Page 91 of Vicious Vows

"What the fuck!"

"Shit!"

The crowd erupted, some people rushing toward the doors and others pulling their own weapons.

"Lionel, what the -" Before I could get the words out of my mouth, he swung the butt of his gun against the back of my head, and I went down hard. The world spun, and darkness pulled at the edges of my vision.

"Well, that was unfortunate; I'd love for Kumar here to have seen the upcoming changes." Lionel's voice came to me in waves but even nearly passed out I could tell how out of sorts he was. How had I missed it for this long?

I rolled to my front and struggled to get up but someone was there to help me.

Cole.

He wasn't a friendly face, in fact, he held a gun in his good hand, and it was pointed at me. I looked around the room, and stationed at every door was a member of my guard, except they weren't coming to my rescue; they were there for Lionel. He'd infiltrated every level of my organization right under my nose.

"Esteemed guests, don't be alarmed. I'm not here to harm anyone; in fact, this is still a cause for celebration. The weak links in the Lochley family are about to be no more."

"And what happens when you take over? Do you think we'd do business with you after you pulled a stunt like this?" Gene, the leader of the Connolly family, says out loud from the crowd. He'd been doing business with my father for nearly a decade. It made sense that he'd have a gripe about Lionel trying to take over.

"You're free not to want to do business with me, but it might make life decidedly more difficult. After all, I'm the one who set up most of the deals with the lot of you anyway. I know what you need, and as it stands, after all this is done, I'm going to be the only one who'll be able to get it for you." Lionel explained. It was true I might have been the face of our family, but Lionel was the one pulling together all the orders.

"Now, to get the dirty business over with." Lionel walked over to my father and pressed his gun to his head.

"Even if you kill me, you'll never be man enough to take my seat. You're less than a man, Lionel. You're a fucking snake." My father spat blood at him and looked away.

Just like my father to get one last dig in before he went off to meet his maker.

"Well, this snake is about to destroy everything you've ever worked for." Lionel snarled.

"Lionel, wait!" I shouted and reached up to stop him, but it was too late.

The loud boom, followed by the flash of light, let me know that my brother had done the unthinkable. Our father fell down in front of me, blood pooling under his body, breathless.

"So, how does it feel?" Lionel asked me, but I was too focused on the scene before me. I hated my father, at least I thought I did. Turns out I didn't hate him enough to really want him dead."

Lionel grabbed a handful of my hair and wrenched my head back so I was looking up at him. Pain radiates through my body, and I fight to keep myself conscious. The room was still spinning, and I was sure I had a concussion.

"I asked you how it feels!"

"How does what feel?" I gritted.

"You got your wish. His empire is yours." Lionel stepped back and spread his arms out as if to show me what I'd just won.

I ground my teeth together and stared at him. Nothing was worth this.

I wasn't concerned with my supposed empire; all I cared about was my wife. "Where's Faye?"

Lionel blinked a few times before he broke out into a wide smile. "Figured that out, did you?" Lionel lifted his head to speak to the crowd, "Ladies and gents, I'd like to let you know of another traitor in your midst. All of us operate with the utmost discretion. What happens between us is at the height of secrecy, but there's an outsider among us."

"Get off me! Let me go!" Faye screamed, and another one of my men walked through the door, dragging her behind him.

I struggled to get to my feet and help her, but the more I tried, the more my head spun. "Let her go!"

"I'd like to introduce you to Faye, Dominic's wife. She didn't know anything about our life. She was an upstanding, law-abiding citizen until he brought her in, and now she has information about each and every one of you. She's tried to escape more than once to drop a dime, I can only assume. She's a risk in our world, one we don't need to take, but Dominic decided to keep that a secret from all of us. Tried to sneak her in right under our noses. Is that the man you all want to follow behind?" Lionel asked the audience.

"Kill her." Marisa hissed, "Kill her and be done with it."

"No! Kill me. You're mad at me, Lionel. Faye had nothing to do with this." Once again, I tried to move toward her, but it felt like my knees were welded to the ground.

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