Page 70 of Prodigal

Jorge was one of Gideon’s men who was out on a special assignment, keeping watch over somebody integral to Gideon’s plans. He hadn’t known when that somebody would come in handy, but apparently, today was the day. “I’m sure.”

Samir pulled out his phone and turned away, and Gideon climbed into the SUV, André joining him.

“What happens next?” André asked.

“Technically, you’re safe. You needed three votes against you to halt the process, but there’s only one, so you’re good. Still, I want answers.”

The vehicle door opened and Ennis climbed in. “You think you can command me? You’re not?—”

Gideon rammed his fist into the bastard’s face. “I can do whatever the fuck I want to you, Canto. And you can’t do shit about it.” He watched with a smug kind of satisfaction as blood dripped from the fucker’s nose down to his chin. “I want to knowwhy you made us go through all this shit if you were just going to turn around and humiliate him.”

“He’s safe.” Ennis wiped his nose with his sleeve. “He has the votes.”

“But not yours, right?” André asked. “You brought me into this thing. I wanted nothing to do with it but you brought me in, and when you could have shown that you supported me and that I had your trust and confidence, you decided to fuck me over instead?”

“I don’t trust him.” Ennis pointed at Gideon. “Look what he did to me. I’m your father and you’re letting him treat me like this?”

“You’re nothing to me,” André told him. “All you are is a stranger.”

Hurt flashed in Ennis’s eyes.

“Change your vote,” Gideon told him. “He’s your proxy. How does it look that you don’t cast a vote for your own fucking proxy? They won’t respect him if you don’t.” And he wasn’t going to let that happen.

“I’m not gonna do that.”

Gideon shrugged. “Okay.” He tapped on the SUV door and Samir ducked his head in just long enough to hand Gideon an iPad. “Jorge.” He greeted the man on the screen who had a balaclava on his face to hide his identity.

“What’s up, boss?”

“Show him to me.” The video panned away from Jorge to show a man kneeling on a carpeted floor, bound and gagged. Gideon enlarged the video and handed the iPad to Ennis. “Recognize him?”

Ennis went deathly pale.

“He’s your twice-a-week appointment. Has been for the past five years...”

“Winters, don’t?—”

“Toby, right? Just a few years older than your own son. You were fucking him while you were married to your daughter’s mother. Out of all the men you’ve had, he’s lasted the longest.” Gideon smiled. “That tells me you have some kind of tender feelings for him.”

“Winters.” All that pleading in Ennis’s voice.

“My father was the one to tell me about him. Yes, he’s always known your secrets. I didn’t know when I’d have use for Toby, but today seems perfect.”

“Don’t hurt him.”

“But you could hurt your son? Nobody hurts André while I’m alive. Nobody. And that goes for you most of all.” Gideon grabbed the iPad back from Ennis’s trembling hands. “Now, I’m going to tell you one last time, change your vote.”

“I—” Ennis licked his lips, gaze darting from Gideon’s face to the iPad. “Okay, fine. I’ll change it.”

Gideon smiled. “See, that wasn’t so hard.” He held up the iPad and spoke to Jorge. “Jorge, stand by.”

“Gotcha.”

They returned to the barn, Ennis casting his vote in favor of his son. There were mumbles among The Council as to what could have transpired during that recess. Gideon didn’t care if Ennis shared or not. He would actually prefer that the old man did, that way everyone would know not to fuck with André.

Once the votes were in and André’s name was added to the permanent proxy list, they were done. They returned to their vehicle, Gideon already itching to get the fuck away from those people.

Standing outside, just before they all piled into their SUVs to head back to the jet, Gideon took the iPad back from Samir.

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