Page 10 of Havoc

“There’s literally no words for this.”

“We better get into it soon, I don’t want Naomi to come and find out what we’re doing. She still has enough contacts in this business to keep her stake.”

“I wouldn’t worry about her for now.”

“Why is that?” I inquired.

“She’s busy.”

I moved in front of York, my silence demanding an answer. I really did grow tired of his short answers. Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited.

“Ebony is having someone keep an eye on her.”

“Who’s the poor boy?” I asked, knowing there was only one thing that could entertain my mother and that was a younger man.

“Hadrian, he’s a good worker. He’ll do us proud.”

I didn’t know Hadrian, but if York vouched for him, I had no doubt he’d be great. A couple of days without Naomi would be great for me. I could truly invest myself in learning what my father had hidden and take my seat. Whenever a leader died, their seat at the table of the global syndicate was up for grabs, it didn’t always pass down to the eldest son which is why I was more than capable of taking over. It usually took a couple of weeks to decide, so I had to act fast.

York guarded his secrets close to his chest, which is how I wanted to be. I wanted to be able not to care anymore, but I was still angry even after my asshole father was dead. I was angry at everyone who acted like it was so great to see me when they hadn’t even tried to defy Gideon and come and save me.

“Well I feel sorry for him anyway,” I said. “She may not look her age but there’s only so much surgery you can have to hide the fact you’re old and have adult children.”

York smirked. “All right, I’ll get some tools and we’ll crack the wall.”

“There’ll be a faster way to get to it.”

“You seriously don’t want to smash through that face?” York asked.

“On second thought, I’d love for you to get your tools.”

He took off and left me in the room I was never allowed in growing up. It felt somewhat odd to be standing in it now. It was smaller than I remember, the carpet wasn’t as white as it once had been and the curtains weren’t as heavy as my memory allowed. It was funny how one room which you once thought was the biggest and most impressive was nothing but just another room in the house.

Once York got back, I took a sledgehammer from him and moved over to the wall. I looked up into the painted eyes of my father, wondering if maybe he had been human once. He wasn’t the man I grew up idolizing that was for sure, and his death was far too fast for my liking. I knew York was watching me, but for the first time I didn’t care. This was my arena and he would damn well wait if I wanted him to wait.

I swung at the wall and felt the sledgehammer crack the nose of my father. A crack divided across his face and toward my mother’s, and I felt an odd sense of accomplishment. Picking it up again, I swung again, this time at her face. Over and over again, I swung until I heard something metallic.

“That’s it.”

York helped me smash around the spot, and soon, a safe appeared on the wall. It was huge, almost the size of my entire torso, mounted into the wall.

“Any chances on the combination?”

I looked to him, a look of derision on my face. “Really?”

“I know a guy,” York said, pulling out his phone.

“Fine, doubt we can keep Hadrian distracting my mother that long though.”

“Ebony’ll have it handled,” he said. “Did you forget how talented she can be?”

How could I? She’d spent so many nights with me, drilling fear and doubt into my brain, forcing me to break over and over again. But she was also someone who helped me once I had broken enough.

I could never get a handle on Ebony. She was a loose cannon. I never wanted to be reckless like that, rather I wanted to be ruthless, cold, and brutal, but I needed to have a sense of sanity about me.

“I need to take care of something in the meantime,” I told him. “Call me when your man arrives.”

York nodded, but I could tell he was curious about my actions. He and Jett were here to help me claim my seat but I think they were also here to make sure I didn’t make any stupid moves. I was their pet…for now anyway.

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