I turned and walked out.
Tommy followed behind me.
The restaurant lights flickered slightly as we stepped back into the hallway, the sound of construction echoing faintly in the distance.
My name going on everything.
And somewhere in the middle of all that?—
A war was building.
And it wasn’t just with Laurent.
$$$$$
That same night…
I was in my head on the drive from the restaurant to Marcel’s estate.
My mind was running through everything Laurent didn’t say.
Because that’s where the truth always lived.
In what a man avoids.
By the time I pulled up, the house was still.
That kind of quiet only came when death was already inside, waiting its turn.
I stepped out, took a deep breath, and walked in.
Truth be told, seeing Marcel on his deathbed was unsettling. I had known him to be the strongest man next to my father. Even after the stories, and him not taking care of his own list, I still respected him, and watching him die did something to me. But I kept those feelings to myself. He was leaving me a job, and I had to be strong enough to sit on the throne.
The staff barely looked at me. Everybody in his house already knew what time it was.
Marcel was dying.
And when he died…
Everything shifted to my rules.
His room smelled like medicine with machines humming low.
Oxygen being fed to him through a mask.
He was weak.
But not gone yet.
My mother wasn’t in the room.
Good.
This was a conversation I needed to have without her.
I walked in, stopping at the side of the bed.
Marcel’s eyes opened after a moment.
