Chapter 19

“Are you really gonna let her have a week of peace?” Zie asks incredulously, looking over at me.

I smirk in response. “What do you think?”

“I think this big ass limo is ridiculous,” Kaiden interrupts with a snort. “Fucking ridiculous.”

He’s right of course, but tonight is important and appearances are everything. If we’re going to present as valid candidates to inherit our fathers’ empires, we need to look every bit the savage and ruthless ‘businessmen’ we are. Turning up in the Jeep looking like fresh-faced dicks barely out of high school isn’t going to cut it.

I silently gesture for my brothers to climb in before sliding into the back myself. The driver knows better than to try and wait on me, though of course when we arrive at our destination I’ll have to concede and let him. From the moment we pull into the car park, all eyes will be upon us. Assessing. Judging. Looking to find fault.

They won’t find anything less than perfection.

“We are coming back here tomorrow, right?” Zie whines. I make a noncommittal noise in the back of my throat. “We’re not? We can’t just leave Peony unprotected like—”

“Dude, chill,” Kaiden snaps at Zie, though I can tell he’s watching me closely. “Axel won’t have left her unattended…right, boss?”

Let them think what they like.

I shake my head at Kaiden’s use of the term ‘boss’. He’s already slipping into his role, understanding perfectly the role we have to play tonight. The father is always the head of the family, right?

Zie, however, does not have his head in the game.

“Who could possibly watch over her as well as us?” he demands.

“I have someone. Drop it.” I won’t say another word on the matter.

Outside of the Trinity, there’s very few people I trust. Fuck, there’s only one person I trust, and even then I don’t do so willingly. I’ve put everything into this associate, my life is literally in his hands alongside the lives of the only people in this world that I give a fuck about. If it all goes to shit…if he double crosses us…we’re all going down in flames.

I shake my head to clear it. I can’t think about that tonight. This week.

Because if I do, to hell with business and expectations and my damn word…I’ll race back to Trinity and never let Odile leave my side.

Taking a deep breath, I force myself to relax back into my seat. It wouldn’t hurt to check in on her, just once. I slide my phone from the pocket of my slacks and wait for it to unlock. When the screen lights up, I hover for a moment, undecided. Message my associate, or see how she is for myself?

I bring up the surveillance app and check the camera feed for her room. It’s late and she’s a creature of habit. I fully expect to find her curled up in bed, but it’s empty. I frown. The bed doesn’t even look slept in, but maybe she’s in the shower? I switch to the bathroom camera but the room’s empty. I quickly flick through the cameras in her flat’s communal areas, but there’s no sign of her.

I quickly text my associate and he immediately replies that he has eyes on her. From a distance of course.

Where is she?

The Font.

That surprises me. Odile has never had a night out since arriving here. She doesn’t have any friends. Has she gone out alone? Why wait until now to have the full college experience?

Is she safe? I text.

Yes, boss. I’ll protect her with my life if it comes to it.

Good. See that you do.

Somewhat satisfied, I note the time and then return my phone to my pocket. We have less than ten minutes before we arrive at the meeting and I need to get my head off The Doe and firmly in the game that we’re walking into.

“We’re here, boss,” the driver calls, slowing to a stop. I wait for him to get out and open my door, and then I slide from the leather seats and step into the underground car park. I don’t have to turn around to know the others have followed me out of the vehicle and are standing in their respective places at my side but one step behind.

Fastening the buttons on my suit jacket, I take in the security guards standing before the elevator doors. In our world, for every armed guard you can see, there’s at least four that you can’t. Tonight is heavy on security, but I have all the security I need with my brothers by my side. No one would dare try to take on or take down The Holy Trinity, and we’re not even at full power yet. Officially, anyway.

Every viper we’re about to face in the boardroom knows we’re the biggest threat, the biggest predator on the chessboard. Apart from my father, who continually underestimates me. Which is exactly how I want it.

“Shall we?” I ask, not really expecting a response as I step towards the guards. The lift doors slide open automatically on our approach, and I don’t even have to select a button before the doors are sliding shut once more and we’re shooting off towards our destination.

“We good?” I ask without turning to face Zie or Kaiden.

“Always. Got your back.” They murmur in response.

The lift announces our arrival and the doors open to deliver us to our fate. All heads in the penthouse boardroom turn to face us and I tilt my lips upwards in a slight smirk. Tonight is about power, confidence, appearances and bluffing.

I am in control.

“Nice of you to join us, son,” my father says with a bite.

“I believe we are perfectly on time,” I reply. “Are we waiting on any others?”

