Chapter 26 #2
“Play my game, Hunter, and there won’t be any issues. Everyone you love will live a long life.” She steps onto the patio and faces me.
“Except you’re forgetting one important thing.”
“Which is?”
My heart pounds hard. “Isabella Carter. He’s her son too.”
My mother waves it off. “She’ll be taken care of, so stop worrying.”
“How am I not to be concerned about this? You’re telling me you’re taking my son to raise so he can learn the ins and outs of your mob.
“Then, once he’s old enough, he’s set up to take over the legacy my father made so he can destroy it. And if I refuse any of this, someone will die.”
“It could be worse news.” She pulls out a chair and sits.
My breath races as I stay standing and tower over her. “How so? ”
“I could still be after your one true love.” Her hateful gaze connects with mine.
“What does Dorothy have to do with this situation? Why are you focused on her?”
“With our alliance in place, we can’t have anyone with her connections involved with you.”
My thoughts race to make the correlation.
I laugh at my stupidity for not seeing it before now. “Aiden. She can’t be in my life because of Aiden.”
“We can’t have the FBI breathing down our backs.”
“Say I stop seeing her. She’s still going to be working at Efron Worldwide. She’s a smart woman, and she’ll figure out this game you’re playing.”
“She won’t be working there. The board terminated her.”
Finally, I have some leverage. “Hate to break it to you, but she’s been reinstated. You can’t keep her out of it.”
My mother lifts a brow. “She’s returning?”
“Once I tell her she can come back to work, she’ll be there the following day.”
My mother crosses her legs and stares out at the cornfield. “If you tell her her position has been reinstated and she returns to work, I’ll have no other choice.”
“Break it off with her for good. Keep her away from the business or else I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”
My blood turns to ice. “Let’s say I refuse this idiotic deal of yours and go straight to the FBI when I leave here. What would you do then?”
“I’m two steps ahead of you. If you bring the FBI into this, your precious Dorothy will die. And one by one, everyone else you love will follow suit. So you see, you have no other choice.”
“If I play along, everyone is safe. Dorothy Fisher and Jamison Stone included.”
“Jamison Stone was never the target. But he interfered every time we tried to get Dorothy out of the picture, so him being shot wasn’t the worst thing in the world.” Poison flows off my mother in sheets of hate.
“What do you mean, every time?”
“We tried less violent avenues at first, but Jamison was always there to interrupt our plans.”
“How?”
My mother motions to the chair across from her. “Sit down, son. I’ll help you understand that not only is Dorothy Fisher a liability, but you’ll also realize she was never really yours.”
The air leaks from my lungs. Begrudgingly, I sit. “Help me understand.”
“The initial plan was to drug Dorothy at the board meeting and then for you to find her in bed with the man. He was going to leave the door cracked so you would see them in bed together when you went looking for her.
“Your trust in her would’ve been destroyed, and you would’ve walked away from her. The only problem was Jamison was there to help. With him caring for her all night, there was no way to open the door.”
My mind races to the night Dorothy stood me up. She said she was sick and acted strange when I went to her room.
My heart breaks like glass. “Are you trying to tell me that Jamison was in her suite that night?”
My mother shifts forward and rests her crossed arms on the table. “Yes. I thought you would figure it out, but you didn’t. That’s when I knew we needed to increase our efforts to get her out of your life.”
“And that’s when you decided she should be shot?”
“Since we’re rekindling our relationship, I’ll let you know all the details in a show of good faith.”
“What did you do?”
“Hunter, you were falling in love with Dorothy, so I thought we could take out her brother instead. But once again, that effort was thwarted. At that point, getting rid of her once and for all was easier.”
My stomach cramps, and a fresh wave of nausea takes over. “You were behind the attack on her brother?”
“We needed him out of the picture.”
I glare across the table at the hell she’s inflicted upon Dorothy. Guilt smothers me.
I tug at my collar. My mother was the mastermind behind every moment Dorothy was put in situations with Jamison. Those times brought them closer.
My mother rests back in her chair. “I can see this information isn’t sitting well with you.”
“Not in the slightest. You alone are directly responsible for putting her in the arms of my rival.”
“Is that so bad considering...”
My breathing goes into overdrive. “You single-handedly destroyed my chance of having the woman I love by my side. As you can imagine, I’m having a hard time wanting to help you in any way.”
“Hunter, my prince. If we come to terms today, everyone important to you will live a long, happy life. Isn’t that enough?”
My entire body empties. I have no choice but to play her game. “You must really hate me.”
“No, darling. I love you. I just knew you had it in you to be like me.” She beams with pride.
I lower my head as my world implodes. If I fight, everyone I love is in danger.
And if I ante up and follow her demands, I’ll lose my son, Dorothy, and all the progress the casinos have made to ensure they stay clean and legal.
I’ll ruin all my dad has built. I’ll smear the Efron legacy. My integrity for the company will be nothing but empty words. Any way I look at it, I lose this game today.