Page 34 of Prodigal

Gideon sat in the seat his father once occupied, the one that rightfully belonged to him, with his arms folded as he waited. They’d called the meeting and he wanted to see what they had to say.

He didn’t bother looking at Ennis Canto. Just the sight of that motherfucker when he’d walked into the meeting had Gideon wanting to say fuck the plan and just toss a bomb into the building, wiping every-goddamn-body out.

His lips quirked.

That would definitely irritate Samir.

“Some troubling allegations have been brought to our attention.” Chinh Dang opened the meeting without the usual tedious ceremonial bullshit. She was a short woman, her brown bob laced liberally with gray, face unlined, gaze alert. If there was one person on The Council Gideon might be close to respecting, it would be her.

“Ennis.” Chinh motioned for him to speak, and so Ennis began.

“Prislaya and I were having dinner, as we do on occasion, since we’re old friends.”

Gideon rolled his eyes.Old friendswas code forthey used to fuck.

“The Winters ambushed us…”

This guy was like a fucking kid, tattling on his siblings because they didn’t include him in their shenanigans. Gideon’s fingers flexed. If he had his gun on him now, he would shoot that fucker just to shut him up.

He tuned out Ennis and found his mind drifting to the last place it should. Back to André’s bedroom, when it’d just been the two of them and André was fighting the pull between them.

Gideon should have been fighting that pull too, but it felt so easy, so natural. Nothing in his life had ever been that easy. Nothing. He knew what Samir said, and Gideon loved his friend for the warning and the reminder, but it still didn’t matter.

He still wanted André so much that it hurt to leave the house earlier without going to him and checking on him one last time.

Fuck.He scrubbed a hand over his face, returning to awareness just as Ennis got to the end of his sob story about Gideon shooting Prislaya.

Silence reverberated in the large room as everyone turned their gazes to Gideon. They hadn’t wanted him on the dais with them since he hadn’t been formally sworn in.

But did he give a fuck?

He wasThe Winters.He made the fucking rules; they just didn’t realize that shit yet.

But they would.

“Why are we sitting around, allowing this imposter to infiltrate our inner sanctum?—”

Gideon held a hand up, silencing Joseph Morrow before he could spew even more of his bullshit. “Nobody wants to hear you, Joe, so I’d keep your mouth shut if I were you.” Gideon didn’t even look at the old fucker. Instead, he gave Chinh Dang his focus. She hadn’t done anything to disrespect him or earn his ire…yet. “A warning was issued the first time I set foot in here. I told the members of this council I wasn’t easy to kill.” He smirked. “I mean, my presence here speaks for itself. My identity has been confirmed by the blood test you demanded, but still, two sitting members of this very council openly plotted my death.” He paused for effect. “Something we all know is punishable by death if proven.”

On cue, because he was just that good—and also because his people were magicians with technology—a conversation began playing over the conveniently placed hidden speakers. They were tiny, fitting in the palm of his hand, but they were powerful. The tech guys had told him where to place them in the room and he’d done so, discreetly.

Now, The Council had no choice but to listen to Ennis and Prislaya plot Gideon’s death.

He glanced down to where Ennis sat with a blank expression. The older man didn’t look at him, but if he had, Gideon would have saluted him.

For being so fucking stupid.

When the audio ended, Gideon got to his feet. “As is my right, I dealt with the threat Prislaya Chopra posed.”

“Yet Mister Canto is still with us.”

He didn’t know who said that, but Gideon nodded. “Yes. For now. I get to decide when I take my retribution.” He took a breath. “I am not my father. You will not make attempts on my life and continue to draw breath. I will end every fucking one of you and build a new council on top of your rotting corpses.” He took his time meeting the gaze of every single one of them, leaving Ennis for last, and when he held that bastard’s gaze, Gideon said, “I’m not in the habit of issuing warnings, but this is my last one: Come for me and you die.”

His last words rang out in the silence that followed until Chinh Dang said, “We must swear in Prislaya’s proxy and?—”

“No. That seat will remain empty for now.”

The room erupted in an argument that he ignored as he walked away. He didn’t give a fuck about them. He had his mission and he would see it through. No matter what.

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