Page 65 of The Arianna Arrangement

Relief coursed through me. While I wouldn’t have hesitated to pull the trigger if push came to shove, I didn’t want to. My upbringing had me confident I could get away with murder, but I really didn’t want to have to test that theory today.

I mean, it was the first day of senior year for fucks sake. I should at least be out of high school before burying bodies, right?

I pushed the gun a little more firmly into his skull as I leaned in and whispered. “If you threaten my family again, I won’t be so kind as to give you another warning. I’ll kill you so fast that you won’t even know it’s coming. Do you understand?”

He gave a small nod and I pulled the gun away, flicking the safety back on so even though there was a bullet in the chamber, it wouldn’t fire without my command.

Potter headed to where my belongings were, and I walked with him, keeping an eye on Bradley and my gun at the ready in case he got a wild hair and decided it would be a good idea to attack.

Once we’d rounded the corner and it was obvious he wasn’t going to try anything, I tucked my gun back into my purse and Potter and I headed to my house.

It was a good thing that Tucker would be waiting for his second there. We needed to come up with a plan to get rid of Bradley once and for all.

Chapter 31

Tucker

“What the fuck does he mean, you pulled a gun on him?” I had to be hearing Potter wrong. Where the hell would Ari have gotten a gun, and why the fuck would she be carrying it with her to school?

My wife rolled her eyes at me. “I think you meant to say, thank you for protecting my family, baby. I’m so glad you were there to make sure my cousin didn’t end up with his throat slashed like Jack the Ripper’s victims.”

“Why would you take a gun to school to begin with, Ari?!”

“Because my knife throwing isn’t as accurate as my shooting.” Her tone said duh, like I was an idiot for asking the question and I pinched the bridge of my nose in exasperation. This was what I got for marrying a mafia princess.

Potter, however, apparently thought my wife was hilarious. “You gotta admit man, that’s solid logic.” His face dropped and a seriousness that was rare for him came over it. “If we’re being one-hundred percent honest, I probably would have died today if it wasn’t for her. Bradley was seriously unhinged. She’s not wrong in saying we need to take him out once and for all.” Before I could protest, he raised his hands in surrender. “I’m not saying we kill him, but we’ve got to at least get him locked up or something, man. Imagine if he’d gone after Leyla. Or Karly.”

Fuck.

Out of all of my family at that high school, Karly was definitely the weakest link. I was going to have to make sure Dad sent security with the girls until Bradley was appropriately handled.

Ari scoffed. “I’m definitely all for killing him. His father is a very prominent business man. It’s unlikely you could get any charges to stick. It would be almost like if he came at you with fabricated evidence.”

Potter nodded in agreement. “She’s not wrong. I mean, I may be good, but I’m not sure it would be good enough.”

“Even if it was, his father owns the media in this country. There wouldn’t be anywhere a trial could be held that the jury wouldn’t be convinced of his innocence before they even walked into the courthouse.”

I hated that my wife was right. It wasn’t like I hadn’t killed before, so this shouldn’t have been such a hard line for me, but I just couldn’t stop thinking that there had to be a better way.

“Why don’t we call in the oldies and get their opinions?” Potter was much more of an ask forgiveness instead of permission person so the fact that he was suggesting we bring them in made me realize just how badly today had scared him.

Ari watched me closely, tilting her head to the side a little when I hesitated. “You think they’ll agree with me, don’t you?”

I scrubbed a hand down my face, hating this more than I could describe. My dad and Apollo would probably agree that he should die. Percy was a wild card, but after everything with Sterling and Caspian, it was likely he’d agree too. Atlas stood to be the only voice of reason.

“Who they agree with doesn’t matter. The fact is, Pott’s right and we need to call them in because this is something we should discuss as a family.”

Percy was the last to arrive because he had a house showing. If my dad had called the meeting, he probably would have been there sooner, but since I did, and I felt positive he didn’t take me seriously, he finished what he was doing first.

He let out a whistle when he walked into the office and saw us all there. “This is gonna be a good one, isn’t it? I mean, with Pott and Ari here too, and the state of Potter’s face, I’m guessing shit went down at school.”

We had yet to tell anyone what was going on, wanting to wait for everyone to arrive, but now that the last one was, Potter didn’t hesitate to fill everyone in. “Ari pulled a gun on Bradley.” Well, kind of.

All heads whipped toward her and like the crazy person she was, she smiled and shrugged. “I was defending my family. Sue me.”

Dad let out a deep breath. “Please, tell us the whole story, Potter, instead of just the end.”

“Bradley cornered me after school, pissed about the smear campaign Leyla’s been on, telling the whole school he has STI’s.” My dad and uncles eyebrows all raised, confirming they really didn’t have any idea the things the older kids were getting up to. “He cornered me in an area without security cameras and pulled a knife on me, holding it against my throat. Ari found us and put a gun to his head, getting him to release me.”