“I found her,” I said simply as I ignored the migraine forming and kept one eye on the room. Most of the men present were of the blood, but that didn’t make us family. Abel, along with everyone else’s personal guard, waited outside but within shouting distance in case someone (me) decided on a whim to paint these dark walls red.
“Who?”
“My wife.”
“Shiiiiit,” Keefe croaked as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head in agitation.
It was possible we wouldn’t leave this room alive if my father somehow found out that I wasn’t just reluctant to marry his choice, but that I’d gone out of my way to find my own. The look Keefe and I shared expressed exactly what we both thought of my father’s trifling ass.
The only ones who weren’t apprehensive about the impromptu meeting were Tyrone and Evan. The latter wore asneer directed at me while the former seemed resigned to his entire day going to hell.
Tyrone was my father’scomhairleoir1.Other than my mother and me, no one else was closer to the Boss than he was. Tyrone liked to think of himself as important. Indispensable. In actuality, Tyrone was a wannabe politician, a sometimes lawyer, and a glorified secretary. He was also my mother’s younger brother, who sold her to my father in order to become made. Shitty-ass siblings were something Coby and my mother had in common.
Evan’s bitch ass was the only one of my cousins I didn’t trust because he believed he should be the next Boss instead of me. To keep me in line, my father let Evan’s dumb ass believe he could really choose him over me, but the truth is that Malcolm would rather slaughter our entire family and progenerate a whole new line than concede the throne to someone else’s seed. My father believed our empire was his right as a direct descendant of James, but that kind of thinking is exactly what could lead to a civil war within the Fola. Luckily, my father knew better than to make his feelings known. The Kilpatricks have been in power since the start, but the Balfour-Young and the Torrances were just itching for a reason to take it from us.
Finally, the door to the study opened, and we all stood in deference as my father entered the room. The largest of us all, he towered over everyone as he walked to the head of the table and took a seat. I sat on his right while Tyrone sat on his left.
On my side of the table were all of the caps secretly loyal to me. On Tyron’s side were all of the ones loyal to my father.
Every seat around the table was occupied, and yet my side was fuller.
It brought a grin that made the other shift nervously, especially when my father took notice.
“Something you want to share with the class, son?”
“They wouldn’t get it.”
“Then let us get on with business. Have you figured out who’s been raiding my dens, or have you been preoccupied with other matters?”
Dodging that obvious trap, I stated needlessly, “I’m your second in command. When am Inotpreoccupied?”
My father slammed his fist on the table and roared, “Answer the question!”
“Black is still in hiding, but I have people looking for him.”
“Those were not your directives. Michael Black is my concern, not yours.”
“You expect me to find the person hunting him with one hand tied behind my back?”
“I expect you to follow orders and set an example.”
This could have been an email, I thought with a sigh. Drumming my fingers on the arm of my chair, I looked around the table at all the heavy expressions before regarding my father again. “Is there a reason you called us all here today?”
Several people shifted nervously in their seats.
No one else would dare tell the Boss of the Fola to get to the fucking point.
My father sat back in his chair, caressing his beard as he studied me. I could see him weighing the words he wanted to say in his head. Even though he was Boss, he still had appearances to keep. He had to maintain the semblance of control even though it was slipping by the day.
And for now, I had to maintain the pretense of obedience.
“I’ve been informed by our accountant that a significant sum of money has seemingly vanished.” On cue, the door opened, and Angus stepped inside. It seems the amount of revenue reported does not match what we received.”Damn. I wasn’t expecting Roshaun’streachery to be discovered so soon. I was hoping for a few more weeks.“Luckily, we were ableto successfully trace these discrepancies back to one of your ventures. A nightclub called The Diamond Lounge.”
“Yeah, I know about that shit, and I’ve taken care of it.”
“What I want to know is how it escaped your notice for so long?”
“It didn’t. I was aware of what Perry was doing. Almost from the start.”
