Page 90 of From the Ashes

Christopher’s eyebrows are comically high on his forehead as everyone at the table digests what they’ve just been told, and I take that moment to insert some more context.

“Last week, Charles and Caleb came to my office at Hills Global, traumatized my assistant, and threatened me, stating that I either assist them in dismantling the Syndicate, or they would continue their attempts on my life. As I’m sure you’re all aware, as per the bylaws, such threats are punishable by death.” I pause, taking a moment to look at each of the leaders and their heirs. “I would like to call on a vote to have both Charles Davenport and Caleb Black killed for their attempts on my life.”

There’s a moment of silence, immediately followed by shouting from all three sides of the table.

“You have no proof. It’s all hearsay,” Charles yells from the other end of the table.

“You can’t come in here demanding things like this. That’s not how the Syndicate works,” Miriam snaps.

A slow smile drags up the corners of my lips. “Actually, we do have proof. My office has cameras, including sound, so I have the whole interaction on video.”

“Plus, I can vouch for Caleb trying to kill not just Camilla, but every other member of the Syndicate as well,” Noah adds.

I force myself to hold Charles’s cold eyes because I refuse to back down from him. He wanted to make me weak. He wanted to show the families I wasn’t fit to be in my position because of something as stupid as my age, and now I’m going to take him down.

“Very well,” Crew says. “Before we vote, do you have anything to say for yourselves? Or does anyone have any questions?”

“How did you survive all these years without us knowing you were alive?” Miriam asks Caleb.

He chuckles and leans back in his seat, unaffected by the fact we’re about to vote on whether he dies today. It’s a wild card whether the other families will vote the way they should, but if they come for me again, I have every right to defend myself, and now that it’s been brought up in a meeting, there will be no repercussions if I am the one that kills them.

This is just a formality, regardless of the outcome.

“The details of what I’ve been up to for the last three years are not important,” Caleb says. “What I think is more appropriate for us to be voting on is whether the Syndicate should be dissolved altogether.”

“You don’t get a vote, seeing as you’re not part of the five families, nor are you part of the Syndicate.” Noah turns to face him, his cold, icy eyes falling on the man who has caused us so much pain for us all recently.

That earns him a glare from Caleb, but he doesn’t back down.

“This is going around in circles. What I want to know is why the two of you have made attempts on the life of a leader of the five families. You both know that’s against the bylaws, which means you’d want to have a good reason for your actions.” Christopher folds his arms over his chest and leans back in his seat, flicking his eyes to his Greyson before returning them to Charles at the other end of the table.

“As I’ve said in the past, I’m not happy with how things were handled after John De Marco was killed, and so I decided to take things into my own hands. For a while, I’ve been sick of following an outdated contract, and I’m certain you all are as well. There was a time when we had free run of the city to do as we pleased so long as we didn’t step on each other’s toes, and I propose we return to that model, making the Syndicate obsolete.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that also the time when we were at war more often than not because we were stepping on each other’s toes?” Donovan asks, earning him a glare from his mother.

“But we know better than that now. The tension between the families is at an all-time low, and we could continue to work together without needing someone to watch us like naughty children and take a quarter of all the money we make.”

“Says the man who was blowing up my phone earlier because Christopher underpaid you and you wanted to make sure I knew about it before our meeting today,” Crew points out.

I barely catch the laugh that tries to escape. If I wasn’t sitting in this room watching it all go down, I would think you were lying about how absurd this whole situation is.

Christopher turns his glare on Charles, who looks anywhere but at the man in question.

Oh, this is just too much fun.

“We’re getting off track,” Caleb barks.

“You’re right, we are. It’s obvious the Syndicate is still in place for a reason, and therefore we will not be voting on that today,” Bishop says. “In the coming months, we will discuss how we are going to move forward. However, that decision is not up for discussion this afternoon, and therefore all current bylaws are still in place.”

“You can’t?—”

“But I can,” Bishop snaps. “However, we are going to vote on whether the two of you can continue breathing the same air as the rest of us.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

CAMILLA

Iswallow past the lump in my throat, reminding myself it doesn’t matter what the outcome of this vote is because there’s a good chance it won’t go the way it should.

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