Page 106 of The Boss

He nodded. “Christos and I did our best. We smashed a few cellphones along the way so videos wouldn’t surface.”

“Ouch.”

“Hey. It felt damn good for a change. What about this meme the bastard left on the dark web?”

“A method of provoking my anger.”

“It provoked mine.”

Shaking my head, I had to admit I felt the same, but it would do no good to act out until Shane was found. “Whatever happens, I want to ensure you’re prepared to take over if necessary.”

“Are you talking about the operation? Sure? As long as I get a piece of skin or a head out of the deal.” His grin faded when I didn’t explain. “Whoa. You’re talking about the entire family business. The regime.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Don’t go there, Dimitrios. You wouldn’t allow me to do anything stupid and I won’t allow you to either. That’s bullshit.”

“Not bullshit, brother. Reality. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but I will not allow Willow to be hurt any more than she already has. Certainly not physically.”

“Jesus. You’ve changed around her.”

“Is that such an atrocious concept?”

“Not unless it derails everything you’ve worked to achieve.”

“I have everything I could possible want in life and all the toys and properties mean nothing to me,” I admitted.

“Wow.”

I could tell he wanted to say more to me in private about Willow, which was why he hadn’t opened his mouth around the rest of the family.

“Go on. I can tell when you have something on your mind by the look in your eyes,” I told him.

His laugh had been the same since the day he turned fourteen and his voice had changed. “As I said, you’ve changed. I realize you have a plan in motion, but you should be careful.”

“I don’t wholeheartedly believe any longer that Shane is the murderer.”

“Maybe not, but someone around him is. That doesn’t mean he’s not culpable for the murders.”

“True, but then I’ll deal with it.”

“I know you will, but at what price? You’re serious about dying and that disturbs the fuck out of me. I applaud you for your conviction in wanting to keep Willow safe, but not at the price of your life. That’s not going to happen. I also worry about your frame of mind.”

He wasn’t the kind of man to become sheepish around anyone, but he knew better than most how I felt about discussing the past.

“My frame of mind is fine. I have everything under control.”

“Are you certain about that, Dimitrios? You’re hurting now. You’re feeling the brunt of guilt, but that doesn’t belong to you. Delphina’s death wasn’t your fault. And going to heroic methods to save Willow’s life won’t change the past.”

“Like hell I wasn’t to blame.” I held my breath to keep from exposing the pain I did feel. “I also started a goddamn war because of it.”

“A goddamn war was started because two fucking assholes decided to rearrange our faces. A father decided to destroy the life of his daughter. How is that your fucking fault?”

The bar fight we’d been in had gotten ugly. Havros had almost lost his life, our father mortified at our behavior. We’d been lucky one or both of us hadn’t ended up in prison.

“Come on,” he pushed. “You and I both know what happened that day on Corfu. We also know why.”

“She was killed because of me.”

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