“Someone I trust,” I reply. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
“No, nothing has changed, boss. He’s doing the same old boring things.”
I stare at Carlisle for a while longer before I turn away to see my father and the mayor approaching, red-faced and smiling. They keep talking until we reach the car.
I slide inside, drum my fingers against my thighs, and resist the urge to reach for my phone.
Katia will get to the bottom of things.
She has to.
I will not let Oliver stage a coup on my watch.
Who are you kidding? Isn’t it better if Oliver takes over, anyway? At least you’ll be able to leave and start over with London and the baby. Oliver isn’t like Mathew or your father. He won’t come after you.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself as I sit there and mull over my options. My father gets into the car, raps on the roof, and the car comes to life under us. When we pull away, I pour us both a drink and hand him a glass.
Jack takes a sip, his smile immediately replaced by a scowl. “Arrogant piece of shit. He likes to hear himself talk.”
“He does.”
“Still, having a man like that in our corner has its uses.”
“I know.”
“I’m glad to see you’ve still retained a thing or two,” my father says. “With everything happening the past few months, I was beginning to wonder.”
“Enough to try to have me removed?”
Any trace of my father’s good humor is gone in a blink, replaced with cool calculation. “If you’re going to make an accusation like that, you’d better have the balls to back it up, boy.”
“It’s not an accusation, just a question.”
Jack stares at me for a while longer. “Who have you been talking to?”
I lift the glass to my lips and eye him over the rim. “You’re not going to deny it?”
He sets his glass down and turns to face me. The look in his eyes is the same one that scared me when I was little. “Imadeyou, boy. Everything you are is because of me. I’m not letting you ride off into the sunset with your little whore, no matter how much you wish I would.”
I grip the glass tighter. “Let’s get one thing clear. You might have made me, butImade the empire. Without me, it wouldn’t be half what it is today.”
Jack lets out a low, humorless laugh. “She’s been filling your head with ideas, hasn’t she? Trying to convince you that there’s a better life for you out there. I’ve underestimated her, it seems.”
“This has nothing to do with London.”
He grunts.
“I know you brought Oliver and Olivia back for a reason, and it’s not to make sure they’re safe. You don’t care about that. They chose to walk away.”
His expression darkens, and his hands clench into fists. “I will not allow my children to be used against me.”
“So, that’s why you brought them back? You didn’t want them to be used as bargaining chips.”
Something isn’t right.
My father isn’t the sentimental type, not even when it comes to his children.
Whatever piece of the puzzle is missing, I can’t put my finger on it, and the harder I try, the more elusive it becomes.
