Chapter 3
I had been head of the Vance organization for nine years.
Apparently my mother had considered it temporary.
I almost admired the patience.
“Whose chair is it supposed to be?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at Nathan.
He went pale.
That was enough.
I laughed once.
My cousin’s face hardened.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
I looked at my mother.
“I think it’s pathetic.”
Evelyn’s eyes sharpened.
“You were thirty-three when you took command because your father died before he could correct his mistake.”
“My father chose me.”
“He chose blood before judgment.”
“And Nathan is what?”
My mother looked at him.
“Steady.”
I looked at the man who had attacked me to keep my pregnant wife behind a padlocked shed.
“Of course.”
Nathan stood.
“You disappear into that woman’s rooms every night while captains wait for decisions.”
“Maya is my wife.”
“She is leverage.”
My chair moved before I realized I had stood.
Rafe shifted closer.
Maya’s voice came from the doorway.
“Caleb.”
I turned.
She should have been upstairs.
She stood there in a robe, pale but steady, one hand resting beneath her stomach.
“Let him talk.”
Nathan smiled at her.
“Still listening where you don’t belong.”
Maya flinched.
I saw it.
He enjoyed that.
“Three days in a shed and she still hasn’t learned.”
Every man at the table looked at me.
Waiting.
They expected violence.
I sat back down.
Nathan’s smile disappeared.
Maya took the empty chair beside me.
“What did you hear in the garden?” I asked.
She looked at Evelyn first.
Then Nathan.
“They were discussing which captains would follow him if you became… unavailable.”
I kept my face still.
“What does unavailable mean?”
Maya swallowed.
Nathan answered for her.
“Broken.”
My mother gave him a warning look.
He ignored it.
Interesting.
Nathan continued.
“She loses the baby. You blame yourself for leaving. Maya becomes afraid of this house. Your judgment slips. The old captains demand help.”
“And you become that help.”
He looked away.
Maya reached across the table and touched the recorder.
“There’s more.”
Evelyn stood.
“No.”
Maya looked at her.
For the first time, she did not shrink.
“Yes.”
May you like
Then she pressed play.
And my dead father’s name came through the speaker.
