Chapter 12

Mason

“What the actual fuck!”I don’t yell very often, preferring a quiet, lethal sort of rage, but I’m yelling now. An inch from Leo’s face. It’s been coming for a while. There’s a part of me that likes to believe that I started it with what I did that night at the club, but I actually know the truth.

As a man who pays attention to the details, I can’t ignore this one. Leo has been unhappy for a long time. He wants to be an alpha and he’s been chafing under my leadership.

And if it had been Roman, I’d have given him more power. But Leo is too volatile, and I don’t trust him.

He knows it too, which is why this fight has been brewing for a long time. I’ve been avoiding it, not because I’m scared of Leo, but because I know, once it’s done, we might never come back from it. We might be done forever.

“You’ve got a ring on her finger?” Leo spits back, just as loudly. “You’re really going there?”

“I’ve got two, actually,” I respond because I’ve got nothing to hide and I’m not ashamed either, and now that we’re here, there is no holding back. There was a part of me that kept away from Charlotte because of the way I’d gotten between her and Leo.

But I see it clearly now. Charlotte was never going to be his. And my brother and I…it’s time to let all the shit out and see where we land. Roman was right about that.

And what I know for a fact is that Leo wasn’t right for her. Never had been. And there can only be one boss in the Kincaid family and that is me. He can fall in line or he can leave.

“This is the same girl that yesterday, you said you’d sacrifice—” I punch him in the nuts before he can finish. Hard. He goes down like a sack. Pun fucking intended.

It’s not something I’ve done to either of my brothers or anyone else for that matter, since I was twelve, maybe thirteen, but I can’t have Charlotte hearing him. What would she think if she heard I told them she was a just a pawn to get what I wanted.

“What the fuck?” he groans from the floor, his voice high pitched like he’s the one who is thirteen again.

“If she hears you and she bolts, what are we going to do then? Use your head, Leo.” I love my brother, but his temper gets in his way. Often. One of the many reasons he’s not fit to run this operation. He should know that.

He starts to get up, pressing one hand on the floor as he lifts his torso. “So what if she bolts? She was never our problem. Your priorities are so out of whack.”

He needs to think in this moment, strategize more, not just react. I may have ulterior motives where Charlotte is concerned but that doesn’t mean my plan isn’t solid. “There is clearly a war going on between the Dukes and our largest competitors. The men we want to make pay for what they did to our father.” I stare at him like this should all be obvious.

Not that’d I’d give Charlotte over to anyone. I said I’d do anything for my family, and I will, but I can accomplish this without one pretty little brown hair ever falling out of place. That is becoming clear to me now. Charlotte is not a pawn to be sacrificed.

But for right now, I need to manage Leo. He’s got it in his head that I took his favorite toy, and it’s time we settled things brother to brother.

An angry Leo is a problem far more dangerous than either pissed-off, murdering Italians or upstart, thumb-up-their-ass Brits.

I’m not going to tell him that I’m using Charlotte in this war, because I’m not. But if he takes that as an implied part of the plan then so be it.

Leo has got to stand down and today is the day.

Because Leo, he won’t ever be king, but he could be the man who tears the castle down.

Leo slowly gets up, I don’t help him. “I know Roman is siding with you, but that doesn’t make you right. And if you don’t make this right?—”

I straighten up, glaring at my brother. “And you think I’m wrong?”

Leo’s teeth clench. “I know you are. You can paint it however you want, but it should be me between her legs. That was my ass to hit. Not yours.”

It takes everything in me not to punch him again. I know it’s a problem that his words make me want to hit things. Charlotte should be worshipped, not used and thrown away. And any man talking about her ass fills me with rage. “Get the fuck out, Leo.”

Leo steps closer instead. “I’m not leaving.”

“Why not?”

“Fine. I’ll go. But I’m taking her with me.”

I stare at him. Leo is losing his shit. “Let me ask you a question first.”

“What?”

“Did you think about her once in the last two years?”

Leo blinked at me, like he can’t believe I even asked the question. “And how you screwed me over? Every day.”

I grit my teeth together. “Now, see, that’s thinking about me. Not her. Did you miss anything about her?”

Leo’s brows scrunch in confusion. “What does that have to do with it?”

“You want to take her now, not because you want to protect her, but because you want to beat me. Which is neither in her best interest or the best interest of the family, is it?”

If Leo ever wants a larger role in this world, he’s got to learn this lesson. Then again, the way I’m playing my brother right now, maybe I need to learn it too.

But at the end of this, I will make our business stronger.

Leo hisses through his teeth, “Fuck you.”

“No. Fuck you. And fuck your ego too. And fuck your temper and you, you selfish prick.”

He spins. “You think you’re so much better than me, but you’re exactly like him.”

I go still. I know he means our father. “How’s that?” I shouldn’t have asked. I don’t want to know.

“Letting pussy get in the way of your good sense.”

