up the rear is Dimitri Dominico, Vegah’s best friend and right hand man. I stand from behind my desk and meet each of their stares except for Hunter, who is focused on Taylor. Both my boys are staring back at him with a dare in their eyes to try something and they’ll slaughter his ass.
The tension in the room is almost suffocating, having so many powerful men in one room isn’t common. Meetings like this are rare and only tend to happen when it involves their immediate family.
“Victor Valentine, we finally have the pleasure of meeting,” Monte says and extends his hand. I place mine in his and shake it firmly. It looks like a friendly gesture but I’ve been in this game too fucking long, this is his way of measuring me up and testingmy strength. He’s the first to pull free, making me the victor of this silent battle. I motion for him to take a seat. He does and nods for Vegah to claim the vacant one beside him, leaving Hunter, Dimitri, Courtney and Vladimir standing behind them. Vlad stands to the side with Dimitri, not wanting his back to the others which has me fighting not to smirk.
Clever boys.
“I want what is mine,” Hunter snarls as he looks over at Taylor. Pride swims inside me when my girl meets his look and doesn’t cower beneath the pressure.