“Just you.”

I nod. I know full well that we are the last to arrive because I engineered it that way precisely. Some might say that arriving early gives you an advantage but in this instance being the last to arrive, even though still punctual, sends a powerful message.

The gentlemen – and I use that term very loosely – here tonight need to recognise the shift in power. They’ll soon learn that the tables have turned and will need to choose their side, but there’s no harm in giving them a taste of what’s to come before then.

“Then shall we take our seats and begin? The empires won’t grow themselves without our input.” A blatant lie. Nothing will fall apart in the next however many hours this posturing bullshit of a business meeting will take, but it’s important my father knows I have better things to do with my time.

The business leaders all step forward on my say so and take their seats around the large oval table. My father clenches his jaw. Unbuttoning my jacket so that I can sit more comfortably, I take my place at the head of the table, directly opposite my father at the other end. Invisible lines have been drawn right down the centre, though he probably still thinks he has his dutiful little son still firmly under his thumb.

A joke.

He’s never seen me and my brothers as anything more than pawns in his games, people to manipulate and use or at best, a legacy to continue his dirty work. But he failed to realise that as I grew up I became the opposing king, my brothers are my trusty bishop and hardy rook. And once I’ve completed the Hunting Grounds and have my queen by my side, the Hunting Games can really begin. My father will find himself unseated from his throne in a takeover move he never saw coming. Everyone else surrounding the table are simply pawns. They’ve just yet to choose their side: white or black. It doesn’t even matter in the end though, all pawns are sacrificed.

“First order of business,” my father begins.

“Wait!” the leader of The Gods, Zeus, cries out. I chuckle under my breath. “Why does he get to bring backup when we all had to come alone?” He glares at me and I give him a slow, cold grin. “We could all have brought our business partners with us, could we not?”

There are a few grumbles of agreement from around the table but no one will actively speak out against us.

“Did you not bring security with you, Zeus?” I ask slowly.

“Of course I did. We all did. I have two men in the room and another dozen waiting downstairs.” I almost smirk at that. The Gods have always mistakenly thought there was safety in numbers.

“Well, meet mine.”

He sputters out a protest, but I hold up my hand to silence him. “It’s not my fault you chose to put your trust in men who are simply guns for hire. My brothers have my back in a way that your men never will, and that is why they’re here tonight. They’re security, not business partners.”

I don’t even have to look to know that Kaiden and Zie have shifted behind me to reveal a small number of the weapons they’re carrying tonight, and to know that they’re both smirking triumphantly when Zeus glowers at me.

“If that little drama between the children is over, maybe we can begin?” My father drawls. His intention is to get my back up and piss me off, but tonight I’m Teflon. I’m going to let it all slide like water off a duck’s back. Nothing will stick.

Keep underestimating me, mother fucker. I’m coming for you, your empire, and the empires of every person seated at this table.

“First port of call, the Hunting Grounds.”

I try not to let my mild surprise show in my expression. An excellent poker face is essential to survive this world. I didn’t expect my father to bring it up so soon, though of course I knew it would be on the agenda tonight.

“The sponsors are disappointed with the first challenge,” my father continues. I knew this was coming, I said as much to Odile. “There wasn’t enough bloodshed to satisfy their thirst.”

“Yet,” I begin calmly. “Four people died and one dropped out.”

“Ruptured testicle,” Zeus adds. Kaiden sniggers behind me as most of the men around the room wince and readjust themselves in solidarity.

A smile threatens to tug at my lips. How fucking sexy Peony looked with a gun in her hand - even if it was only a paintball gun.

“That’s beside the point,” my father insists. “There was no entertainment.”

“There’s too many contestants,” someone grumbles. “We expected more of a blood bath.”

“What can I say?” I smirk. “The Doe is particularly tempting this year.”

Actually, what the guys around this table don’t know is that not every gun was shooting paintballs in the first challenge. What we’re yet to work out is if it was just a desperate attempt to eliminate some of the competition, or if The Doe, my doe, was being targeted. That’s why there were four deaths. The casualties from the live rounds, and the man I killed afterwards when the guns were all accounted for and checked.

If it’s the latter, that she was the target, heads will roll – the contest be damned.

“Or the stakes are higher than usual,” Kaiden mutters under his breath. He’s close enough that I can hear him, but I doubt anyone else does.

“The Trinity have an unfair advantage,” Zeus whines like the little bitch he is. “They know The Doe already.”

“How is that an advantage?” Leinmann asks. “The Doe doesn’t get to choose who owns her.”

