26. SAMUEL

My hands tightened around his mobile phone.

I saw the number. It was a landline. A home phone number.

And I could only bet there was another person with Leo.

"Preston," I said, pressing my phone to my ear as he answered.

"Any news?"

"I need you to track a number. But you can't do anything with the address. Tell me and we'll go together."

"You found them?"

I couldn't take the credit, but I would. "Yeah. I'll give you the number. See what your guy can do. Area code is local, so we shouldn't have trouble finding it."

It didn't take long for Preston to call me back in a fury. "I'm going now!" he spat.

"Give me the address. We'll send—"

"Are you going to tell me you're not going?" he asked. "If it's who you say it is, then it's family. We need to go ourselves."

He was right. I was trying to be cautious. Last night turned into a nightmare for some people. I didn't want the same thing to happen again. It was bad enough my dad was dead, the last thing I wanted was to be arrested.

Preston gave me the address.

"That's South Kensington," I said.

"Anything sound familiar? It has to be her. Isn't that where they grew up?"

"That's the property we own on Collingham Road?"

His silence was an answer. Uncle Bennett dealt with the properties. We rented them out, and they were also perfect places to store items. Especially in the larger townhouses where we could rent out floors as small studio flats.

"I'll meet you on the way," I told him. "Don't do anything until I'm there."

In the locked top drawer of my office desk, I pulled out a sharp knife from inside it's leather sheath. It was one of the sharpest blades I had, and I kept it here since it was a gift from my father when I took over. But now, it would come in use. Family didn't hurt family, but we weren't the first to spill blood, and that made what I had in mind fair game.

I placed it back inside the sheath before slipping it into the inner pocket of my suit. Whoever took Leo and my uncle were in for the shock of their life.

Preston was at the end of the road, kicking his feet on the stone and scuffing his shoes. His face was a little more beaten up than mine, the men last night got more sucker punches in on him. His hands were wrapped as if he was about to get on the speed bag and start boxing.

"Let's kill these fuckers," he said, raising both hands up in a fighting stance.

"Calm," I said, resting a hand on the shoulder and dusting his suit. "We should've got changed."

"I was at the tailor getting my hand stitched," he said, bobbing and weaving as he threw out a couple practice punches into the air. "I'm ready. I took a couple pain killers. I don't feel a thing." He gave my arm a jab. "Let's go."

"They'll see us coming."

"It makes sense they choose one of our places. They think they're family, but after this, it's an act against the family," he said. "They've probably got demands. Everyone always wants money."

"They're not getting any."

Preston grumbled to himself. "It's also your fault. The guy. You didn't have to fuck him."

"What?"

"The guy they took. If you didn't fuck him, you could've just cut it loose."

My hand clenched into a fist and without thinking, I swung it. Missing as Preston stepped back, pressed against the brick wall of the side of a house. I grabbed him by his shirt, pulling it tight in my grasp as I pinned him. "Don't."

"Relax. Jeez."

"Don't. Leo isn't just some guy. Ok. You'd understand if you ever had a meaningful relationship," I said through gritting my teeth. I hadn't known Leo that long, but I'd seen him. I'd felt for him. And he was my responsibility now. I'd made him the promises. I wasn't going to fail him.

"We should fight them, not each other." He smacked my hand away.

Preston knew which house it was. It was a house we owned. Currently with no tenants. It was four floors. And from his description, we had recently renovated it into smaller studios. He also had a key, which made everything easier.

As we reached the house and he placed the key in the lock, I placed my hand at the handle of the blade in my pocket.

The door didn't budge.

"Are you sure it's the right key?" I whispered, as I examined the outside of the house to see if there was any movement.

"Yes. It works. It's bolted probably."

Three mental hunking whacks came before the door opened.

It was just as expected.

"Auntie Adeline," Preston said, taking a step away from the door.

She stood with a huge smile on her face. Behind her, our cousins, Wayne and Layla. He was dressed for a day on a posh farm, and she was dressed ready to hit the wine bar.

"I knew you boys would come," she said. "I—I expected you to bring more. Like, Louie, Rebekah, Reuben, and Elias. You know, just the voting powers that be."

"Where's my dad?" he asked.

Through the heavy netting and the split in the curtains, I saw Leo, strapped to a chair with tape over his mouth. "What do you want?" I asked. "Money? It's always money. Isn't it. I told you, Preston, they're just looking for a handout."

Adeline cackled. "You think that's your money, huh?" she shook her head. "Come inside. We'll talk terms. And I mean, real terms. Not some pay us off type deal and we'll leave. We're here to stay."

Preston turned and looked back at me. He nodded. "What are we waiting for then?" he asked. "I want to see my dad first."

"Fine, fine."

She ushered us inside. I saw Wayne holding a knife and Layla carried a hammer. Watching us both in case of any sudden movements.

Uncle Bennett and Leo were both in the room, both with their mouths taped. They tried to speak; their voice muffled.

"I'll get you out." I mouthed to Leo as his eyes grew bigger and panicked.

"Dad. Don't worry, I've got this," Preston said.

Adeline snapped her fingers at us. "Dining room. I've prepared some tea."

I stood closer to Preston. "Don't touch anything," I whispered. I wasn't going to be the victim of poisoning. That wasn't how I saw myself dying. My death was going to be glorious and blood, and not for another fifty years. At least, that was the goal, to be almost ninety and still getting my hands dirty.

Sitting at the dining table, set with teacups and a pot of tea. I was planning my attack. My cousins stood behind my aunt, their objects catching the light.

