“Meet with him and check him out,” I say. “He will be here shortly. Meet with the Ramsays, too. Before your documents are ready for you, everything can be in place.”
Landon Stark sits in my office chair, silent and contemplative for far longer than is comfortable. His jaw tightens and relaxes. He folds and unfolds his hands, and his eyes never leave mine. I hold the gaze—as painful as it is—and wait as patiently as I can. Just when I’m sure he’s going to say no and maybe even put a bullet in my head, he speaks.
“Do you have a method for organizing a meeting with your rival family?”
“I have an idea, yes.”
“Then do so.”
*****
The summer heat turns the car into an oven, so I finally suck it up and get out. I walk slowly down the cemetery path, looking through a section I’d never been in before until I find the grave of Leanne Ramsay.
My mother.
I never knew this woman. I barely knew Rosa Orso, for that matter. I was quite young when she passed, but I knew nothing of Leanne Ramsay. I’d heard about Roland Ramsay all my life but very little about his wife. I wonder what kind of a person she was, and if she—like the woman who raised me—was kind and gentle despite her husband’s inclinations.
It doesn’t take very long before I hear a car pull up behind me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stand here without attracting attention from exactly the person I needed to see. I don’t even turn around when I hear Janna Ramsay’s voice.
“Well, this is unexpected.”
“Is it?” I still don’t turn around.
“If you’re standing here over my mother’s grave, I can only assume someone has finally told you the truth, little brother.”
“So, you do know.”
“Of course I do.”
“When?”
“Right after Micha Orso told me.”
I tense but try not to show it. To cover my agitation, I take a seat on one side of a nearby bench, and Janna sits on the other side, keeping her distance.
“I want some answers,” I tell her, “and then I have a proposition for you.”
“A proposition?” Janna laughs. “Oh, do tell!”
“Answers first.” I fold my arms across my chest. “And I already know most of it, so I expect you to keep your story straight.”
“Honestly, little brother, I really have nothing left to hide here.”
“You killed my brother.”
“I did not, but Jay did. You know that. You also know that Micha started it when he was investigating Cherry and that it was self-defense.”
“He told you Cherry was an Orso, and I was a Ramsay?”
“Yes, he did. He wanted to know where Cherry was, but at that time, I had no idea. I didn’t find out about Sofia until I did a little of my own digging.”
“Why did Sofia take Cherry?” I ask.
“I can only give you my best guess,” Janna says. “Sofia had lost a child, and my father wanted nothing to do with raising an Orso. He also didn’t want them around here, so he found her a new identity and shipped them both off to Maryland.”
“Why did they choose Virginia Bay?”
“Roland apparently knew her from his childhood,” Janna says. “At least, they went to boarding school together. I found that from school records. I think he just found someone willing.”
“If you knew she wasn’t your blood relative, why did you approach Cherry?” I finally turn and narrow my eyes at her. “You could have come to me.”
“After I heard you had a falling out, I wanted to know what she knew. Clearly, she didn’t know about her relationship to the Orso family, and I figured I could use that to my advantage. I knew you wouldn’t turn, and the idea of a Ramsay at the head of the Orso family was basically useless to me. Cherry was still a wild card, but I figured out soon enough that you’d poisoned her against us.”
“That’s when you decided to take her out, isn’t it?” I stare into her eyes. I know I’m right even though she doesn’t answer. “Cherry was the target when you were shooting at us. You had to get her out of the way because without her in your pocket, you knew you weren’t going to survive.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Business isn’t good for you, Janna. You and Jay are on the outs. Your support is waning. I think it’s time we make some changes.”
“Is that what this is about? You’re going to swoop in and take over now?”
“Not that,” I say, “but I do have a proposition for you. In fact, it’s for our entire family.”
“So, it is our family now, is it?”
“Is that what you’ve feared?” I turn to look at her. “You think I want to take over? You know Jay is incapable, and you’re afraid I’ll want to run things? Let me put your mind at ease—I’m not interested. That said, you are leaving town.”
“I am not leaving town,” she says through gritted teeth. “We have a treaty.”
“That treaty is now null and void.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I just did.” I turn to face her. “All the secrets are out, and the treaty no longer serves us.”
“And you think you can just waltz in here and tell me how to run things? I don’t think so.”
“I do, and I am.”
“You and what army?”
“Well,” I say as I give her a lopsided grin, “maybe not an army, but I do have significant backing.” I nod my head towards the car where Landon Stark still sits. “Do you see who’s in that car?”
Janna looks over at the car with narrowed eyes.
“Your cousin. So what?”
“I mean in the back of the car.”
She looks again, shifting her position
