Page 21 of Gambit
“Friends are the same,” I reply casually, keeping my voice even. “As for enemies, nobody stands out right now, but you know, it’s a battlefield.”Do not mention Peters. Do not mention Peters.
“Every place is a battlefield,” he counters, his gaze sharp as a blade. “Never forget that.”
I nod, feigning thoughtfulness while internally bracing myself for whatever this is really about. I know this dance all too well—the push and pull of power, the exchange of verbal blows under the guise of casual conversation. I can’t let my guard down, not even for a second.
He leans forward, hands clasped together like he’s praying for my honesty—or my downfall. “Your loyalty, Eliza,” he says, voice low and carrying the weight of our legacy, “where does it lie?”
What?
My heart races, but I trap the panic before it can surface. “Family always comes first,” I reply, infusing my words with conviction. “There should be no question about that.”
He tilts his head, scrutinising me. “Did I raise you to be smart, to see beyond the immediate? To understand that the empire we’ve built cannot be sustained by loyalty alone. It demands commitment.”
“Commitment isn’t in short supply here,” I counter, letting a bit of steel into my voice. “I balance my academics with what’s expected of me here. Always have.” Okay, so my studies have taken a small nosedive since all this shit started, but I didn’t get into Oxford by being an idiot, and I certainly will not let the mafia politics at Castle take away everything I’ve earned so far.
“Balance is a tricky thing,” he muses. “Too much weight on one side, and everything topples. Make sure your scales aren’t tipping too far one way.”
“And what way would that be?”
His gaze is unflinching, but so is mine. He’s getting at something, and I want to know what.
But then it hits me, and I mentally roll my eyes that it took me this long to figure it out. “The Gannons.”
“Powerful family.”
“Until it was taken away.”
“Never taken.”
“It’s my understanding from some dusty old book that it was taken.”
“It was voted that they be removed from the Five Families when your mother and I got married. It was three against two. We had no choice but to comply.”
“Bullshit. You should have joined forces. One big-assed family to rule absolute.”
His eyes widen, and he bursts out laughing, a sight that I cannot ever remember seeing ever before in my entire fucking life. It takes me completely by surprise, my mouth dropping open in shock. “Christ, you are a firecracker, Elizabeth. That’sexactly what your mother said, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.”
“Does now. I’m part of both of you, and I won’t deny the Gannon half because some dusty old cunts said so.”
“Who are you calling a dusty old cunt?”
I snort and press my lips together. “Not you, obviously.”
He goes serious again, and playtime is over. “You need to watch your step here, Elizabeth. Things are a delicate balance. You can’t just bulldoze your way through the politics of this because you’ve suddenly found out who you really are.”
“Speaking of which, why lie to me all this time?”
“Your mother wanted you to be a Hughes. Once she accepted that the Gannons had no place in the alliance and they moved up North, mostly, she went all in with the Hughes name. Cut off all ties to the Gannons. She didn’t want that coming back to bite you on the ass.”
“Too bad it did anyway.”
“It was inevitable, but I assumed it would be longer. I wasn’t aware that Robert was going to Castle. This means they are possibly making their play.”
“Or they want an alliance with me.”
“Or both.”
“Is he my cousin?”
