Page 49 of Take My Throne

Chapter Eighteen

The boys and I all gather in Archer’s place so we could plan what to do about my father. We regularly keep notepads with us so we can carry out conversations without my father being able to hear us. There is a definite skill to being able to say something verbally while writing something completely different, but we’ve had a bit of practise and it works for us.

Declan and Romy talk about a movie they’d recently seen, so if my father did listen in, there’d be nothing interesting for him to hear. It killed me not to be able to kiss any of them, but the thought of him or any of his guards hearing us creeps me out.

So, are you still okay about going forward with this? Archer writes. I’ll understand if you want to back out. We’ll all respect your choice.

Are you kidding? I reply. I want that man gone. He and Lucas have been having a lot of meetings recently and Lucas won’t tell me what they’re about. I’m really worried about what they’re planning together. The sooner we deal with my dad, the better.

Good, Archer says. Now the first thing we need to do is figure out how we can get him on his own. If we can just get him away from his guards, it’ll be easy to take him out. Do you have any ideas about that?

I thought about asking him to come out to dinner with me, I say. He’s soarrogant, he’d genuinely believe I want to spend time with him. But he’d insist on bringing his guards with him, and I can’t think of a good reason why he should leave them behind. If I say I wanted some time alone with him, he’d just order them to the other side of the room. And then we’ve got the problem of being in a public place. I don’t want any of you to get in trouble with the police.

Don’t worry about that, Archer says. All our families have close connections with the police, and they’d be more than happy to see Solomon gone. I think you’ll find that any evidence connected to his death will mysteriously go missing.

Okay, I say. So, we have the start of a plan. I don’t really know the best places to eat in this town. Where would you recommend as the best place to stage an assassination?

Declan motions for me to pass him the pen and paper. Archer takes over talking to Romy, the discussion turning to the best Netflix shows to binge watch.

My father owns a restaurant which would be perfect, Declan writes. I can get him to seat you in a booth out of sight of the other diners. We can poison one of his dishes and bam, job done!

No. I shake my head. I want to kill him myself. Do you think you can get a gun to me?

A gun? Are you sure? You’re not exactly the best shot.

I blush at the memory of shooting Declan’s father. That’s exactly why I want to shoot him. It’s the perfect revenge. And there’s no way I can miss from that distance.

Archer glances over at what we’ve written and motions for the paper.

I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, he says. It’s much harder than you’d think to shoot someone. If you can’t pull the trigger, it’ll spoil everything. Solomon will know you plotted against him. If he doesn’t kill you, he’ll lock you up for the rest of your life-–and I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do to make sure he has another blood heir. It’s not worth the risk.

I shake my head violently. I want to be the one to kill my father. It is my birth right!

Romy takes the paper from Archer.

Listen to him, Ivy, he says. More than anyone, Archer would know how hard it is to shoot someone at point blank range.

How would he know?

I look at Archer, but he shakes his head. He isn’t going to tell me that story right now, and maybe not ever.

Poison is a better option, Archer assures me.

But what if they get the plates mixed up? I ask. How would you feel if I was the one who ended up poisoned? I don’t feel safe doing that.

Just don’t order the same thing as Solomon. It’ll be obvious.

What if he gets suspicious and makes me try his food? I shake my head. No. This isn’t a good plan. My father’s way too sneaky for that to work. If it was easy to poison him in a restaurant, he’d have died years ago. You have to let me shoot him.

No.

I sigh and slump back in my seat, arms folded. This is a debate that could go on for hours, both of us as stubborn as each other.

Romy picks up the paper. I have another idea. If Ivy can get her dad to agree to go out to dinner with her, we’ll know where he is, right?

We all nod.

So we can arrange for an ambush on his way home, Romy says. He’ll be all relaxed after eating good food so he won’t be expecting anything. My family’s men will deal with his guards and if you want to be the one to take out your father, Ivy, we can make it happen. If it turns out you can’t pull the trigger when the moment comes, that’s okay. There’ll be plenty of other people there who are willing to do it for you.

---