“What’s the ranking?” I inquired, leaning forward onto my elbows.
“What?” Gunner responded.
“Clearly, there’s some sort of ranking in the way you all sit at the table. It seems Atticus is the lowest member of the group, even though he deals with the money. To me, that seems like it would give him a higher rank, so it isn’t about your role. Hmm… maybe it’s social-based, but that doesn’t make sense either since Gunner would be down with Atticus. It’s clear no one likes you.” I mused aloud.
Gunner spluttered at my words. “What do you mean no one likes me?”
Rolling my eyes, I gave him a knowing look. “Really? No one likes a teacher’s pet, and you, my man, are absolutely filling that role to a T. It might work with my father for whatever reason, but that shit won’t fly with me. Keep it up if you want to see how long you’ll last.”
Gunner gaped at me like he had no idea how to respond, his mind short-circuiting. Ryker couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer and tossed back his head, the rich sound I’d missed filling the air.Fuck,I couldn’t be this bad. His laughter shouldn’t affect me the same way it always had to the point I craved hearing it. Ryker might have been my first love, but I was a different woman now. My guess is he’s changed quite a bit as well.
Clearing my throat, I went back to the question I’d asked before getting sidetracked. “So who’s going to fill me in on the secret code?”
“It’s a combination of things… those who the boss calls on more often than others, who has been around longer, and yeah, who gets along well with each other,” Braxton shared while Ryker tried to compose himself. “The boss lets us choose our spots except for the one reserved for the underboss, which turned out to be you.”
That comment had another question pop into my head. “Were any of you gunning for my place? Remember, I told you to be honest with me. I’d rather know now.”
“No, Miss Astin,” Atticus answered, his tone firm. “Boss made it clear he knew who was going to take that spot, and no one would measure up. If any of us even considered jockeying for that position, we would have been killed.”
“Huh, definitely sounds like a good reason to leave that temptation alone. Well, good,” I said, clapping my hands together. “Glad I don’t have to worry about watching my back or killing one of you in my first week on the job. I’m counting on there being others I’ll have to deal with, but having to find a new lieutenant would be so much work when Father already hand-picked you all.”
“You would kill one of us that easily?” a new voice asked.
Looking down the table at the speaker, I found it was Luca. Those were the first words he’d spoken since I met him last night. I had a strong hunch that silence was the norm for Mr. International. Being in charge of smuggling anything and everything in and out of the country meant keeping your mouth shut. He’d been charged with handling some of the most dangerous people—silence was a wise move.
His hair was short but not shaved off like Jace’s. Instead, it was tight on the sides showing skin but enough on the top for some product. The hoop in his nose gave him an edgy look that added to the fact he was completely covered in black and white tattoos. Since I hadn’t seen him naked, this was my best guess, but from what I could see with his sleeves rolled up and the buttons undone, had me pretty sure.
Luca’s image was the poster child for the mafia aesthetic, and what he lacked in bulk he made up for with the darkness I could see hiding in his amber eyes. This man has killed many times over and would lose no sleep doing it again if it served his purpose.
Why did that thought make me want to rub my legs together to get some friction on my extremely interested lady cave?
“Do you really think I was raised by a mob boss and not taught that life was fleeting?” I asked in return.
“That’s not an answer,” Luca pressed, narrowing his eyes as if he sensed weakness in me.
I closed my eyes for a moment and reached deep inside myself where I hid the reality of my upbringing. After high school when no one would notice the evidence of my training, I was shown the reality of my future. I sometimes wondered if what I’d gone through was how they trained soldiers who needed to understand not to fear death or the feeling of dying. The logic being that getting lost in the panic would kill you faster. Those days were filled with memories I didn’t want to relive, but I needed to pull that cold, detached darkness to the forefront. When I opened my eyes, I met Luca’s gaze, allowing my darkness to greet him. He wanted an answer, so I showed him that what he saw on the outside wasn’t all I had going for me.
His brows rose slightly, the only sign he got the answer he wanted. “All right then, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“What the fuck was that? Some kind of Jedi mind trick or something? What do you need to keep in mind?” Braxton blurted, his head swiveling from left to right, trying to figure out what he missed.
Braxton was an interesting character to me. I know he was the one who instigated that stunt with Jace last night, but Jace had welcomed it, taunting me with that knowledge. Braxton was a playboy, the life of the party, the one everyone wanted to be around. People sought out his attention, craving to be acknowledged and included in the ‘cool’ circle. The funny thing was, I knew it was all an act. The playboy was putting on a good show, creating a wall so no one truly knew who he was. Being flashy enough on the surface kept anyone from trying to look behind the curtain, believing his lies.
“Nothing you need to worry about, pretty boy. Luca and I just came to an understanding, is all,” I dismissed with a wave of my hand.
“Gunner,” I called, snapping him to attention. “I want you to switch spots with Atticus. Luca, you and Jace switch as well. For now, this will be the order you’ll sit in until I ask for it to change.”
“Why?” Atticus asked as he got up and moved to sit to my left.
“That’s for me to know and you to follow orders,” I responded, trying to keep a blank face. “One day I hope you’ll just trust me when I make requests like this. I want what’s best for the business as well as for all of you.”
What would they do if they knew it was because, at this moment, those two were my favorite, and I wanted to sit next to them?
The others were going to have to work for the honor of being my favorite. Although the whole thing will be obvious once they do something to piss me off and banish them to the end of the table. My intuition told me these men were going to be a fun puzzle to figure out. If Father wanted me to trust them with my life, then I would need to know everything about them. There would be no secrets these men have that I don’t know about. Otherwise, I’d have to find people I could trust instead.
eight
Sittinginmynewposition at the foot of the table, furthest from our new underboss, I tried not to show just how pissed I was. First, she called me a brown-noser, saying no one liked me, and then she cast me to the back of the bus like a disobedient child. I had zero fucking problem with her being a woman or in a place of power, but I took issue with her not showing us an ounce of respect. Every one of us busted our asses to earn the right to sit at this table and be her lieutenants.