He turned to the men gathered, addressing them, “This is your one chance to leave with me if you want to join the true Mascro family. After I leave this place, you will be my enemy if you’re not with me. You can decide for yourself which boss you want to serve, but I think we all know which one is the correct choice.”
He strutted out, men and women following him as he did, and we stood there, too shocked to do anything. Dayton stopped before he walked out the door, looking at his sons one last time. “Nicolai, this is your chance to prove to me I made the wrong choice in which son to raise as my successor.” When Nicco didn’t budge, Dayton sighed, hanging his head. “Very well. As a parting gift, you may keep this shithole, and I can’t touch your place in the city, but the estate is mine. Hope you didn’t have anything of value left there. Tell that sister of yours that I’ll be seeing her shortly.”
Atticus jumped off the stage, rage coursing through him now. “You’ll stay away from Imogen if you know what’s good for you,” he seethed.
“Oh, son, haven’t you learned yet? I always win. You can’t win here. You better enjoy the time you have left before I take everything.” He grinned, the smile making my insides boil and freeze over at the same time.
Nicco seemed to realize the threat first and pulled out his phone, calling someone. “Topher, is Loren okay?” When he relaxed his shoulders, Atticus and I exhaled with him.
“Check on Immy. Tell Beau it’s Rapunzel time. We need to retreat and reconvene before going off on a half-built plan. Tell everyone to meet back in the hotel. I don’t trust the mansion.” Atticus turned, looking out at the men still gathered. They looked weary but had stayed; that counted for something.
“Thank you all for staying. I won’t let my father take everything we’ve earned away. We’ll fight against him, but we have to be smarter. He’s been ahead of us this whole time, playing from the shadows, but now he’s out in the open, no longer hidden. It’s time we remind him who we are and not the mimicry he’s made our family into. If you’re with me, you’re with me.”
“We’re with you. We are Mascros.” The words filled the space, stealing my spine with some confidence that we weren’t screwed.
Picking up my phone, I dialed Imogen, remembering my tasks. “Hey, Sax. Are you coming to the center? I have something I can’t wait to show you all.”
“Imogen, listen closely. I hate to tell you this way, but I don’t trust him not to bombard you to try to take you by surprise. Your father, he’s not dead. He’s here, and he’s taking over the family. I need you to stay put until we get you. Do you understand?”
“I’m ready for this, Sax. You don’t have to baby me.” Her voice was filled with determination.
I closed my eyes, biting my knuckles as I tried to keep my scream controlled. “Imogen. No. This isn’t the time to run off acting like a hero. We need to take cover, so we don’t give him the advantage right now. Please.” When she didn’t say anything, I held my breath, knowing it was a choice I wouldn’t be able to make—to go after her or Spitfire.
“Fine,” she huffed. “But I want in on everything. I’m not a wilting flower, and I deserve to be part of this.”
“Absolutely, princess. Put Beau on the line.”
After going over what went down with Beau, he understood the plan. I’d given him all of two seconds to decide if he wanted out, praying he wasn’t going to stab us in the back. As I glanced around the room, I counted twenty men and five women. If we assumed the family that hadn’t shown up were already on Dayton’s side, we’d lost over three hundred members tonight. It wasn’t good for us.
“Climax is ironclad in my name, so he can’t take it, no matter what he tries. Evolve he may try to reclaim. It’s Upswing I’m the most worried about,” Atticus said when I walked over to where he was. “Imogen?” he asked, and I nodded, indicating she was good and I understood our situation.
“The princess is secure. She’s not going to make this easy, though.”
“I didn’t think she would. I’m just glad she’s not in a corner rocking herself.”
“Definitely not.”
Pixel walked out a minute later, skipping as she entered the room. “Hello, Cous. Did you get my text? Good. So, now what? I never get to travel, so know of any good places we can go?” She danced on her feet, her body moving in every direction as she watched Mas.
“This isn’t the best time, my non-dead father just staged a coup, and we’re scrambling.”
“Fuck. I still need to go and take out the trash. I promised the golden one,” I sighed, rubbing my head.
“Oh, that sounds like fun,” she sang, lifting up on her toes in excitement and clapping.
“No!” Nicco, Mas, and I all said at the same time.
“Geez, touchy. Fine. Order my guard to take me somewhere then.”
“What part of ‘we are under attack’ makes you think it’s the perfect time to go clubbing?”
“Um, the under attack part?” She screwed up her face, looking at us like we were the dumb ones. “If you’re gonna die in the morning, might as well fuck someone good the night before.”
“Just, ew, gross. I can’t take you.”
Pixel rolled her eyes, not impressed with us. “Fine. What can I do to help then? I’m trained in Jiu Jitsu, Krav Maga, a whiz with the tech, and science.” She cracked her knuckles. “Give me something to do.”
An idea popped into my head, and I looked at her, smiling genuinely for once. “How good are you at making a chemical to kill someone that can’t be traced?”