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“Let Valentina live. Let her take over the Doubeck and the Novak holdings, and before you kill me, I’ll ensure the five don’t come anywhere near the council for it,” I say.

It’s a bold move to threaten them and then try to mitigate my own threat. It’s only by the reputation of my men that she’s considering it. Many in society fear them, as much as they want to steal them away for themselves.

I can see the gears turning in her little mind. It’s worth it to her…she’s going to ask for proof that I can keep them tethered even after my death. I don’t bother sharing. I won’t need to. The second I die, their duties will fall to protecting Valentina and my heir. Not a single one would fail to heed that dictate, or else Kai would ensure they learned their lesson the hard way.

As if he knows I’m thinking about him, Kai rolls over, his face swollen and bloody, and struggles to his knees. The guards immediately move in and secure his hands to another loop in the floor.

Excellent job decorating these assholes have done.

I turn my attention back to the councilwoman, who doesn’t seem the least bit concerned by Kai’s rousing. It’s time to press her into a decision, and hopefully, one that doesn’t have me playing horse to her rider. The very thought makes me want to gag. Death might be preferable.

“What do you say, Councilwoman? Do we have a deal? I’ll want it in writing as well, as long as I’m being clear about things.”

Her eyes narrow, and she stares back and forth between us. One by one, she looks, and she sneers, “I’m tired of these games. You’re only stalling for time and making things worse for yourselves. From where I stand, I’ll just kill you all and be done with the entire Doubeck and Novak lines. It will save me a lot of trouble and a lot of money once I bid on your holdings after your deaths.”

I file that little nugget away to the back of my mind and scramble for something else to offer her. Something that will give me enough leverage to save Valentina and our child. Kai and Andrea brought themselves into this room, knowing my main priority would be my wife. Their fate is on them now. Luckily, I won’t be alive to mourn my failures.

“Councilwo—” I begin.

She snaps her hand closed like a sock puppet. “I’m tired of listening to you speak. We are done negotiating.”

A deep, ragged voice comes from behind me. “Then maybe you’ll negotiate with me,” Kai says.

I hang my head, cursing him. Why won’t he stop when he knows he’s lost? It’s always been a flaw of his. No matter how hard he’s hit the mat, he never stops fighting unless he’s unconscious. I don’t appreciate it right now, especially if it gets Valentina killed.

“Will you shut the hell up and sit there? That’s an order.”

Kai ignores me this time and directs his attention to the councilwoman. “You can put these individuals on trial if you want, but anything they confess is a moot point. I’m the only one in this room who knows where to find the bodies.”

A liquid cold chill races through me, and I glance back at him again. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Valentina struggles from her chair, her eyes filling with tears, locked on Kai. There’s something they aren’t telling me, something they planned, like this coup, that is about to get Kai utterly condemned.

“You forget, I can just kill you along with all your little friends.”

Kai clears his throat heavily, coughing up blood. It dribbles over his lips and down his chin. “Well, considering I’ve been streaming this entire meeting to the society internet forums since I got here, I suggest you take my confession as a win and let Mr. and Mrs. Doubeck go free.”

Her mouth pops open like a fish, and she stares at Kai for too long. When she gets her voice back, she stutters, “You l-lie. There’s no way to get a signal into this building. You were searched for weapons; the guards would have found a camera.”

Kai shifts forward and tilts his head down to one of the buttons on his shirt. “Not if they weren’t looking at it the right way. I also happen to be good at getting signals in and out of places where they shouldn’t. Test me, Councilwoman, or take my confession, lock me up, and give the Doubecks the courtesy they deserve as the reigning heads of two of society’s great families. Or else…when it comes time to vote for council member seats again, you might have a little trouble getting nominated, no matter how many you take out of the running with your bullets.”

Again, she flops her mouth open. The rest of the council is sitting up a little straighter, each casting their eyes around as if their invisible audience is in the room with us. Fucking Kai and his goddamn toys. I should have known he would plan something like this.


Tags: J.L. Beck Crime