Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Angel
Whatever I thought this day might be, it’s been so much fucking worse.
First, Promise was dead-on about the clothes.
Which leads me to wonder what Don is playing at. My family’s future is riding on this deal. I can tell my brothers hate the plan.
And my reasons for choosing it, for wanting more, are starting to feel…empty.
Did my brothers sense that? Or did they always know that Don wasn’t a man to be trusted?
Either way, I don’t need some uppity fucking politician thinking he’s going to double-cross me. I might be a lower-level drug dealer, but I do the kind of dirty work Don can’t even imagine.
And then there is the way Promise is dismissed. It’s like she’s invisible to all inside participants until the cameras are on.
And then she’s the target.
My growing protectiveness over Promise is another problem. I’ve been trying to hide it all day, right until I caught her in my arms. Then the whole room got a view of my…feelings.
I can play them off. Say that I was acting for the cameras. Because I need Don. Or, more precisely, he’s got a few high-value items that I want, and he knows it.
And while Promise’s advice was invaluable, if Don thinks my allegiance has shifted, I could lose everything.
Which is why I played it cool today.
Didn’t speak to Promise.
Didn’t touch her when it wasn’t necessary.
But the way Don’s charging toward the back of the country club, he didn’t appreciate my last performance for the cameras. But I steel my spine. I know how I feel, he doesn’t. I was following the script. And even if I wasn’t…
I’ve got a theory that he gave Promise revealing clothing and me a shitty fucking suit to paint us as villains.
I made myself the hero.
Because while I don’t want him to think I’ve turned against him, I’m a soldier, and I know how to fight all kinds of wars.
If he wants to take me on, then I’m ready. But just so that I’m clear, I will fight passive-aggressive with straight-up fucking aggression.
He tosses open a door, Tricia bouncing behind him. Axel and I enter the room, as Axel scans the surroundings.
Gunner is the least likely babysitter in my group of brothers, other than maybe Rock. Leaving Promise with him was risky. But I need Axel’s mind here.
Tricia hovers at Don’s side, her hands pressed together like she’s worried. She was doing some hard flirting with me, but Don’s fit of temper has her flitting at his side once again.
“Out,” he grits at her. “And close the fucking door.”
“Of course,” she gasps as she scurries to obey. Tricia is everything I don’t like in a woman. Cloying, opportunistic, disloyal, and definitely promiscuous.
I know I use a whorehouse as a front. But I’ve got more respect for those women than I do for the wedding planner. They are up-front with the exchange.
Axel crosses to a large fireplace on the far wall and leans against the mantel.
He makes a small gesture, his head nodding to a spot just behind him. And that’s when I see it. The camera.
I move toward him, taking a seat near the fire in a spot I think is out of its view.
Don looks at both of us, his lip curling. “Well don’t you two look fucking cozy. Liking the country club life, are we?”
“What’s not to love?” I answer. I know I’m being recorded.
He scoffs. “Don’t play coy with me. We both know why you’re marrying Promise, and it has nothing to do with clubs, or suits, or the big shows for the press.”
I wish I hadn’t quit smoking. Lighting a cigarette right now would be so satisfying. Instead, I crack each and every one of my knuckles. “So why am I marrying Promise then?”
His nostrils flare, but he remains silent. We are definitely being filmed. “I brought you in here to discuss the premarital agreement.” And then he turns toward the desk behind him and picks up a stack of papers.
Crossing the room, he sets them on the coffee table in front of me.
Slowly, I lean over and pick them up. I tug on my ear, alerting Axel that I want Promise removed from the building. Then I scan the first page, flipping to the second, and then the third. I’m killing time.
Axel clears his throat, just a small sound as I flip to the next page. This means that Gunner’s got her in the car.
I start reading the addendums.
The price for the land is what he promised. I want added sections on what kinds of demands Don can put on the construction project. I’ll speak to my lawyer about these changes.
I flip to the next page and stop.
I read the words a second time. In it, I’m agreeing to the enactment of a definite and final solution to the Winthrop problem.
It’s a contract, he doesn’t outright ask me to kill his daughter, but it’s the closest I’ve ever seen to placing a hit on paper.
My gaze flicks up to his, any emotion I’m feeling carefully hidden. “Section 18c?”
“You had to know it would be there.”
I push back in my seat, assessing him with wary eyes as I try to decide what I should do next. If I sign this, as is, I’m agreeing to commit the murder of my wife.
“I saw your little save on the stage…tell me, are you going soft for her? I did for her mother. Greatest mistake of my life. It only leads to pain and misery.”
My lip curls. Is he admitting that his marriage wasn’t good? “How did you solve that problem?”
“Something like section 18c.”
Did he kill his wife? Does Promise know this? Is that why she stopped speaking? My past turned me into an angry and violent teen. But a woman…
But that is not my concern. It sits heavy in my stomach, but this isn’t a moment for stupid fucking feelings. “I need the construction rights in section seven amended. I want more freedom in what buildings I build and who I hire to complete them.”
Don gives me the ugliest smile, so…plastic, that it’s disgusting. Promise was right. Again. “I think that can be arranged.”
“Make it happen, send it to my lawyer.”
“I’ll send it now. I’d like everything signed before you marry my daughter. Naturally.” Don’s smile widens and I stand. One might almost mistake his words for paternal care. Filthy animal.
I don’t shake Don’s hand as I turn to leave, he’s not worth touching. Axel pushes off the mantel, following me to the door.
Axel is silent until we reach the parking lot. “18c?”
“Don’t ask.”
“I’m asking.”
I let out a long breath. “He wants me to make Promise go away. Permanently. Preferably within six months of an election cycle.”
“You are fucking shitting me,” Axel spits. “You’re going to fuck her and then kill her?”
“I keep my promises.” He gives me a hard cold stare before he climbs into the driver’s seat of his car. I draw in a deep breath and open the passenger door.
When I sign that document, I’m making one.
This ends in death.