Page 51 of With This Ring

I square my shoulders and look him in the eyes. “Since it’smycasino, inmy name, I’ll be taking over the construction. I’ll be rebuilding in the image I set forth. You’ll have no say in anything I do from here on out.”

“You ungrateful son of a bitch. I wish your mother never dropped you off at my fucking doorstep. You’ve been an embarrassment to this family for years. I should have given the fucking family over to Henry’s son. He’s a real man.” Henry is dad’s right-hand man.

I swallow down the disrespect, my throat tight with hurt. But I don’t let it show. I keep my face blank as he goes off on a tirade about me not being able to do anything right, how I’m a disappointment, that a dog could have done a better job than me. I take it all, watching as his face gets more and more red as he really builds himself up.

When he stops to take a breath, I hold my hand up, stopping him from another burst of insults. “Don’t give a fuck what you have to say, Pop. You’ve said enough over the years to last me a lifetime. But hear me and hear me well. The St. Clair’s belong to me now. You can keep going with your bullshit, but that doesn’t matter to me.” A vein throbs in his forehead, but he doesn’t speak. So, I keep going. “I will be rebuilding Indigo Arc. Every other casino or business in your name is none of my concern. But anything that belongs to me will be mine in more than name.”

My heart thumps hard against my rib cage. I’ve never stood up to Pop like that. Most of the time, he shoots me down before it can get this far. But I’m tired. I’m tired of trying to make him happy. Tired of trying to prove to him that I’m worthy. Tired of him talking down to me when he should love me. I’m hisson. It shouldn’t be this hard to show him that I know what the fuck I’m doing.

He slams the door shut and steps into my space. “You threatening me, boy? I’ll take this fucking family back and continue to run it. This war?—”

“This war will be lost because I’ll divorce Carter and split this fucking alliance apart.” He tries to hide it, but Pop’s eyes widen a fraction. “I will tank this fucking family and all you worked for will go down the fucking drain.” When he just stares at me, I allow a satisfied smile to spread across my face. “I’m more your son than you want to give me credit for. If you fuck with me, Pop,I will let all this shit disappear. The war will be lost because of you.”

I step back, keeping my eyes on him, then turn around and walk away. His angry voice reaches my ears, and I tune most of it out, though some of his words find their target, the insults hitting me like barbs.

It’s been a long time coming, me standing up to Pop, but I feel a weight lifted from my shoulder. I’ll probably still be a little fucked up from his constant abuse, but I don’t have to take it anymore. The St. Clair family is mine. Nothing he says or does can make me change the course of anything I want to do.

Pop no longer has any power over me.

My heart still pounds when I step back into the restaurant, Nico on my heels. “You good?” he asks.

“Where’s my husband?” I reply, voice tight. “Where’s Carter? Where?—”

“I’m right here, baby,” I hear from behind me.

I walk straight into his arms, wrapping my arms around his waist for everyone to see. I’m not weak for being with him. I’m not weak or soft for being gay. I’m not weak for falling for my husband.

With his arms around me, he makes me feel strong. He makes me feel like I’m worth something. He makes me feel whole.

I can’t tell him that right now, but I will. When the time is right, I’ll tell him how I feel and everything he’s done for me. But right now, I want to breathe in his scent, trap it in my lungs and use it as fuel to go forward.

The shackles Pop had on me to make me hate myself are off. They’re gone. It’s up to me to make sure theystaygone. With Carter by my side, I can do anything.

He pulls me away, framing my face. “You okay?”

“Better now.”

Carter searches my eyes, trying to read me. I’m not sure what he sees, but his lips tip up into that crooked smile that I love so much. “Dad said our guys are assembled at that abandoned casino by the pier that he bought ages ago. He wants us to make an announcement that we’re the new heads of the family. We have to make some changes, baby. Our men, together, intermingled. That’s the only way this will work.”

“Okay. Let’s talk about it on the ride over.” Carter nods and motions for Gavin. Nico is already beside me, awaiting my orders. “Both of you will ride with us. We’ll need your ideas too.” Our right hands look at each other with skepticism, but they nod.

We all pile into our cars, the men that came with us following close behind. All of our eyes are peeled, making sure we’re not attacked like Carter was when he went to do his deal with the Dominicans. Since we’re within city limits, I figure we’re safe, but I make sure no one around him tries anything.

Thirty minutes later, we’re all pulling up to the warehouse, but from different directions. It was Carter’s idea not to drive in the same direction together, for fear that one of our cars would be intercepted.

We quickly make our way inside where most of our families are assembled. Neither Pop nor Dominic are there, leaving us to run the show and make the rules. Going forward, there will be some changes made, but they’ll only strengthen both families. Anyone that doesn’t like them can walk.

We both stand in front of our men, looking at them. Some of my guys look openly hostile towards Carter’s and vice versa. We need to be integrated to be as strong as we should be.

Stepping forward, I raise my voice so all can hear me. “Starting today, Carter and I are heads of the St. Clair-Whitlock families. Pop and Dominic have stepped down.” There’s some stirring in the crowd, but no one speaks out of turn. “There will be some changes. For starters, guard duties for our homes willbe a combination of Whitlocks and St. Clair’s. You have to learn to work together so none of us end up with a bullet in our heads.” That gets some shouting from those in the crowd, but Declan steps forward and whistles, silencing everyone.

Carter stands beside me, his shoulder brushing against mine. “This isn’t up for fucking debate. If you don’t like it, there’s the fucking door.” His voice drops to a menacing tone. A shiver that I fight to suppress washes over me. “But if you leave, whether you’re a Whitlock or a St. Clair, you’ll be our enemy and we’ll fucking hunt you down like the disloyal dogs you are.”

Everyone keeps their positions. They don’t look happy about the turn of events, but they know better than to cross either of us. Both our reputations proceed us, as well as Declan’s, who is a fucking menace. If anyone messes with his brother or anything he has going on, Declan will fucking cap them.

Silence stretches as we wait for anyone to break ranks. When they don’t, I continue. “This war isn’t proceeding with any speed, so we need to be fucking vigilant. Carter and I will be working on figuring out who the bastards after us are. In the meantime, don’t do anything stupid. It’ll only fuck us up. Hear this and hear it well. Disobeying anything we say will have you signing your own death warrant. My men know me, but everyone else, don’t think I’m bluffing. I’ve killed men for less.” I pause for effect. “Do not fucking move until we say move. We give the orders. No one will be a fucking cowboy, got it?”

“Any questions?” Carter asks. No one speaks. “Declan will be in charge of security. He?—”

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