The hit hurts. We never compare each other to him. It’s a wound too gaping and the fact that Leo has done it… “And you? How are you not like him? Blowing hard without a single thought to the consequences? You’re going to ruin us just like he almost did.”

Leo is in my face in a second, a sucker punch to the gut that had me doubling over. But I take advantage of the position to wrap my arms around his waist, sending us crashing to the ground. He twists, getting in another good rib shot before he finally rolls away.

But when he stands, his face is blacker than I’ve ever seen it. “I’m done with you, Mason. Done being your lackey. Roman can do your bidding because I am out.”

And then he stomps to the elevator. I watch him go, watch the doors close. It was bad, but honestly, it could have been way worse. Leo will calm down and then he’ll be back.

Pulling out my phone, I see the video feed of him leaving the elevator. That’s when I change the code. No one is getting in here again without my express permission, Leo least of all.

Firing off a text message, I set a family meeting for first thing in the morning, knowing that I’d better have a plan in place, and my thoughts razor-focused.

And I know just how to clear my head.

Turning, I head toward Charlotte’s room.

I open the door to find the room empty, everything in its place. For a moment, I stop, fear trickling down my spine. Did she hear? Is she in the closet packing at this very moment? Something feral replaces the fear.

At this point, I’m not sure what I would do to keep her, but I know I’d go pretty fucking far.

Is this going to abate when I’ve finally claimed her? That’s what Jake, Luke, and Roman seem to think, but I’m not so certain.

This doesn’t feel like the sort of thing that’s going away…

I cross to the bathroom, trying the knob, but it’s locked. I should have made a key because I hate being locked out. I need to touch her, know that we’re all good, that she didn’t hear those words Leo said.

Charlotte has no idea how well I know her. There are so many messed up problems between us that it maybe means I should quit. Instead, I’m using all that information to my advantage.

I know her mom left her, understand her dad died. She has one good friend now, because she retreated from all the others, and the only reason Kim is still in her life is because Kim is the sort of woman you can’t shake without real effort.

And if Charlotte senses that I am using her, playing her… she’ll either retreat or bolt. I know it.

Abandonment is her wound the way revenge is mine and it’s the one place I cannot tread hard.

I’m not getting into the bathroom, not without breaking down the door. I knock, but don’t get an answer and then I step back, contemplating if it’s actually a good idea to give it a good hard kick.

Leo’s got me frothing, part of me knows that. Which means I should take a breath and not go hard at this. I don’t want to scare her…

So stepping back from the door, I circle the room instead. The vanity, which usually sits empty, is now decorated with items. And I do mean decorated. The artful arrangement of the items somehow makes the place homier and more beautiful.

Kim’s picture and a few others rest on the two nightstands, and she’s added a colorful throw to the bed that she must have packed from her apartment. It’s nice…

I pass by the bed and into the closet where I can hear the shower running in the bathroom.

The clothes that I bought for her and the ones she brought are arranged in neat rows on the custom shelves, not a thing out of place.

I also happen to know she didn’t used to be this way. She’s always been neat, but she wasn’t so obsessive about the arrangement of items. But after her dad…

I’m a man who does his homework, and at some point, I managed to catch one of her former roommates in a bar. The coed was beyond chatty and within minutes I had a whole history.

Charlotte had withdrawn from all her friends, her inability to tolerate the mess of roommates drove her to live in that shitty apartment where she could be on her own. The other girls were pissed about it. She’d left them without a fourth or some shit.

I’ve seen this side of Charlotte in action. She can’t tolerate anything out of place. Not even my kitchen.

When my dad was killed by Giovani Vendetti, I retreated into my family. Their livelihood and protection became my whole existence.

That and revenge. It doesn’t even matter that Vendetti had cause, the way that man murdered my father will be avenged.

But Charlotte went a different route in her grief, she pulled away from everyone. My girl needs some love.

The implication of the word love isn’t lost on me. But I don’t mean it like I’m in love. Just that she needs someone looking out for her. Care and attention.

I hear the shower turn off and I leave the closet, and go sit on the bed. It takes her ten minutes in the bathroom and I apply myself to not fidgeting because that’s not my style.

I’m a man of patience and determination. I don’t get uppity like a fucking schoolboy. But between fighting with Leo and the tension that’s been building with Charlotte, I can barely sit still.

She comes out wrapped in a towel, starting when she sees me.

I swear the towel shows less than most of the dresses I bought her but the knowledge that with a small tug she’d be naked in front of me has my cock stiffening in my slacks.

Her hair is wet, her face free of makeup and she looks like she’s been crying. That has me standing.

“What’s wrong, baby?” The words are out of my mouth before I’ve even gathered her in my arms, but she’s stiff in my embrace.

“I should go. I shouldn’t be here.”

I stiffen, my hands tightening on her towel. I know she’s saying this because of Leo. Did she hear what he said? Is she about to bolt? That’s Charlotte’s M.O. too. Leave when things get tough. Let her try and go. She’ll find I’m a very hard man to shake.