“I remember.”
His lips twitch, and I wonder how much of my hatred is showing through my eyes right now.“Now I’m offering you something even better.The kingdom itself.The legacy.True leadership of the entire family.”
I almost choke on the eggs I’ve just put in my mouth.
“What?”I gasp.
Because that doesn’t make any sense.My father has always hated me.Hell, he’s tried to kill me more than once.He sold me into the trafficking ring and once I escaped, captured me again.I have no doubt he’ll sell me again if the opportunity arises, and probably be happy to see the end of me.I’m the thorn in his side, the slice in the sole of his foot.The child he’s never been able to control.
Why the hell would he hand the family reins over to me?
Where the fuck is my brother, and why isn’thethe one getting this offer?
Dom’s smile tells me he knows exactly what’s going through my mind right now, and the urge to stab him grows inside my chest.But I can’t do anything.Not until I have Lucien.
Not until I’ve saved the girls my father is holding captive.
“All the power in the world,” he continues.“I’ll make you head of the entire family.You’ve always liked to be on top, isn’t that right?”
He gives me a sly, eyebrows-lifted look that tells me exactly what he’s referring to.Not a position of power, but a sexual position over a man.
I bite my tongue and refuse to rise to the bait, simply waiting for him to continue, partially because I still don’t understand what he’s offering me.
“I can see you’re surprised,” he says, chuckling.“You must be wondering why I would offer this to you rather than your brother.”
I take the gift at face value, and give him a neutral answer meant to get more information.“A male at the head of the family does make more sense.”
He leans further forward, his eyes intent and brutal.“And yet you’re more valuable to me than your brother could ever be, because you have better contacts.You’re more...useful.”
He gives me a quick, very sharp grin and then rises from the table, moving away from it so quickly that I barely have time to gasp before he’s exited the room, leaving nothing but the scent of his cologne behind.
That and a number of questions.
What the fuck does he mean, putting me in charge?In charge of what?For how long?And what contacts could I possibly have?I haven’t been in New Orleans in five years, and the contacts I have here are long dead.Camille, but she hardly counts.Kate Fontenot, whose mother is just a madame.She’s not mafia.My brother.
And Lucien.
My mind goes through some very quick gymnastics at that point, and I nearly bite my own tongue off.
Lucien.He’s the one contact I have that my brother doesn’t.
Lucien, who’s a member of the richest house in New Orleans.The house that has never liked my father and who my father desperately wants an alliance with.A house of weapons and gambling dens, money and drugs.
Keepers of the tunnels under the city.
The Boudreaux.
The weight on my heart grows a hundred times heavier at the thought, and I glance again to the doorway on my left.My father is asking me to become head of this family–or at least primary heir–and though I don’t know his reasoning, I’m beginning to guess.I want to get to my feet and run for my life.Get out of here before he can stab me in the back or sell me again.
And I can’t do it, because I don’t know where Lucien is or if he’s safe.
I can’t do it because I will never in a million years leave if it means deserting the man I love.I’ll sell my soul again and again if it means saving him.
Though I don’t know how long Dom Landry means to keep me alive, and that might become an issue.
Brooks
“You’ll be going to the warehouse with your father tonight,” Andre says as he shoves me through the door of my old bedroom.“So I suggest you rest and prepare yourself.”
