“Essentially, though I would like to suggest one more change, and this will be the hardest of them all.” I look to Lio and soften my voice as I say, “I would like to put Benjamin’s status as a Voice up to a vote.”
He shakes his head. “No need. I spoke to Benjamin yesterday, and…he stepped down as my Second.” Pain crosses his features and my heart goes out to him, but this is the best choice. “He…he admitted that he let the position go to his head, and it almost ruined who we are to each other. That, paired with other things, have changed him almost on an unrecognizable level.” Lio sucks in a deep breath. “Which is why I propose we have him punished. He…hurt me, deeply. It’s not just personal,though. He failed to do his duty, and I don’t want to believe it, but…if it wasn’t for Jude and Keegan, the outcome of many things might have been different. He did not do the job he was supposed to, and that type of recklessness is unacceptable.”
“I agree,” I say softly. “There’s one problem with that, though. Tennant will never allow it. When we had that first meeting at the Martelli Mansion…on the way home, Tennant fought with Cristian about Benjamin. Ten wanted to ask Allesandro’s permission to take any of Benjamin’s future punishments. Whether he meant he wanted to be punished in Benjamin’s place, or he wanted to be the one doling out the punishments, I’m not sure.”
“Ten won’t be a problem,” Lio reassures us.
“He won’t,” Roman agrees. “He loves Benjamin, but…Tennant also isn’t stupid. If the only way to punish him is to use Ten…well, I’m not above that.”
I huff a laugh.
“Benjamin responds to physical punishments more than anything,” Lio replies. He looks pained for a moment before continuing, “Especially that of a loved one. I don’t know how he’ll respond after the last punishment he was given by Il Padrone… It was almost a disaster, in that Benjamin lost himself and almost hurt me seriously, if not for Master stepping in. Paired with his PTSD from Jax…I have no idea how he’ll respond.”
“Tennant will take care of him,” Roman reassures. “He loves him, and from the very beginning, Ten has been working on Benjamin and his PTSD. Tennant likes to get into your head, he likes to break you down so he can remake you into something better. He won’t let Benjamin suffer.”
Lio looks at Roman. “Maybe Javi will work with Benjamin?”
Roman makes a face at the name of the new psychiatrist, but nods. “Could possibly work. Either way, Benjamin needs to be punished.”
Lio nods. “Yeah…”
“Okay,” I say gently, steering the conversation back on track. “Two Voices: Keegan and Jude, and three Council members. There will be growing pains, as this is revolutionary, but I think we can make it work. We are here for the same reasons, and have a common goal. We have proved ourselves already; we know we’re effective.”
“Will two Voices be enough?” Roman asks.
“Since Benjamin has been out due to his injury, we’ve made it work. If we find the workload is too much for only two Voices, then we could put it to a vote for who would take the third spot.”
“Hmmm…possibly Antonio or Marcus? Or even Tennant, as he was a Second before?” Lio says.
“They’d be good choices, but I wouldn’t overlook Ignacio in my vote,” I reply. “He was the one who came up with the plan to rescue Antonio, and he and Marcus worked together to come up with a plan to save the two of you. Yes, he is Chaos, and can be unpredictable. However, that could be a boon for us. He sees things no one else would, due to his nature.”
“The same could be said for Tennant,” Lio points out.
“Yes, but Ten and I don’t work well together,” Roman says. “He respects me, and is loyal, but we have two very different ways of seeing the world. And it doesn’t mesh well. I’m not saying we couldn’t work together for the greater good of the Family, but we need a solid idea of what we’re looking for in a Voice, I think, before we decide to bring more in.”
Lio inclines his head. “Fair enough. Two Voices, and if we need another, we will reconvene and take it to a vote.”
“That seems the most sensible,” I reply.
Roman drops his arm from around Lio and sits up straight in his chair. He takes a breath and slowly lets it out. “So, we’re really doing this. We’re dismantling the old regime and coming up with something that…will turn the world we live in upside down.”
“Yes.” I smile. “I’m quite looking forward to it.”
“Me too,” Lio says. “It’s time we moved out from under the shadows of the old Bosses once and for all.”
“We are one,” Roman replies.
A sense of euphoria hits me square in the chest, and my body begins to tremble with a mixture of excitement and fear.
“We are one,” I repeat. And nothing has ever felt so right before.
Igroan silently as I slide into Keegan’s Camaro. It’s so fucking low to the ground, now that I’m used to going everywhere in SUVs. However, I don’t need my ass reddened by making fun of his precious car. Glancing over, I smile at him as he guns the engine, his entire body relaxing.
“What’s going on in your mind?” he asks as he drives one-handed, the epitome of coolness from what I’m sure are his high school memories.
Not that I’d know what that’s like. And hell, he probably doesn’t either, with the way he took over being a parent to Sarah, but still, I know he has major sentimental love for the damn car.
Shrugging, I glance out the window. “Just processing that meeting. It was…a lot. Fuck. How do you feel about being a Voice for the Council?”
