21. Emmett
CHAPTER 21
Emmett
A clusterfuck.
Clusterfucks happen all the time.
They happen when you least expect them.
They happen when you have a million contingencies.
They even happen when you are disinterested in the world and don’t care at all about them, but there will always be one that rocks your entire foundation and cracks it into uneven pieces.
I stare at Angel, as tears flood her eyes while she laughs so heartbreakingly, the thing in my chest tugs and twists torturously.
If she continues, she’ll laugh her way into another attack. She has to stop.
But I can feel Grandfather’s gaze on me.
I don’t bother looking in his direction, because I already know what he wants.
It’s too bad that desperation fuels other men into becoming puppets.
“Sir, what does this mean?” Vaughn questions as I knew he would.
Grandfather smirks a bit. This is the question he wanted to hear.
“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” Grandfather says. “Since it’s been agreed that the girl, Ivy, has been offered, I have simply decided that whoever the girl marries will be the new boss of the Family.”
And just like that, the last bomb explodes with a blast radius that stuns even Grandfather’s friend.
This time, I can’t look away.
I stare at Grandfather, realizing then that I played into his hand.
He wanted to see if I have weaknesses.
He wants to see what I’m going to do.
Which means he has done his research and found out about Angel.
He knew I had a secret weapon all along against Governor Hughes to bring him down.
He knew I was going to use Governor Hughes’ dirty secret hidden child as his demise, which is why he rushed all the way to New York City and made a new deal with the head of the Hughes family, Theodore the Second.
I notice all eyes are now on Angel.
She now holds all the power here.
Over me, over my plans, and the future of the entire Outfit.
A rejected, heartbroken, soul-shattered girl now has all the power and it hasn’t sunk in yet.
“Wait, what?” the other girl, Melissa, suddenly shrieks annoyingly.
“I don’t understand,” Governor Hughes also starts. “Whoever this girl chooses to marry will become the next boss of the family?”
“Yes, that is my stipulation,” Grandfather says. “Between my two grandsons here, whoever the girl chooses will officially become the Don of the Easton Family.”
Shock ripples through the entrance.
“But wait, I thought—” Melissa starts. “I thought the boss would be old, how come now...”
It’s obvious that she wants to backtrack but it’s over now. Grandfather dismisses her and turns to look at Angel.
“Are you up for it, little girl?” Grandfather asks.
Ivy’s laughter falters then she falls silent, but her body is full-on trembling.
“Excuse me?”
“Are you up for the task?” Grandfather questions. “You will select the one who will take after me.”
I can feel Vaughn’s gaze on me, but I don’t bother looking at him.
I already know he’s starting to calculate and maybe even trace my movements.
Then he shifts to look at Angel... and it’s then I look at him.
“W-what do you mean?” Angel questions in a high-pitched voice full of hysteria.
“In front of all present and unanimously agreed before your very eyes, your family has offered you as the one who will seal this partnership with marriage. So now the futures of both the Easton and Hughes families rests entirely in your hands.”
“What?”
“Of course, if you mess up, the consequences will be… bloody.”
This time, Angel’s body stills, and she stares at Grandfather. Then she glances at Governor Hughes and his wife and other daughter.
I already knew Angel’s mother was married to Governor Hughes.
I knew they had a spoiled daughter, Melissa.
And I also knew why Angel was abandoned and why they kept Melissa.
Spider knows too.
What I wasn’t expecting was that instead of just testing Vaughn and I to see who will get the Hughes family on board, Grandfather had already set up a plan years in advance where the agreement between the Hughes and the Eastons is sealed with marriage.
But now, the marriage is between Governor Hughes’ daughter and the heir of the Easton Family.
And the daughter…is Angel.
But who is the heir?
Me or Vaughn?
Like clockwork, Vaughn and I glance at each other.
For some reason, this feels different from the other night when we met in Italy.
This stare is not as indifferent as before…
Everything has completely changed, which means one thing we’re both aware of at the same time.
This is war.
If he thinks Angel will choose him, he’s got another think coming.
“Wow,” Angel breathes, looking around. “All my life I was wondering what was wrong with me that I would be abandoned, but it turns out that I’m just a buck for your political bank!”
She glares at Governor Hughes and then she shifts her gaze to look at her mother.
“And you,” she chokes and falls silent, then she turns to look at my Grandfather. “I don’t know what’s going on here, sir, but I want no part of this. I have no parents. I’m an orphan raised by my grandparents. Now, if you would excuse me.”
And with her head held up, shoulders straight, she slides past me as she gets out of the car and she struts down the driveway toward the gates without a care in the world.
I watch her go and give Ty a nod. He goes after her.
As soon as Angel is gone, chaos breaks out.
The Hughes family want to drag Angel back here, but I ignore them all and step closer to Grandfather.
“Well played,” I mutter to Grandfather.
