Chapter 36
REIGN
“There’s something I should have told you years ago.”
Dad’s voice drops as our driver navigates the dark streets back from the restaurant where we just had dinner with Kingston and Bronx. The partition is up, giving us privacy, but Dad still leans closer.
“About what?” I ask, furrowing my brow at the tension stiffening his shoulders.
“About your future. About why I’ve been keeping you out of certain family meetings lately.
” He runs a hand through his graying hair, worry lines etched into his skin.
“I know Kingston thinks he’s next in line, that’s what I’ve led him to believe over these months, but… ” He presses his lips together.
“But what?”
Dad looks at me. “You are. You’ve always been my choice for boss. The strategic mind, the long-term thinking. Kingston’s good muscle, but you understand the chess game the best out of the three of you..”
“Shit, Dad.” My chest tightens. “You never said a word. All this time, you’ve been positioning Kingston to take over. How am I supposed to just swoop in and grab control? How is that not gonna blow up in our faces?”
“Everything has been documented,” Dad says, reaching into his pocket. “It’s all in my safe, notarized. All of my plans for our family’s future.” He presses a key into my hand. “You already know the combination. It’s your birthday.”
The skin on the back of my neck prickles. “Why are you giving this to me? Why are you telling me about it without Kingston being in the conversation?”
“I want to make sure everything is in the right hands. I waited until the time was right. But there’s more,” he says. “I’ve made arrangements for an alliance that will secure your position and our family’s future. It’s–”
At that second, the driver’s window explodes. The SUV swerves wildly, tires screeching on the pavement. Dad shoves me down as more shots ring out.
I fly backward against the seat when the front of the SUV crashes into a parked car on the side of the road. The world spins, shards of glass everywhere, the smell of blood heavy in the air.
My breaths are short and sharp. I point my gun out the window and fire off a round of shots. Then my eyes drop to my dad sprawled on the backseat, blood stains blooming on the front of his white shirt.
“Fuck! Dad!”
More screeching of tires. I push open the door and stagger out, gun pointed, finger sliding over the trigger. But the motherfucker on the motorcycle is gone. I turn back to the SUV.
The driver is slumped over the steering wheel, blood streaming from the side of his head.
I drop next to my dad. His hand finds mine. His grip is weak, his skin losing heat by the second.
“The girl,” he whispers in a choked voice, blood caked on his lips. “Get…to…Dublin. Find... find her before Kingston—”
His eyes glass over, the life seeping from them..
I’m trapped in a mess of hot, twisted metal with my father dead next to me and a secret that will change everything…for better or worse.
But what I don't know yet is that the driver who's supposed to be dead behind the wheel just sent a text message.
It's done.