Page 58 of Tainted King

Gabriel scoffed. “You’re awfully sure you’ll win her back. She was pretty pissed when she ran out of the office.”

Not turning his way, I gave him the finger, all my attention still on Dad, who was less red but still looked ready to pop a blood vessel.

“You’re stepping down, giving up your birthright for a girl you’ve known for about two seconds.” Putting his hands on top of the desk, he leaned forward. “Marrying the Russian brat doesn’t mean you can’t keep someone else on the side. You’ll be able to do whatever you want.”

Gritting my teeth, I knew I had to stand my ground now or risk getting outvoted. “Swapping places with Gabriel doesn’t mean I’m abandoning my birthright. Only amending it slightly.”

“Do you even care what everyone else wants to do? Or is this once again only about the mighty Liam?” Gabriel complained, still not on board with the idea of taking over. I would have thought he’d love it. He’d finally get to tell me what to do.

“Like Dad said, you’ll be the most powerful man in Chicago,” I told him. “You can get all the women you want.”

He leaned back in his chair, pouting. “I’ll also be married. That kind of puts a damper on my plans.”

“It’s only on paper. You don’t even know her. I’m sure she’ll be happy to let you live your life, as long as she gets to live hers. I bet she doesn’t want this marriage any more than you do.”

Sitting up, Gabriel glowered at me, his brows pinched. “Then why can’t you marry her? Buy your wife her own house, and Quinn could even move in with you.”

“Quinn would never go for that. You didn’t see the way she looked at me when she found out I was engaged.”

“You’re still engaged,” Dad growled. “The ceremony to officially make you the boss istonight.” He pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “You boys have always had the worst timing.”

His resolve cracked, and I took a sledgehammer to it without remorse. “I’ve made my decision, and there’s no changing it. Gabriel will be a great boss. Probably better than I ever was.”

“Fuck you. I don’t want to be the boss,” Gabriel snarled, then turned to Jude, who jumped out of his chair, putting his hands up.

“No way. Stop looking at me like that. I’m the youngest. There’s no way anyone will accept me taking over. They would have seen you at meetings. You know all the big players. Much easier transition than if this was me.”

Guess nobody wanted the job. But they expected me to do it without complaints. And I’d never once doubted my purpose or the importance of one day leading the family.

I’d worked for tonight my whole life. And one woman had managed to throw all my plans out the window. Yet I found it hard to regret what I was about to do. And if Quinn thought I’d let her run away from me, she didn’t know me at all.

But I’d remedy that. She’d find out soon how far I’d go to get her back. But first we had to get through the next few hours.

Standing up, I indicated that the meeting was over. “Gabriel, you’re the best choice, and you know it. Jude is a wild card. He likes shooting things too much to be a serious leader. He’d have no allies left because he’d put a bullet in all of them as soon as they pissed him off.”

Walking to the door, I opened it, looking back at three stunned faces. “Let’s do this.”

Gabriel grumbled but followed me to the fleet of armored Range Rovers waiting for us in the driveway. We’d go in three different cars, five more following us, two in front. Some might think it was overkill, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Not when it came to our futures.

17

Quinn

I couldn’t remember the taxi ride. Or how the elevator took me up to Freya’s apartment. Or how I walked down the gleaming hallways and up to her front door.

A sob escaped me as soon as she answered my frantic knocks. “Freya.”

She held her arms out, and I collapsed into them, causing her to stumble back. She held me close, making shushing noises. I buried my face in her shoulder, my body trembling from the effort it took to get myself back under control.

The door closed, and she led me to the couch, sitting me down.

“Who do I need to kill?”

Brushing away a few errant tears, I sat up, ignoring the hiccups the crying had brought with it. “He’s engaged.”

At the thought of Liam marrying someone else, someone who wasn’t me, my eyes burned up again.

“Who’s engaged?”

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