Page 32 of Pregnant By A Rich Demon 3

“Then we’ll figure something out.”

“We shouldn’t have to figure something out!” Kaisen slammed his hand against the wall, the sound sharp and violent. “We had a plan! We had resources! We had everything we needed! And you gave it away because you wanted a damn friend!”

Winston’s eyes flashed with anger. “I am still the head of this family⁠—”

“Then act like it,” I said quietly.

The words hung in the air between us.

Winston stared at me, his expression unreadable.

“What did you say?”

“I said act like it.” I limped forward, ignoring the pain screaming through my leg. “You want to be the head of this family? Fine. Then take responsibility for your mistakes. Admit you fucked up. Admit you trusted Victor when you shouldn’t have. Admit that you put all of us in danger because you thought you knew better.”

“I don’t answer to you⁠—”

“You do now.” My voice was cold. “Because Priest is gone. Because our vault is empty. Because Rahsaan is making moves and we don’t have the resources to stop him. You want to lead? Then lead. But stop pretending you didn’t make a mistake. Stop acting like this isn’t your fault.”

Winston’s jaw worked, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides.

For a moment, I thought he might actually hit me.

But then he exhaled slowly, his shoulders sagging just slightly.

“Victor played me,” he said finally, his voice low. “I thought I could trust him. I thought family meant something.”

“Family does mean something,” Kaisen said quietly. “But Victor’s never been family. Not really. He’s always been out for himself.”

Winston nodded slowly, the admission clearly costing him.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

Winston looked at me, then at Kaisen, his expression grim.

“We survive,” he said simply. “We pool our resources. We tighten our operations. We make every dollar count. And we find Victor and Rahsaan and we make them pay for what they’ve done.”

I nodded, the rage still simmering but tempered now by something else.

Purpose.

“Then let’s get to work,” I said.

Kaisen met my eyes across the room, and for the first time in weeks, I saw something other than hatred there.

Understanding.

We were both furious at Winston.

We were both terrified of what came next.

But we were also both committed to surviving this.

Together.

Winston moved to his desk and picked up his phone without another word.

The silence in the study was thick as he scrolled through his contacts, his jaw set in that way that meant he’d already made his decision and nothing was going to change it.