"You killed my dad, your brother," I started.

"Tea?" she asked, picking up the pot. "And no, I didn't kill him. He died while I was visiting. I—I tried to save him." She poured the tea into her cup.

I placed a hand over mine. I wasn't touching anything she gave me. "You knew he was allergic. You came in through the back of the house. If you were visiting, you would've come when people were there. But no, you waited until after everyone had left."

Adeline smiled, turning her head slightly to look at Wayne, then to Layla. "My brother was a nice man, generous, but two years ago that generosity stopped. It was sudden. I'd asked him for a little extra cash to help us. You see, my dead husband, he wasn't always a nice man. In fact, when he died, he left all his money to charity. The only thing I had to my name was that house. It needed a new roof, plumbing, and anything else you could think of. It was turning to crumbs right under our hands."

"The ceiling and floor collapsed while Wayne was in bed," Layla added. "He went straight through to the dining room." Her lips pursed into a smile. "Luckily he wasn't hurt."

"My brother could've helped us," Adeline said. She pulled the cup to her mouth and sipped, leaving red lipstick marks around the rim. "I never asked for anything from the family. I always knew what the deal was. You had a vote. You were part of it, if you had the name and the blood." She scoffed. "You know, it's a very misogynistic way of running a business. Only allowing the men to stay on until their dead."

"It was your dad, our grandfather who made those rules," I said. We all knew the stories.

"And you can change them," she said. "Allow us back into the family. The three of us will change from Westly into Maxwell. We're blood."

Preston slammed his fist on the table. "You killed Alistair." Blood already seeping through the bandage around his knuckles. "And now you want us to pay you, give you a seat, and all so you can take over, right?"

I saw the sign. They had three votes. "You want me to agree. Then whatever you've told Uncle Bennett, you'll force him to vote for you, he'll sway Louie, since he doesn't do anything anyway, and you'll probably get Uncle Reuben on board too."

"Actually," she said, rapping her fingernails on the table. "I was going to say, I'm not asking. I have Bennett and—the boy, Leo. See, I will have the votes, and I will take over. He was my brother, my twin, it's right for me to take over since his unfortunate accident."

I slipped a hand inside my suit pocket, ready to pull the knife out. "We can just go in there and get them," I said. "And you realise that I have a security firm. What's given you so much confidence that the three of you could stop me?"

They looked to one another. Smiling like they shared a secret. I wanted to know.

"If you don't, they'll both die," she said. "They've probably got an hour."

"Poison," Wayne added. "We want what we want, and if we don't get it, they'll both be dead."

My finger tugged the handle of the blade, and with a swift action. I threw it at her. A bullseye shot straight to her forehead. Square between the eyes.

It was a killer blow. But I wasn't someone who needed to be tested. I leaned over to grab the knife as Layla and Wayne froze in shock. I yanked the blade out of Adeline's face, seeing the depth it had penetrated.

Her head dropped to the table against the pot of tea.

"The poison," I shouted. "Where's the antidote?"

The jumped into action, ready to fight back. Layla hitting and missing as the hammer went into the walls. Wayne almost immediately dropped the knife as Preston hit him with an uppercut.

It was safe to say, they didn't have the training we had. We disarmed both of them within minutes.

Preston placed his knee on Wayne's back, pulling both arms up. "Where's the fucking antidote?"

"There—there—" he panted.

"Come on," I said, pinning Layla's body to the wall. "Where is it?"

"There isn't on," Wayne said.

Placing my weight against Layla, I couldn't accept his answer. "What does he mean?"

"There wasn't any poison," she said into a sob. "I told her—her not to say that. Fucking stupid. We didn't poison them."

A wind of cold relief almost knocked me back.

The destruction of the room came to colour again. Aunt Adeline's dead body slumped across the side of the table. "Well," I said, stepping back and letting go of Layla. "You're lucky. It could've ended much worse for you."

She dropped to the floor and scrambled to her mother.

"Call the security to come clean this up," I told Preston. "I—I need to go see him—them next door."

I wiped the blood from the knife on the inside of my jacket. Leo's watery eyes and shaky body were pleased to see me.

"I'm here," I said, gently pulling the tape from his mouth. "I'm sorry. I'm never letting you leave my sight again." I glanced to my uncle as he watched. He seemed fine, Preston could check him over.

"I—I heard. I thought something happened," Leo sobbed.

I sliced the zip lock ties around his wrists and ankles. "It did. But I'm ok. We're ok."

"Ok." He swung his arms around my shoulders.

Preston walked in with the knife and hammer, Layla and Wayne had been carrying, alongside a bag of zip ties. "They just keep these things lying around. I got them tied to some chairs in there. They have to stare at their dead mother, but—" he paused, seeing his father.

Uncle Bennett's eyes were pink and glossy. It wasn't how I'd ever intended on telling someone we'd killed their sibling. But he'd understand.

I lifted Leo up into my arms and carried him as he wrapped his legs around my waist. "Can we go now?" His body shivered against mine.

"You can handle this, right?" I asked.

Preston nodded, taking off the tape covering his father's mouth. "People are coming to clean, but what do we do about those two?"

Uncle Bennett sighed. "They're still family," he said. "Misguided and all, but they're family."

Until the vote took place, I was still in charge, and since that was the case, I would need to think about it. I gave them both a nod before leaving. I didn't want Leo to see more than he already had. This wasn't protecting him; not like I'd promised.

He rested his head on my shoulder and I carried him all the way back to the flat.