I really am the head of the family empire now. Even though I’m not the one who is supposed to be sitting in this chair, even though Dad doesn’t believe I can do this, everyone has accepted me as the guy in charge.
Kate reports on legal complications, speaking partially in code about bribes to the police force and government officials to keep them from snooping around our businesses. She neglects to mention a crucial element.
“You missed an important piece there, Kate,” I say.
“What’s that?”
“Our mole in D.C.”
“Oh…yes.” She flips to another page in her notepad. “Antony has been keeping up with her.”
“Well?” I tap my fingers on the arm of the chair, realize it’s something my father often does, and force myself to stop.
“She says someone’s been snooping around the documentation business,” Antony says. “Looks like a formal investigation might happen if evidence is found.”
“The feds have tried that before. Our local cops always take care of it.”
“This time they have something.”
“What?” I ask.
“Not sure.”
“Well, fucking find out then! In the meantime, move production to the warehouse behind the lodge. Close up the office in town for renovations or something. Better keep all that shit closer to the edge of town and the highway in case we need to move it to Cincinnati.”
“You want to expand physical business to Cincinnati?” Antony asks tentatively.
“Not expand, no. Not now anyway. Just a precautionary step. The property we bought down there can serve as a backup production site if we need it. I want to make sure what we have set up down there is profitable before we push it, but it’s a good countermeasure if some fed shows up here.”
“You got it, boss.” Antony gives me a quick nod. “I’ll get that local fed to figure out what it is and bury it.”
“Fine.” I breathe slowly and turn back to Kate. “You can go now.”
Kate closes up her notepad, and Antony politely holds the door for her as she exits.
“Antony, hang a minute.”
Twos grabs Threes by the hand and leads him out, and Antony leans against the back of the couch.
“We have to do something about Jack.”
“I was wondering when you were going to mention it.”
“I didn’t want anyone else talking to Nora. He needs to be dealt with and soon.”
“Are we talking shakedown here or something more?”
“He needs to go.” I give Antony a hard stare as his eyes widen.
“They just got married,” Antony says. “Nora will flip.”
“Nora needs better taste in men. Maybe this will be a good wake-up call for her. Get him and take him to the warehouse. Let me know when you’re ready.”
“You got it, boss.”
Antony gives me a nod before he closes the door behind him, leaving me alone with my father. I glance up, waiting to hear his opinion of my first official meeting. I’m going to get his feedback whether I want it or not, so best to get it out of the way.
“You suck at this,” he says bluntly.
“I thought it went well.” I grit my teeth as I try not to sound so blatantly defensive.
“You don’t have a fucking clue about running this business.”
“I know, I know.” I fold my arms over my chest, copying his pose, and glare at him. “If only Micha were still alive. He’d be sitting in this chair, and you’d be playing golf on some island instead of staring over my shoulder, waiting for me to fuck something up.”
“Your brother should be in that chair,” Pops says slowly. “Whose fault is that?”
“Are you blaming me?”
“No one else in the room to blame.”
“I didn’t take a hit out on him,” I mutter.
“You haven’t done anything about the people who did, either.”
“Neither did you.”
He stands up straight, hands balled into fists. He takes a step forward, and I brace myself for the impact of his fist, but it doesn’t come. Pops takes a step back, scowling. He stomps over to the drinks cabinet, slowly glides his finger over a whiskey glass but never pours any for himself.
I get up, pointedly grab a glass for myself and pour without offering to do the same for him. Stepping over to the windows, I stare at my own reflection instead of the view of the garden outside. My suit is neat. My black hair is slicked back without a stray hair in sight. My tie is straight. I look an absolute vision of calm and collected, which is nothing like how I feel inside. I walk back to my chair, barely glancing at my father.
Pops laughs hollowly as he shakes his head.
“You blather on about that Ramsay bitch violating the treaty,” he says, “but not a fucking word about her murdering your brother.”
“She denied it, Pops. The whole family did. We’ve got zero evidence that they took out the hit. We can’t even identify the hitman, and it’s not like we haven’t tried. We have every cop in town trying to figure it out, and they have nothing. We can’t start a full-fledged mob war over presumptions. You said that yourself.”
“It was her,” he says, grumbling. “We all know it was.”
“Tearing the city apart without proof won’t get us anywhere.”
“Need to spill some fucking Ramsay blood. Get yourself a hitman—someone we haven’t used before. Maybe that Chicago guy. Take one of them out, but don’t leave a trace.”
“This isn’t Chicago, Pops. It’s Cascade Falls. We aren’t the Capones or the Morettis. This is the middle of nowhere Ohio, and we’re a small-time crime outfit. We do really well for where we are, and unless we want to risk getting involved with the cartels, this
