“Well, what could they be? Realistically.”
“Realistically, son, dark magic does exist. It’s in the mind of those witches. The more they believe, the more dangerous they are.”
“And what’s going to happen to Saint?”
“Well, The Coven will either be burned or she will have to think about taking it on.”
I clench my teeth. “And what about The Gentlemen?”
“You all have a meeting with the new capo.” Hector stands from the sofa. “Try to hear him out, too, Brantley. I know your vendetta against them runs deep, but Danny is different. He’s not like his uncle and cousin. He plans to co-exist with us and settle the beef.” I grit my teeth as Hector comes closer, squeezing my shoulder. “I—”
“—You motherfucker!” Bishop comes flying into the lounge like a fucking tornado and I step backward, careful not to spill my drink. I almost thought he was coming for me when I realize he’s going straight for Hector. His fist is flying into his father’s face before I can stop him.
“Son!” Hector dodges his next swing and grabs him by the arm. Hector’s shoulders tighten, his chin lifting. “Sit the fuck down and talk like a fucking King and not like a fucking street rat.”
Bishop’s nostrils are flaring, his shoulders rising and falling as he breathes. “You gonna tell him, or should I? Hmm?” Bishop raises an eyebrow, and I take that as my cue to place my glass down onto the bar and slowly make my way to them.
“What are you talking about, Bishop?” I ask, but my eyes stay on Hector.
“You may be my father, but I will not hesitate to kill you if you go after any of ours, and by the sounds of it, you have.”
“What are you talking about, son?” Hector asks calmly. I’m still taking calculated steps, ready to move when I need to.
“You let Veronica out last night.” As soon as the words leave his mouth, I feel my body tense. I swear I can hear the loud fucking thundering of my heart in my chest. I’m going to kill him. Bishop fists Hector’s collar, pulling his face closer to him. I’ve never seen Bishop face-off with his father like this, but I have seen him lose it a few times. This is different. I have no doubt that, if needed, Bishop would put his father down. For Saint, he definitely would.
Hector shoves Bishop off him, dusting off his suit. “First of all, I’m going to break your fucking nose for throwing down before getting facts straight. Have I not taught you anything at all? Second of all—” He sneers at both of us, his lip curling but his demeanor still clean. Tight. As if he’s allowing us to see his anger while remaining completely in control. “Have you ever wondered why I haven’t just killed Veronica to begin with?” He unbuttons his jacket and lowers himself onto the sofa, while gesturing to the other opposite him, his jaw tense. He is pissed. So the fuck am I. I’m sick of finding out all of the shit he has done after he does it.
“You have five minutes,” Bishop replies calmly. Too calm.
“Three,” I correct, falling to the spot beside him.
Hector stares between us. “Veronica has put a bounty on Saint’s head. She’s had it active for a while, from what I can see. She doesn’t know that I know this, but I’ve known for some time.”
Squeezing my fist in the palm of my hand to stop myself from completely losing it, I manage to grit out, “How long and explain.”
“I’ve known she was alive all along, Brantley.” My mouth opens to ask another question, but he shakes his head, clearly wanting to continue. “The bounty she has on Saint is known by all six gangs in New York City. She kept it local, so it’s manageable if we can get them all together.”
“What’s the fucking problem then?” I’m dancing dangerously close to losing my shit. She has a fucking bounty on Saint, and I let her walk right into the bitch’s arms. “Why the fuck haven’t you worked all these years to get it off her?”
Hector tilts his head to the side. “Have you forgotten what one of the four gangs is?”
“The Gentlemen.” Bishop sighs, massaging his temples. “You couldn’t get them to sway, even if you fucking paid them before.”
“Correct, but now it’s different because Danny is capo. I do feel he can be bought, though I’m not expecting it to be cheap.”
I grimace. The whiskey isn’t helping me right now. If anything, it’s making everything worse. I push my glass away on the coffee table and lean forward. “We will handle the meeting with them all, Gentlemen included.”
Bishop’s hand rests on my shoulder before he looks back at Hector. “Sorry, Dad. I fucking flipped.”
Hector stands from his chair. “Son, I respect the hell out of you and am proud of how far you have come and the direction in which you’re taking The Kings—” He buttons up his jacket, pausing when he reaches us. “But either of you try to ambush me like that again and I’ll fucking cut you.” He leaves the same way Bishop arrived, and as soon as he’s out of the room, everything suddenly feels too heavy. I fucking pushed her into Veronica’s arms and believed every word she fucking fed me. I took the damn bait. I’ve never trusted Hector completely. I always knew there were too many secrets hiding behind all that fancy hair. But now, I see it. I see his intention for Saint and how wrong I was to allow Veronica to take her. He had tried to stop it from the fucking beginning, and we all assumed he was working against us. I practically forced her into that coven, thinking my mother had every intention of keeping her safe.