“I still have a few tricks to teach you,” he says cheerfully. “Did you think I didn’t know you were keeping a secret weapon to use against my friend?”
I don’t bother replying.
“Now, if you want to be the new don of the Family, that girl is the only key,” Grandfather says. “But from what I heard, she hates you and it seems your cousin has a more accurate gauge on that than you do.”
I turn back to see Vaughn running down the driveway, obviously going after Angel.
“Lesser men make a great effort,” I say, looking pointedly at Grandfather.
He’s made an effort to unravel my plans.
Vaughn is making an effort to go after Angel.
But all of them have already lost.
Angel is firmly in my grasp.
She’ll choose me and then I’ll make Grandfather pay for even putting us in this fucked-up situation.
“Take me home,” Grandfather says.
I nod, knowing that it’s best for me to do as he says.
After all, with Grandfather, one has to be very careful. I still need him on my side.
Grandfather and Governor Hughes’ father shake hands.
“See you at the wedding then, my friend.”
“Of course.”
It’s clear that they’ve been foes with benefits for several decades. How I missed that is damn annoying.
With that, one of my men drive up the SUV with a ramp for Grandfather’s wheelchair.
The fact that he even showed up here in such a state when he has made it clear that he doesn’t want his enemies to know about the condition of his health tells me everything I need to know.
He’s hell-bent on this.
He wants this partnership with the Hughes and he’ll see it through, come hell or high water.
If I don’t do it, he’ll just make sure a desperate idiot does it.
“You’re a fucking snake in the reeds,” I say simply when we’re on our way to the Easton estate in upstate New York.
“Or maybe I’m just a loving grandfather looking after my heir,” he counters, watching me.
“And how are you doing that?”
“By ensuring we’re aligned with powerful allies.”
I glance at him, my entire body now coiled with tension. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t act as if you don’t know,” he sneers now, showing the anger he’s been keeping at bay. “I know you’re very much aware and are still in contact with that Syndicate!”
This time, I lean back in my seat comfortably but the thing in my chest is raging with pain.
I need to take my pills or I won’t make it to the end of this conversation, but I’ll be damned if I ever show my weakness to this snake.
“Which Syndicate?” I ask as if I don’t know what he’s talking about. “Aren’t we already the most powerful Family?”
“You’re too smart for your own good!” Grandfather waves a finger between us, as if scolding a three-year-old. “You’ve lived in that town, made neighbors out of his children, hell, Vaughn has given me a report that shows you are close to them.”
“You’ve known that for years.”
“Yet you failed!” he seethes. “You failed to marry the daughter when your idiot father set everything up for you! You failed to trap the son, or maybe you let him go intentionally?!”
I remain silent, watching him rant.
I know he’s still severely angry that I didn’t marry Astraea and that George is not in my influence.
After all, Grandfather wants one thing that he has never had and that is everything The Phoenix Corp has.
“Because of your utter, disappointing failure before, I have ensured that we partner with an ally that is strong enough and has the motive to also go against the Beaumonts!”
See, Grandfather wants more power and to achieve what has never been done before.
My goal is the same, but in a way that he’ll loathe and writhe in eternal pain.
“So instead of a regular partnership with the Hughes Family, you decided to put marriage with the heir on the table?” I question.
I already knew that the Hughes are more than a political family.
They are also deeply involved in the underbelly of New York, Chicago, and California.
All the turf that George Beaumont’s Phoenix Corp is, but not as extended or apparent as them.
“We signed a contract with the Hughes decades ago that included marriage but in case you haven’t noticed, the Hughes have been expanding and growing. Their power alone is a force to be reckoned with, they would never settle for one of your cousins for marriage!”
Which is why he offered up the next boss of the Easton Family like it’s nothing.
“But I know that’s not why you’re angry,” Grandfather suddenly says, an off-putting smile now plastered on his wrinkly old papery face. “If you could kill me right now, I’m sure you would without blinking.”
I stare at him.
“It’s a good tactic, isn’t it?” He laughs. “Whoever the girl marries is the one that becomes heir. It’s a little idea that was whispered in my ear by someone who already knows that you are a two-faced monster, but this, exposing your plans, now this is what I’m enjoying.”
“Exposing my plans?”
“You never wanted to get married,” he says simply. “Isn’t that why you did not marry that Beaumont girl?”
We watch each other.
The car has already stopped at the front doors of the mansion, but I only stare at Grandfather.
“You might think you’re clever, and you are,” Grandfather says, “but don’t you ever make the mistake and forget who made you.”
With that, he taps the window and his door is opened.
“Oh, and I will be staying here for your wedding,” he says with a smile. “I’ve also had the room prepared.”
The room?
“What room?”
“Where the new boss and the Hughes girl will be staying when they marry. I want to see the consummated sheets that very night.”
What the hell?