Page 63 of Brutal King

“Because those are what have given you power,” I reply. “Power that Clive used to take down my father.” He doesn’t say anything. Instead, his gaze remains distant, his brows pinched tightly together. “Arran, you seem distracted.”

“You know my answer.” He looks back at me. “You knew it before you came, so it’s beyond me why you bothered. I’ll never give up my father, and I’ll never give up the auction houses.”

“And you know that eventually, I will find Clive. You’ll be next.” The cards are laid out plain for him to see.

Arran understands the risks and has made up his mind. He downs his whiskey and gets to his feet. “Since you’ve made it clear I can’t take you out tonight, enjoy your stay at Maxton House. I expect Devon at work first thing tomorrow morning. If he isn’t there, you will actively be sought out and killed.”

I nod. “You’ll have your man back. Don’t worry.”

With that, Arran leaves me to chase after his brother. Or Skye. I’m not sure. By the murderous expression on his face, I can tell that whatever’s happening is about to come to an abrupt end.

“Can I get you anything else, Mr. Williams?” the server asks.

“No, thank you.” I tug out a few hundred dollar bills and hand them to her. “I’ve got other plans tonight.”

An hour later, I’m parked a short distance from an expensive brownstone in Rittenhouse Square. It’s dark, not a single light turned on.

A black car rounds the bend. The driver parks the car up front. He exits the vehicle and opens the side door. Arran steps out, then extends his hand to Skye to assist her.

Frank says something to Arran, and he nods. Then, he comes around the car and, sliding in behind the wheel, begins down the road.

I pull out the small innocuous thing I’ve been carrying in my pocket. It’s something easily confused with a key fob, except for the single red button.

Arran pauses on his way into the house. Things are wrong, he can tell. Skye says something and he replies. His arm goes out and he yanks her back. And that’s my cue.

I press the button and blow up his house.

16

GIDEON

It took seven years for my father to make good on his promise, but he did it. He not only took out the men that murdered my mother, but their entire gang. The territory they controlled within Chicago, though small, became his.

“They’re all dead, son,” he said to me when he walked in the door, full of life, a triumphant smile on his face. “I have avenged your mother.”

I hugged him, my chest filled with relief, not that he’d killed our enemies, but that he’d returned unscathed. He was strong, the strongest man I’d even known. I could only hope that one day I’d be just like him.

He pulled me away, his eyes bright and his excitement palpable. “Now, what do you say?”

“Thank you, Father.”

“And…” He extended his hand, palm up. Digging through my pocket, I found his coin and paid him. “Good, boy. Now,” he stood up and slapped a hand against my shoulder, “let’s celebrate as men should. To our victory.”

Destroying a historical house isn’t something I enjoy, but it was necessary to get the ball rolling. Skye has the information I need, I’m certain of it. Whether she knows it or not, she’s been with Arran long enough to have gleamed something— a room, a door that doesn’t belong, extra security. What I need to do now, is interrogate her.

Feeling my figurative breath on his neck forced Arran to seek shelter at Luca Sinacore’s home in New York. The alliance will do the work for me, asking questions, demanding answers.

Skye will be ferreted out. She will run. And when she does, it will be to me.

“Noah Esposito just arrived,” Scarlet says through the phone. She tosses something into her mouth and crunches loudly. She and Itsuki are posted near Briar House, keeping me appraised of who comes and goes while I pace in my Philadelphia penthouse.

“Must you eat when you’re on a stakeout?”

“Dude, I’ve been here for three hours. I’m starving. Why don’t you come if you can do it better?”

I don’t tell her that I made a promise to stay away from New York. If Sofia so much as suspects I’ve involved her brother at all, she’ll consider it a forfeit game. I’m not quite ready for her to lose.

“Keep watch,” I tell her.

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