Chapter 6
My father had been dead six years.
Until that night, I thought I understood him.
I didn't.
Graham told the story slowly.
Probably because he enjoyed watching me realize how much had been hidden.
Twenty years earlier, the Halbrooks and Wrens had been bleeding each other over territory.
My father, Lucian, had been winning.
Silas Wren knew it.
So he offered something else.
Peace.
Not friendship.
An arrangement.
They divided routes.
They stopped taking each other's men.
And each side gave up one future threat.
I stared at Graham.
“Who?”
He smiled.
“You.”
Ione whispered:
“Enough.”
I turned on her.
“No.”
My voice echoed.
“You've known this for twenty years.”
She looked away.
Merritt stared at the table.
I understood before anyone said it.
“My father agreed?”
“No.”
Ione answered quickly.
That mattered.
“No. Lucian refused.”
“Then why did the war stop?”
Merritt spoke.
“Because your mother found out.”
I stared at him.
My mother had died when I was twenty-three.
Quietly.
Illness.
At least that was what I had been told.
“What did she do?”
Ione's expression changed.
Something almost like respect.
“She threatened to burn every alliance Lucian had if he traded his son.”
That sounded like my mother.
She never raised her voice.
She never needed to.
“Silas backed away?”
“No.”
Graham smiled again.
“Silas waited.”
My skin went cold.
“For what?”
“For Lucian to die.”
Six years.
Silas had waited six years.
I looked at Ione.
“And tonight?”
She swallowed.
“Silas contacted Merritt three months ago.”
I turned toward him.
“What did he offer?”
“Peace.”
I laughed.
Nobody else did.
“Twenty years later and you still believe that word?”
Merritt's face tightened.
“He said if you stepped aside, Nash would be untouched.”
There it was.
A bargain built around my son.
“You believed him.”
“I believed we could prevent a war.”
“No.”
I leaned across the table.
“You believed you could choose what I was willing to sacrifice.”
Ione whispered:
“Cassian…”
I turned.
“You drugged me.”
“To keep you alive.”
“You poisoned my glass.”
“Sedative.”
“That distinction means something to you?”
Her face crumpled slightly.
“I thought you would sleep through the meeting.”
“What meeting?”
Merritt answered.
“Silas was supposed to come in through the lower corridor.”
“And?”
“You would wake up after terms were settled.”
I stared at him.
“You planned to negotiate my family while I was unconscious.”
Nobody answered.
I looked at Ione.
“Why Nash?”
She shook her head.
“He was never supposed to be involved.”
“He had a Wren coin.”
“That wasn't us.”
Her voice broke.
For the first time, I believed her.
Not because she deserved it.
Because fear is difficult to fake when it concerns something you didn't plan.
Merritt leaned forward.
“I arranged two men. Couriers.”
“Graham brought four.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
We looked at Graham.
He smiled.
“Because Silas changed his mind.”
Ione whispered:
“What?”
Graham folded his hands.
“He doesn't want peace.”
I stared.
“What does he want?”
“You dead.”
Merritt went pale.
“And Nash?”
Graham looked at me.
“Alive.”
Every part of me went still.
“Why?”
“Because a dead boss creates chaos.”
He glanced toward the ceiling.
“His little boy creates obedience.”
I understood.
Not inheritance.
Leverage.
A three-year-old child held by another crew could paralyze every Halbrook captain who still loved the family.
Silas didn't want my son because Nash had power.
He wanted him because I did.
And because men who couldn't control me might be able to control me through him.
I looked at Ione.
“You thought you were preventing a war.”
Tears ran down her face.
“Yes.”
“You invited one into my house.”
She looked at Nash's coin.
“Yes.”
I turned toward Graham.
“You brought four men.”
He smiled.
“Yes.”
“How many more?”
No answer.
I stepped closer.
“How many?”
He laughed softly.
“Enough.”
Then the radio at my hip came alive.
Elias.
“Boss.”
I answered.
“Go.”
“We found Daniel Crest.”
I looked toward Daniel's empty chair in the next room.
“What about him?”
“He wasn't guarding the east passage.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where was he?”
“Generator room.”
Pause.
“He cut the main lights himself.”
I stared at Graham.
The old man was still smiling.
Elias continued.
“And Cassian…”
“What?”
“The front gates just opened.”
I looked at my watch.
8:54 p.m.
No vehicle had been authorized.
No guest expected.
“Who opened them?”
Silence.
May you like
Then:
“Your aunt's security code.”
