PROLOGUE
Chicago
Five years ago . . .
His father was a dead man.
It was only a matter of time. With the lifestyle that bastard led it wouldn’t take long before he pickled his liver.
Or was murdered.
But as he looked at the extremely young, scared woman sitting across from him at the dining table, Jared felt like grabbing the steak knife off the table and stabbing it into his father’s fat, fucking throat himself.
Fuck, he wished North was here.
But his father didn’t believe in letting “the help” sit at the dining table. There was a definite divide in this household between “the help” and “the family.”
Jared longed to tell his father just what North meant to him . . . but he knew that would only put a target on North’s back.
North thought he could take care of himself.
However, Jared’s father was a fucking monster.
And Jared knew that he’d use anyone he loved against him. It was why he had to act like he didn’t care about his cousin, Tabby, while doing his best to keep her safe.
And why he couldn’t show that he was concerned about the young woman across from him.
The girl who his father had apparently fucking married.
Jared tightened his hand around his fork, then slowly eased his hold.
Do not show any reaction.
Do not show that you care.
The urge to murder him was almost too much for him to control. And while his father deserved to die, Jared wasn’t quite in a position to make that happen.
He was building up his own empire, without the old man’s knowledge, down in Colombia. His own team of men that worked for him because they wanted to.
Not out of fear.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t openly murder the bastard. Not without making too many waves in the family.
North had offered to sneak into his bedroom and slit his throat. But there was too much risk.
However, he needed to move up his timeline.
“Well?” Fergus said as he stabbed a piece of steak. “Don’t you have anything to say to your new stepmother?” He chortled after saying that.
As though everything was a big joke.
The girl flinched.
She looked hungry, haunted.
On her plate was a tiny serving of food. Some plain mashed potatoes and a few beans.
He didn’t blame her for not wanting to eat but that wasn’t enough.
