Page 26 of Haunted Nights & Savage Sins
“The port down by Bettine.”
The second I hear what port the man is talking about, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
My father had been trying for years to get a foothold in that port. From what I could gather, it was nearly impossible, mostlybecause of the people who presently ran it. That port is in a prime location and there are lots of drugs that come through it, which means the gang that runs it has a lot to lose if it falls under someone else’s power.
This man is making Cormac believe that it’s going to be a cakewalk to take control of it.
I don’t know why he would do that, unless... unless this is a trap.
Fuck, this is going deeper than I thought possible. Cormac isn’t the golden child to his father I thought he was. If his father set this up, then his father is itching for Cormac to be killed. If he doesn’t know about it, then it’s someone else.
For a moment, I think about the possibilities. If Cormac dies, then does that mean my sentence is over? Will I be allowed to go back home? I doubt it. In fact, I’m sure my father would find a way to pawn me off on another family.
I’d rather be with the devil I know than one that I don’t. Cormac is brooding, moody, and downright frustrating, but at least he’s opening up to me. He’s trying. That’s more than I can say about someone I don’t know.
Quickly, as I hear people moving inside the parlor room, I scurry back to the corner so no one can see that I’ve been out here eavesdropping.
I watch as the man Cormac was talking with walks down the hall and is met by Maxim at the front door.
I give it a second before I rush to the parlor room. I don’t wait for Cormac to invite me in. He needs to know what I know before he makes any decisions that could possibly cost him his life.
“Cormac.” I call for him and his head turns in my direction. It’s the side that his scar is on, the one he still tries his hardest to keep hidden from me.
When I first saw it at the ceremony, it frightened me, but now that I’ve been able to see it on a daily basis, I realize that it’s not as bad as I once thought it was.
“What are you doing here? Don’t tell me. You were eavesdropping again,” he says on an agitated sigh.
“Yes, I was. And you better be glad that I was.” I cross my arms over my chest. I’m not going to be ashamed in my own house.
I blink a few times, allowing the thought to take root in my mind. This is the first time that I’ve thought of this cold mansion as my home. I don’t let it distract me from what I’m doing.
“Why should I be glad that my wife is so damn disrespectful? That meeting was private. If it were something that you needed to be privy to, I’d have told you to come in. I did not.”
“Cormac, you don’t know what I should know. You barely know what you should know. For instance, do you know about the people who run that port that man is advising you to take over?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I’ll get all the information I need when the time comes.”
“Well, the time is now. That man made it seem like you were just going to walk in there and swing a little weight around, and you’d walk back out in one piece. That’s not how it’s going to go down.”
Cormac clenches his jaw and I see the anger building in his gaze. I can’t back down now. If I do, he’ll never take what I tell him seriously.
“Listen to me. I know all about that port. The people who run it are ruthless and won’t back down from that piece of property without bloodshed.” I keep my eyes trained on him.
“And what makes you think I’m not ready for bloodshed?”
“I never said you weren’t, but this isn’t the type of undertaking someone just approaches without an army behind them.”
Cormac shakes his head and tries to walk around me. He’s obviously done with this conversation.
I’m not.
I grab hold of his arm and spin him back in my direction. “Cormac, you need to listen to me. I know what I’m talking about. I don’t know what kind of reputation you have or your association with that man who was just here, but it sounds like they are setting you up to fail.”
“Failure isn’t an option,” he grinds out.
“It never is.” I shake my head. “So maybe there’s another reason. Double-check the information. If it doesn’t pan out, maybe something more is going on here. Maybe this is a trap.”
I wait for him to understand what I’m saying, but if he does, he doesn’t let me know. He just continues to stare at me. I huff out a breath and drop my hands to my sides. It’s like talking to a brick wall.
