Page 67 of Coup De Grâce
“Not really. Cash is gonna hate me more than he already does.”
“Why?”
I watched intently as Michael slid his hand over Claire’s, tapping it lightly. “Because I have to betray him.”
“Michael—”
“It’s done,” he snapped. “There’s nothing you can do about it.”
“This isn’t right. He’s your son.”
“And the men I work with are not going to yield. If I start handing out favors, refusing to do what’s necessary, they’ll lose faith in me. I can’t afford that right now.”
“Because you’ll lose your precious power? Michael, this is wrong.”
“I know that,” he hissed. “But there’s no way out of it.”
I stepped out of the shadows just as he spun to walk away from his wife. The surprise on his face matched the insane pounding in my chest at hearing my father was going to betray me.
“No way out of what?”
“Cash—”
“Don’t even fucking think of lying to me. Who are you sending a message to?”
Fear churned in my gut as my instincts flared to life. I already knew what he was planning. I just needed confirmation. And that’s what terrified me, that I would hear the words and it would confirm that even though I was working with my old man, he wasn’t really on my side.
And he never would be.
The man before me transformed from a worried parent to a steely prick right before my eyes. “You know who.”
“Kavanaugh,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t confirm my fears.
“It has to happen. The men are telling me he knows too much.”
“He knows nothing,” I snapped. “You want to eliminate him on the possibility that he might know something.”
“In our world, that’s the same fucking thing.”
I barked out a laugh, unable to believe what I was hearing. “Guilty before proven innocent. Is that right?”
“Son, there’s more at stake than you realize.”
“Like what?” I hissed. “Like your secret society getting out? Like someone with power might find out what you’re really up to, and then they’ll ruin everything?”
“I can’t stop this! My hands are tied!”
“Tied by who?”
“Everyone! Do you really think I can just step in and end things when they don’t go my way? That’s not how we operate. We all sacrifice.”
“Like Izzy. She was just another liability, wasn’t she?”
Claire sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of her daughter’s name. She was still reeling from how Izzy came back—damaged, her mind warped by that fucker.
“I would have saved her if I could have,” he bit out. “I tried over and over again, but without the support of the ShadowGovernment, I had no one. I was all alone, desperate to get her back!”
“It never should have fucking happened!” I shouted, pissed as hell that he was once again making excuses. “She’s your daughter, and you let her get kidnapped by that psychopath.”
