Page 123 of Brutal King

“Scar!”

“He’s family,” I say to Gunn. “He needs me.”

“You’re not ready.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m going.”

Gunn lets out a long breath, but nods in agreement. Not that he could stop me, even if he wanted to.

“How long will it take you to get here?” Gideon asks.

“We’re in the Poconos.”

“The Poconos? I thought you were going to Costa Rica,” he says. “Or New Orleans.”

“What can I say? I didn’t want to be too far from home.”

“We’ll see you two in an hour,” Luca says.

I hang up and go to stand at the balcony that overlooks the mountainside. The view was the main reason we chose this condo. “I’m going to miss this place.”

“We’ll be back as soon as this is over. And we’ll get you a cat.” Gunn wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest. “I don’t like you going back so soon.”

“It’ll be okay.” I shut my eyes and repeat those words in my mind. Except, I don’t know exactly how true they are.

Because Stephen Black is alive.

32

GIDEON

“I’m meeting with Giuseppe Tadesco,” Father told me. “He’s called in a meeting to discuss my recent acquisitions. Apparently, there are a few that believe I’m encroaching on their territories.”

“Are you?”

“No.” He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk. “But I could, if I wanted to. That is what this is all about. They are afraid of me. That puts me in a dangerous position.”

“You’re still going, though.”

“I want to make a deal with them. If they’re smart, they’ll take it.”

“If not?”

His reply was a strange smile that said more than I understood. Then, coming around the desk, he handed me the penny. “Don’t lose it. The Ferryman will expect his payment.”

Tensions in the dining room are high. Seven of us are seated around the large table. Luca is at one end, I’m at the other. Between us, Gunner, Rowan, Gavin, Noah and Arran.

I wonder if it was always like this between them, with the suspicious glares and awkward silence.

Carina and Scarlet walk in. They’re not together. Scarlet had to use the restroom and Carina was bringing in a snack tray. But they bump arms on the way in. Carina recoils and Scarlet walks away with her tail between her legs.

Gunner, noticing her reaction, calls her to him. He tugs her down onto his lap and wraps a single protective arm around her.

“I think it best if we get some of these lingering issues out of the way,” I say. “Otherwise, none of you are any good to Sofia. And that’s why we’re all here, isn’t it? To save her?”

“Fromyou,” Arran says. “If it weren’t for you, she wouldn’t be in this mess.”

I laugh because it amuses me how easily I’m judged by these criminals. “I’d really love to see who’s willing to cast the first stone. I’ll start with you Arran. You bought Skye for a million dollars. You wanted revenge on her because you assumed, incorrectly I might add, that her father killed your sister. And Noah, you seduced Emily, also for revenge. Gunner here tried to kill Scarlet.”

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