“This is unacceptable,” Lana protests.
I rise, brushing imaginary dirt from my pants. “Unacceptable? Let’s see… What is unacceptable is how you killed my parents. Torched our home and killed nearly a dozen people in it. How you had the gall to take over the business.” I feign thinking for a moment. “Oh, and how you kidnapped mybrother’s wife. You'd better hope she’s okay or my mercy may end tonight.”
I make a mental note to check in with Ash to see how his wife, Hannah, is doing. She’d been lured by a family still loyal to Hampton and he’d kidnapped her, holding her thinking Ash would come and he’d kill him. Well, surprise. Not only did Ash come, but also the rest of the Ifrinns and an army of friends ready to get rid of Hampton.
"You can rot down here for all I care. Everything you took from us is mine now. Everything you killed for… it all belongs to me."
Hampton grits his teeth. “We’ll see about that. When?—”
My fist flies out, catching him in the jaw, the jolt of it reverberating up my arm. “You need to learn when to shut up.”
I walk out of the room to find my brothers Flint and Blaise leaning against opposite walls of the hallway, matching smirks on their faces. I imagine they’re wondering why I agreed to marry Keira. Why I kissed her.
"Shut up." I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, but Keira's taste refuses to fade.
"Didn't say anything." Flint pushes off the wall, arms crossed.
“I always thought you had a thing for Keira?—”
“I don’t have a thing for her. This is business.”
“Sealed with a kiss?” Flint snickers.
"It's called establishing dominance." Why am I defending myself to these jokers?
Blaise snorts. "Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Because from where I was standing, it looked more like you were trying to devour her face."
"You want to test how dominant I can be?" I step toward him, but Blaise just grins wider.
"Come on, Phoenix." Flint's voice turns serious. "If you hate her this much, why marry her? We’ve got control of the Keans, the house, and shortly, the business. You don’t need?—”
“Because controlling them makes things much easier. With her by my side, anyone who might question my authority won’t. It will make the takeover all the easier, lessen the chance of a war.”
"And the fact that you used to be in love with her has nothing to do with it?” Blaise quips.
How did they know?Keira and I had kept our little summer fling on the down-low. "That was a lifetime ago. Before her family murdered our parents."
"Right." Flint exchanges a look with Blaise. "Because that kiss definitely screamed 'I'm over you.'"
"Focus on the plan." I jab a finger at each of them. "The Keans are going down, and Keira's going to help us do it whether she wants to or not."
"Look, Phoenix. You don't need to do this to yourself. We can find another way to take them down that doesn't involve your being miserable for the rest of your life,” Flint says.
I wave off his concern. "It's just marriage. Hell, Ash got stuck in an arranged marriage and he's doing fine."
Blaise lets out a laugh. "Are you kidding? Ash isn’t doing fine. He’s fucking in love.”
“And I’m glad for it,” Flint adds. “He deserves to let Meghan go and find peace and happiness.”
“Lucky him,” I quip.
“He didn’t marry her to make her miserable.” Flint shakes his head.
"No, that was Blaise."
Blaise gives his signature smirk. "I tried to seduce Jenna out of revenge. I married her because I love her."
“Fuck, you two can be such assholes.” I rake my fingers through my hair. "Let’s focus. Flint, check on Ash and Hannah at the hospital. Make sure Hampton's men didn't do any permanent damage when they grabbed her."
