“Yes, sir.” He marched off, barking at his men.
Redmond drifted toward me. I stepped into a side room. A bar was on the left and a beautiful billiards table took up most of the space. The walls were covered in antique early Americana: signs, advertising ephemera, jazz concert posters. This room had personality. It was loved.
Redmond scowled at a signed Thelonious Monk photograph and tore it down. “Jazz sounds like noise.”
“That’s because you don’t know how to listen.”
Screams echoed from outside. More gunshots.
“I heard that.” He didn’t smile. He seemed more reserved and introspective today than I’d ever seen before. He went to the bar, studied the bottles, then selected a whiskey. “Drink?”
“Please.”
He poured two. We toasted. “To a job well done,” he said.
“Cheers.”
I drank and drifted to the table. Redmond stayed near the bar.
“She’s not here,” he said. “My men think she was, though. They found a room with women’s things, nice stuff, with lots of it thrown all around as if someone packed in a hurry.”
“Maeve then.” I sighed and rubbed at my face. “She’s making this more difficult than it needs to be.”
“Can you blame her?”
“Yes. It’s dishonorable.”
Redmond snorted. “Since when did you care about honor?”
“Says the man that killed his father.”
His expression darkened. “Careful. Old Bern seemed warm and fuzzy from the outside, but you don’t know what I went through with him.”
I waved that away. I’d heard the rumors. I’d seen the scars. I still didn’t care.
“We need to discuss Erin Servant.”
“What about her?”
“She’s been helping me with Penny and running interference with her brother. She’s the reason Darren and Roman haven’t gotten involved yet.”
“I suppose there’s a reward involved.”
I nodded, meeting his eyes. “She wants to start her own family.”
He looked surprised then whistled and laughed. “That’s impressive. Ballsy and impressive.”
“Don’t underestimate her.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I’ve met the girl. She’s terrifying.” He said it with a smirk, like he wasn’t quite intimidated.
“I don’t want to give it to her.”
He went quiet and took a long sip. He stared into his glass and seemed to consider. The Redmond I knew was loud and impulsive and quick to smile.
This seemed like a different man. He was wrapped tightly around himself, and I wondered if taking control of the Orchard house was more difficult than he thought it would be.
Normally, the power in an Oligarch family passed to the oldest child. Gender didn’t matter. The oldest were always trained as if they’d take control one day. The second oldest was given some attention, in case the oldest died, but beyond that, Oligarch children were more or less ignored. Given whatever they wanted, pampered and allowed to live a comfortable existence, but restrained.
Restricted.
There was only so much they could do.
Penny was like that. She was a middle child. There wasn’t much choice aside from marrying some rich guy and helping out her family’s power.
She wasn’t useful otherwise.
I hated that. I wished it could be different, but was acutely aware that if she could’ve done anything in the world, she wouldn’t be with me.
I’d still keep her. The world be damned.
But in a case like Redmond’s, where the head of the family died suddenly and under extremely suspicious circumstances, handover of power might not go so smoothly. My men gave me some reports. There were rumors of purges and killings in his house. I’d expected some of that, but based on the way he’d been acting, I had a feeling it was much worse than I realized.
Poor bastard. He’d been prepared, but it was never easy to murder people that had worked for your father for years.
Redmond swirled the ice in his drink. “What do you propose instead?”
“She’s dangerous. We all know how smart Erin Servant is.”
“You want to kill her.”
“Penny asked me to.”
That got his attention. “Really?” he asked thoughtfully, then scowled. “Why would you tell me that?”
“Because I can’t do it. Even if Penny truly wanted her sister dead, she’d never forgive me if I were the one to do it. I need your help.”
He barked a laugh, more like his old self then. “You need my help doing your dirty work.”
“That’s right. Clean up this mess.”
“My answer’s no.”
“No? You’re not in a position to turn me down.”
He threw back his drink and slammed the glass onto the bar. “I know you think the sun shines out of your ass—”
“Out of my cock, but go on.”
He grimaced. “You aren’t all-powerful, Kaspar. You’re strong now, but what about Erin’s brother? And her brother’s brooding best friend? Darren and Roman will make our life hell. In particular mine if I kill Erin.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I’ll deal with them.”
“You’re full of shit. I won’t kill her.”
“Then come up with an alternative solution. She wants to start her own Oligarch family and I told her I’d help. I have no intention of honoring that agreement, but if she’s allowed to live, she’ll make my life hell.”