“I don’t understand.”
“Monty and I had a plan. You were supposed to fail the initiation and then he would have found a way to send you home. If Harold got his way and Kalen took over – so that a Knox ruled – you would have been safe. Aadi was supposed to take the Rossi seat on the board when the time came, but he is stubborn and refuses to be part of this.”
“Why did you never tell me about Debbie?”
“Laura made me swear not to at the start, and the older you got the harder it became. I wish things were different but they’re not.”
“Harold isn’t a good person. I knew if he found out about you, he would want you dead. My best bet was to make a deal with Monty to keep you safe and he assured me that you would be, so long as his father got his own way.”
“And did you or Monty read the fine print? It states that, since Kalen doesn’t have blood from both parents within the...whatever it’s called...founder families, the only way he can be the sole ruler of the kingdom is to marry me, knock me up, and take my position because he’s a man.”
“I didn’t know. I can’t speak for Monty. I’m so sorry. I planned to tell you everything as soon as I could. If I went against them, they would have sent in an execution team to take me – and anyone standing in their way – out.”
“What about my grandma?”
“Long story... but when I was a boy, I was sent to what you know now as Knox Academy. Her parents were trying to make a deal. Her twin brother had died and they needed a Rossi. Since she was a female and couldn’t take part in The Order, I was sent when it was my turn. Basically, she was pissed. It’s information she shouldn’t have known, but in her brother’s journal he told her everything. She built her own empire here and refuses to work with The Order. There’s a lot more to it but that’s the gist of it.”
“I want to meet her.”
“That isn’t a good idea,” he says, shaking his head.
“I’ll take her,” Smalls says, making his presence known.
“Jason…” My father warns.
“I promise, she is safe with me. I will even take her bodyguards.”
My head snaps between my father and Smalls.
“Bodyguards?”
“You really didn’t think those assholes would send you halfway across the globe after an attack on you, and not have you watched?”
My father looks as surprised as I am.
“Your little psycho friend made an impression on your grandmother, so she allowed some of The Order’s men to keep watch over you. Ordinarily, they would have been taken out as soon as they hit Australian soil.”
“Baxter?” I question and Smalls nods.
What the actual fuck is going on?! My head is swimming with information that I’m not yet processing. All I’ve taken from this is my grandmother is a badass gangster and didn’t let a male dominated industry keep her from building an empire. This is a woman I need to meet.
“Amelie...” my father says.
“Yeah?”
“Do not talk about The Order. Your boyfriends can’t save you if you do.”
I nod in understanding. I follow Smalls out to his car and giggle. I may or may not have raided Chelsea’s craft cupboard last night in a bout of anger. Childish? Yes. Funny as fuck? Hell yes.
I jump in the passenger seat as soon as he opens the door, angling the air vents upwards and away from me. He doesn’t turn on the air straight away, he rolls the windows down to let out the hot air. We make it down the street and to a set of traffic lights before he leans over and turns the dial. I snort, trying to hold in my laugh, but it all happens so quickly. His face turns and is hit with a huge cloud of glitter. I clutch my stomach as tears roll down my face.
“What the fuck?!” he roars.
I compose myself as the asshole behind us honks his horn. Smalls ignores him and tries to dust the glitter off, making it worse as it sticks to the sweat on his face and hands.
“What the fuck, Amelie?!”
“So you are talking to me? I wasn’t sure. I figured after your jealous bullshit and treating me like A-grade shit, that you must have been talking to someone else.”