"You will address me properly, or I will remind you," he raged.
"Reaper," I gritted through my teeth, "what ventures are you referring to? Grandfather always harped on the need to stay out of some areas. How keeping our noses clean and controlling the money gave us a layer of protection."
"My father couldn't see the potential lying before his eyes. No, Atticus, we're finally going to be taken seriously for the power that we have. We're going to join forces with a family and branch out into more lucrative sources. Unfortunately, Cynthia disagreed on the cost, and so I had to get rid of her. It was a small price to pay to align our families. Well, that and your sister."
Fear ran through me at his words. My father had gone mad. This wasn't how we operated as a family, and until this moment, I'd never even heard my father talk about changing it.
"What does Imogen have to do with this?"
Dayton, the Grim Reaper, had gone back to looking at some papers on his desk, broadcasting loudly how little he thought of our meeting. "Oh, nothing. I just had to give her to Delgado in exchange for aligning our families. To think after all this time, she finally had value," he stated dismissively.
Ice filled my veins at what his statement indicated. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.
My heart started to race, but I couldn't show it. Locking down my features, I forced myself to push away my worry. I needed to enact my plan now. He'd gone too far, and I had to assume when he said "get rid" of my step-mother, it wasn't a sending away type of gesture. He'd killed her or had her killed. And now, my baby sister was at the hands of that sadistic asshole, Delgado.
This infraction was the last straw, and I could no longer ignore his increasingly erratic behavior. I'd been in denial, but the Reaper wasn't the man I'd always thought, and my subconscious had been screaming at me for a while, but the boy who loved his father struggled to accept it. Now, with the truth slapping me in the face, I could no longer ignore it. It was time to take the boss down.
The door opening pulled me from my thoughts, and I was surprised to find an hour had already passed as Sax and Immy got into the car. Sax faced me, a look of concern on his face for me as he took me in. Locking down my features, I sat up straighter, smoothed down my suit. Assessing my sister, I noticed she looked okay, even better, maybe. A foreign emotion of hope sat heavily on my chest at the prospect of therapy helping. I needed some reclamation for that night, and I prayed she would find it by talking with Mrs. Carter.
* * *
The musiclightly lofted through the crack in my door as I scoured the excel spreadsheets, giving me pause. Immy. She hadn't played in almost six months now, and I'd missed hearing her melodies as I walked through our home. Imogen was a talented piano player, and it only firmed my belief that she was too good for this life. She could have a whole future outside of this place, and I wished she would.
Sax's knock had me raising my head from my reflection. When I made eye contact, he stepped in, shutting the door and effectively cutting off Immy's melody.
"Have you found anything?" he questioned, straight to the point as he sat down in the chair across from me. I stared, surprised he could fit in it comfortably with his muscular frame.
"I'm able to tell when the discrepancy starts. It's just where it's going that's still a mystery."
"So, you've pinpointed where it's leaking from?"
"Yep."
"Care to share, asshole?" he chuckled at my nonanswer. I was being difficult on purpose. Sax was the only person I could be a shit to and get away with it without any blowback.
"As we expected," I smirked. "Most appears to come from Joel's operations, but I did find something fishy in Marcel's as well. I'm wondering if they were both involved, or if one is a cover-up to throw suspicion. I highly doubt my father would've allowed two people to steal from him. It's more likely that he was using one of them to siphon money for himself."
"Seems Dayton had been preparing for this for a while then," Sax mused.
"It does appear that way." I brushed away the anxiety that coursed through me at his revelation.
"What's the play here?"
"We need to plant someone we trust in both operations and see what they can find. It feels more complex than just the money."
"Agreed. Jasper is under Marcel. He's trustworthy and loyal to you. And… maybe Hugo for Joel."
"Can you set something up with them? Have them meet us at the fight."
"Will do. Any other plays at the moment?"
"No. It's more a wait-and-see thing, which I hate. But we need intel before we can make a move. Any news on our Delgado spy?"
"No. He's been suspiciously quiet. I'll have one of the guys run by his place."
"Good."
Saving the sheet, I placed it in my secure server folder before exiting. It was way too easy nowadays to get access to things, so I was as thorough as possible. I was sifting through my emails when Sax spoke again. I'd forgotten he was still here, zoned in to what I had to do next.