Page 70 of With This Ring

A smile tweaks Declan’s lips as he looks from Carter to me. “Bet it hurts to know I was right, don’t it?”

“More than you know,” I answer honestly.

Carter rolls his eyes. “Look, the man is in the basement. He’s your kill. Take care of it. My apology to you.”

Declan looks at me again. “I don’t like you.”

I shrug. “That’s fine. I ain’t goin nowhere.”

“I know. I don’t like you, but I wouldn’t disrespect your house and kill someone that didn’t deserve it. Especially the day your father was buried. Charlie was a cunt, but my Dad taught me better than that.”

That’s probably as much as I’ll get from Declan. Unlike Carter, he doesn’t let go of grudges. He isn’t disrespectful in front of the men, and he follows whatever orders Carter or I give him. He doesn’t have to like me; he just has to respect me.

He also has a point. Pop was a cunt. He was a fucking selfish asshole that wanted me and my husband dead. And after he had us out of the picture—if he had it his way—he would have goneafter Declan and Dominic. He would have failed, but I know Pop would’ve tried. He was a greedy, irresponsible son of a bitch.

“Come back here when you’re done,” Carter says when Declan turns his back. “I want to talk to you about possibly going on the offensive with the Fensters. They started the war, but I plan to fucking finish it.”

Declan takes his leave and Carter and I go back to looking over floor plans for the new casino.

After the funeral, I reached out to the IRS to pay off the taxes for The Reef. I had to put a lien on St. Clair Constructions to guarantee I’d pay it in full, which pissed me off more than I can describe. He fucked around with his money and my business has to suffer. Carter said he’d give me all the money, but I didn’t want the IRS in my business about where I got eleven million dollars so quickly. He didn’t like that solution, but it was the best we had.

Thirty minutes later, Declan comes back to the office with a smile on face. “Haven’t had a kill where they didn’t beg for their lives in a while. That was fun.”

I shake my head. Only Declan would think that was fun. I like when they beg. I like their screams, their agony.

Declan is weird.

Shaking his head, Carter waves his brother over. He moves the casino floor plans out of the way to show another set for a large mansion. “Come look at this. This is supposed to be the floor plan for Anthony’s house. They probably won’t be there, but we can raze it, set that bitch on fire to draw them out. If not that, we can start going after their businesses.”

Declan shakes his head. “They’ll expect that. Imagine the traps they’d have. They would expect us to go there first. We have to look deeper. Where else would they be hiding? What other properties do they own? Other aliases? You’re thinking toosmall for someone like Anthony. This is shit Dad and Charlie’s generation would do.”

Carter told me that Declan had a strategic mind and I’m seeing it firsthand. Honestly, I never would have thought the Fenster’s would be elsewhere. With the arrogance they displayed with the very public attack on us at the charity gala, I would have thought they’d stay put to prove a point. But they don’t want to die. They want us to. The simplest way for them to accomplish that is for us to race to their house, half-cocked and possibly get ourselves blown to fucking high heaven.

Pushing my hand through my hair, I look up at Declan. “What do you suggest?”

He shrugs. “Research. It’s been over a week, and we haven’t retaliated. They’ll probably try something before too long to draw us out. We can’t fall for it. If we do, we’ll all die.” His earnest eyes bore into me and I give him a nod.

Of course he’s right, even though I don’t want to give him the credit. I don’t really care for Declan, but I won’t be a dumbass and not take his advice.

Rounding the desk, Carter takes a seat and opens his laptop. He presses a few keys and turns it around to Declan. “Do your research. We need to figure out where the fuck they are. Now.”

Declan pulls a chair closer to the laptop and starts whatever his work is.

My phone pings as I stare at Declan’s fingers moving across the keyboard. I have no clue what he’s looking for, but he seems on a mission.

Absently, I pull my phone out and see an email notification. I haven’t gotten an email in ages.

I open it up and see a video file titled VERY IMPORTANT. A message follows.

This isa video of the last will and testament of Charles Joseph St. Clair. Please view and contact attorney Grace Zeller with any questions at 340-555-7979.

Waving Carter over,I show him. “What do you think?”

“Spam?”

Shrugging, I show Declan. He stops what he’s doing and presses something on my phone. “Looks like it came from a legit email.” He looks at Carter. “Is this computer encrypted?” Carter nods. “Log in to your email here and we’ll check it out. If it’s some bullshit, it won’t infect any of Carter’s files.”

Declan vacates his seat and allows me to log into my email to view the video. As far as I know, Pop didn’t have a written will. He was too arrogant to think he could die. The only saving grace is I was listed as co-owner for a lot of his businesses without my knowledge. I’m also familiar with his contacts for his drugs and gun sales, so it’s been easy to continue those relationships.

---