“Besides, he didn’t want to lose another child.”
Anotherchild? I frown, but ignore it for the moment. “It was prison, not death.” The law doesn’t believe kidnapping your own children merits the death penalty, even if you do leave one of them to die in a fire.
“Yeah, well, maybe it would have been death—for her. Besides, he was in a vulnerable emotional state back then.” Harvey shrugs. “Swayed by her tears, you know how it is. Lucky for you, I’m not like my father. If I’d been in charge, I’d have made her pay.”
“Isn’t she yourbelovedsister?” I heard Vincent was furious with Mom, but eventually decided to protect her. Made some low-level sucker take the fall instead. That’s the Dunkels—blood is thicker than water.
“She was impolite to you and Josh. And almost killed Ares. Made your entire family unreasonable toward us.”
“Look, Harvey. You want to use us as pawns in your internal struggle, I get it. But frankly, I don’t give a shit who wins. None of us do.”
Harvey’s smile doesn’t falter, which is creepier than if he started yelling. “You think you’ll be better off if Zoe takes the reins? Twenty-two years, Bryce. She’s waited and prepared for twenty-two years to retake what she thinks is hers. You, Ares, Josh. Prescott.” He adds Dad to the list. “And, of course, thefamily business.”
“In Nesovia?” I snort a laugh. The country is so medieval in its attitude toward women, they can’t even control their own money before the age of thirty without being married. Most Nesovian men would fornicate with a dog before taking orders from a woman.
Harvey waves the point away and purses his mouth. “Father’s ill. Doesn’t have much time left. The only thing he wants is to see you and your brothers and shower you with all the love he couldn’t before.”
“I’m thirty now. It’s too late.”
“Is it? When a man faces his mortality, he doesn’t believe anything’s too late. He told me and Zoe whoever could give him the ‘complete family’ he wants will inherit the business.” His eyes burn with anger and resentment at being denied what he’s believed would be his all his life. “I want to bring you and your brother into the family fold, and have Ares join the business in an advisory role.”
“Is that what you call drugging him and trying to force him to sign a contract?”
He waves the hand again. “Just a little drink to help him relax and think better. No harm in it. Besides, why are you upset with me? Zoe does the same thing.”
I narrow my eyes. Is he trying to direct my wrath toward Mom? Hoping I’ll side with him in an “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” kind of thing?
He continues, “She’s the one who only sees you as a means to an end. She wants to use you to move Father to tears and have him give her the business.”
Can’t imagine Vincent in tears, even though my memory of him is vague. I saw him a few times when I was little. He was always a bit too stern and controlled, handing out lollipops with a dark frown on his face when he ran out of things to say to us.
“Being near death makes one sentimental. Father has gotten emotional lately. Won’t even let us battle it out—winner take all. Tragic. It would’ve been quicker and cleaner.”
Indeed. It would’ve been great if Mom and Harvey hacked each other to death.
“Even more tragic,” Harvey says, studying his coffee, “is that your family won’t hire an expert to permanently take care of Zoe.”
Does he seriously think we’d hire a hit man? “We aren’t like you.”
“Sure, I get that. And Father respects it. He admires your loyalty to your family. Wants us to learn from it. You wouldn’t believe how fast his attitude changed when he found out Lareina married Ares. Before, he considered her a potential tool to extract money from the Hayworth fortune. Now… He’d murder us if we touched his precious granddaughter-in-law. Guess things changed when she became family.” Harvey shrugs, then focuses on me again. “Help me out here, Bryce. Come to Nesovia with me, meet Father, tell him how much you miss him, and how I convinced you to give the relationship a chance.”
“Why should I?”
“Because your hatred for Zoe is personal. You wouldn’t hate me if I wasn’t related to your mother.”
“If we weren’t related, I wouldn’t even know you existed.”
“Don’t be rude. I’m giving you a chance to protect yourself and the people around you. You think just because Zoe and I can’t kill each other, we’re going to play nice? That’s not how it works. And Father never said anything about collateral damage.” He pulls a finger across his neck.
Is he threatening to kill other members of the family? Or is he warning me that Mom will?
He continues in the same even tone. “Since I’m a civilized man, I showed my familial affection by whacking the groom’s other knee after you kicked him and took his bride. A stand-up move, by the way. A real man always takes what he wants. Father was proud. You’re a true Dunkel.”
“I didn’t do it for Vincent.”
“Doesn’t matter why you did it. Father admires you for it, whichdoesmatter.” Harvey shrugs. “Unfortunately, your mother doesn’t believe in being civilized. You probably already know she drugged you last night. She wants to breed one of her young, nubile sycophants with you. After all, infants are much more malleable than a trio of adult offspring with minds of their own, and no old man can stay stonehearted when he’s presented with a girl who’s pregnant with his first great-grandchild.”
For fuck’s sake.The entire plot is sociopathic, but also very much Mom.
