Page 39 of Vengeance

“So I suppose the fact that I’m the father to Stephen Pray’s grandchildren means nothing.”

I hate having to bring my children in as leverage in all this. But I’d be a fool not to play this card.

“Stephen Pray’s grandchildren?”

“I was married to his daughter. Adelena Fantoni. She goes by Phae nowadays. You know that of course. Seeing as I sent her back here to you earlier this year.”

Sabino lets out a boisterous laugh. “What kinda shit are you high on, Blake? Don’t you know the first rule of this business is to not get hooked on your own product? Maybe you won’t be as useful as you thought.”

“Eileen,” I say.

She takes the yellow envelope she’s been holding and passes it down the table.

“Adelena Fantoni. Born on a Sunday night. May 7th, thirty-five years ago. Eight pounds, three ounces, twenty inches long to a Sansone Fantoni, AKA as Stephen Pray—you’ll find the name change petition in there—and Tina Krine. A child Tina Krine didn’t want on account of a sexual assault allegation and was paid a very substantial sum of money to keep quiet about. She hasn’t been heard or seen since the birth.”

That could mean she took her money and left the country or that Pray had her quietly dealt with. Hard to know. Dele is the only woman I’ve known of who ran from Pray and was never caught by him. Regardless, it doesn’t matter.

“There’s also a petition for a name change from Adelena Fantoni to one Phae Galani. That was hard to get my hands on seeing as it was all sealed, but you’ll be surprised the things people will do for you with the right persuasion,” I add. “You’ll also see copies of a marriage certificate to said Phae Galani as well as a her death certificate.”

When Sabino looks up from the evidence of everything I’ve just told him, face white, I add, “Now tell me again how my children aren’t the grandchildren of Stephen Pray.”

“So what? You’re going to wait out until my brother dies and then pop up with his grandchildren to get your share? Why Mr. Blake, I thought you were less of a coward than that.”

It’s meant to bait my anger, but I have Sabino right where I want him. With information that him and his family have kept under wraps and that he didn’t know I had.

“Not at all,” I reply. “Your brother doesn’t deserve a peaceful death where he basks in the legacy of having never been stopped. With or without your backing, I’m going to kill that man. But it’s better that you do. And it’s better that you do it on my terms. Or else, I’m sure Phae will be very interested in learning after I kill him that she’s the heir to his entire empire and by virtue of blood, she can destroy it.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“I would.”

I wouldn’t. I would never just allow Phae to dismantle her father’s empire because her father’s empire was built on my blood and suffering. It’s as much mine as it’s hers or Pray’s or anyone else who wants to stake a claim on it.

“I should kill you where you sit.”

“But you won’t. Because you could just kill Pray and go about your business but you want his business. Makes me wonder if the coffers are low…”

It’s a bluff. Something I don’t have any evidence of except for the observation that Sabino seems entirely too keen on getting his hands on the business that Pray has built. If it really didn’t matter. If all that mattered was getting their hands on Pray, they wouldn’t need a pawn to put in Pray’s place to keep things together.

“Bastard,” Sabino says.

I shrug. “Takes one to know one.”

“What do you want out of all this, Blake?”

I could tell them I want to live out all my days in peace with Dele and my children and that acquiring the power Pray has and keeping it is the only way to ensure that. But they’d all laugh in my face. They only respect family as far as it’s useful to them and in the way they allow. Otherwise, they’d have seen Eileen’s talents as more than just a pretty spy ages ago. They would have seen that as soon as she saw a better deal, she’d take it.

“I’ll be your little pawn. I’ll run Pray’s empire. But I want insurance.”

“And what do you propose?”

“Give Addy Bianchi Adelena Fantoni’s birthright. Make her the long lost, secret daughter of Stephen Pray. Then, we’ll practically be family.”

“Why would we do that?”

“BecauseAddy,” I say, putting stress on the name because I almost called her Dele and the less people who know about Dele, the better. Especially since Eileen never confirmed it to her family, no matter how many people think they know and how many rumors there are.

“Because Addy,” I continue, “is everything that you wanted Phae to be but isn’t. She wants in on the business and would make sure to keep everything it in tact after Pray’s downfall. And now you can cut off Phae’s bloodline without cutting my children out like you planned. Because Adelena Fantoni would still be their biological mother. And I’d run the business and get my share by virtue of being their father.”

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