Everyone laughs. I clench my teeth. Behind me, my brothers shift uncomfortably. We’ve never been okay with this part of the game.

“I handpicked The Doe myself for this year’s Hunting Grounds,” my father says. My face is stone. I don’t move. I suspected as much, but to have it confirmed like this…fuck.

What is he up to?

It’s more imperative than ever that my brothers and I win. I just didn’t want them knowing that I didn’t brand Odile The Doe. Well, not by choice anyway. And if I could have found any way out of it, I would have. But I have to admit, if I win…when I win…I’ll have all the power I need to ensure she’s safe and protected forever. Even if it means protecting her from The Holy Trinity. I tried before and failed. That won’t happen again.

“We have decided to bring forward fight night.”

My attention snaps back to my father. What? Excited chatter has broken out all around me and Zeus is smirking triumphantly.

“It has also been decided by the sponsors that legacies won’t fight against each other…in this round.”

Well that wipes the smile off Zeus’ face but I have to say, I’m disappointed. I was looking forward to rigging the draw so that we could take on three of The Gods.

After that little bomb, matters swiftly move on to actual business, and I zone out until I’m addressed because frankly, these meetings are boring as fuck.

“And now our business is brought to The Holy Trinity,” Beckman announces. I blink and give a courteous nod for him to continue. “What do you propose we do about Smithson?”

This is a test, of course. Elias Smithson has been stealing from my father and he’s handed retribution over to us. He hasn’t had any complaints thus far about our methods – we’ve been handling this side of his business for years – but until now we’ve operated in the shadows. My father probably thinks of tonight as our debut of some sort, probably expecting me to baulk under the pressure. What he doesn’t know is that Smithson Junior is already dead, and he sang like a canary before he went.

He wasn’t working alone.

It was almost a shame to kill him. He was young, like us, and showed real promise. If there had been any way to bring him over to work for The Trinity, I would have. But his disappearance would raise too much suspicion with my father.

“Both Smithsons have been taken care of,” I reply. I gesture for Zie to step forward and he does, dropping a dozen blown up images of Elias’ ‘little chat’ with us. The images aren’t staged. Information extraction was brutal. No matter how much I liked the guy, I couldn’t go easy on him.

Several around the table flinch, while one or two – Zeus included – lean in to get a better look.

“Both?” My father scowls.

I nod to Kaiden who brings his fingers to his mouth and lets out a shrill whistle. I almost grimace at the sound and the fucker grins at me because he knows I hate it.

A moment later the elevator doors open and two armed guards drag Elijah Smithson into the room. He’s bloody and badly beaten, barely able to stand on his own two feet. The guards give him a shove towards me and Smithson Senior falls at my feet.

His head snaps up, frantically searching the room for an ally. He won’t find one. When his eyes land upon my father, he begins to beg.

“Please, you have to believe me, the Trinity have it all wrong—”

“Are you calling my son a liar?” My father demands in a low, dangerous growl. He hates being double crossed, and the only thing worse than the son of a supposed ally stealing from him, is the ally himself undermining his authority and plotting against him.

“No! No! I would never suggest—”

“Axel,” my father barks. “Care to explain?”

Pulling my pistol from my jacket, I shoot Smithson at point blank range. The hole left in his forehead is neat and efficient, but the job has been done.

He slumps to the floor and the astonished tension in the room is palpable.

I don’t explain myself to anyone.

“I see.”

I tip my head in a fake show of respect to my father and he nods in return. He won’t question me in front of the others, but he trusts my judgement.

“Does this wrap things up quite nicely?” I ask, getting to my feet and buttoning up my suit jacket once more. I can’t wait to get the damn thing off. “I have to go, but please, stay as long as you need. I trust you’ll have the trash taken out and my boardroom cleaned up before you go.”

“Your boardroom?” Old O’Connell sputters, his face turning a violent shade of purple.

He’s been trying to buy this old rundown hotel for over a decade. Unsuccessfully, I might add. Right before the ancient owner, Mrs Grande, finally croaked it and the property was put up for auction, I swooped in and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. O’Connell wanted to raze the hotel to the ground for real estate, and I promised Mrs Grande I’d restore The Arcelia Grande Hotel back to its former glory and then some. She died with a smile on her face and left behind way too many zeroes on her only granddaughter’s inheritance.

“I know she’s not much yet, but gentlemen you must all come to the grand reopening when she’s ready. I promise you, she’ll be full of surprises.”

With my brothers at my back, we walk to the elevator and board. The last thing I see before the doors slide shut, is a room full of flabbergasted, impressed and disbelieving faces.