The Grudge

THIS IS BAD...

The thought flashes in my mind the moment Theía and I enter the hotel"s penthouse conference room, and I realize right away this meeting isn"t just about our family business.

There"s this huge executive table in the middle of the room that"s easily the length of a standard-sized Olympic pool, and seated around it are the patriarchs and matriarchs of every prominent Greek mafia family in America.

My grandfather is one of them, and a discussion among our elders commences as soon as my aunt and I take our place behind him.

Vengeance does not excuse members from breaking this group"s rules...

Translation: gunning enemies down is standard practice, death by faking an overdose is most preferred, but what"s not acceptable at all is taking a page straight out of Jack the Ripper"s handbook, which is what Theía did when she finally managed to hunt down the people who abducted and killed my parents.

Kayra shall not be expelled from this organization in light of her condition.

Translation: Theía is still the Familia"s most skilled tracker, and so they"re going to use my aunt"s "condition" to give her a free pass.

Steps must be taken to prevent this from happening again.

Translation: they still need to exact some form of punishment on my family, and so...

"It has not escaped our attention how protective Kayra feels towards her niece."

Why do I have a feeling the Familia"s about to turn me into their sacrificial lamb?

"If something were to happen to Bailey, it might trigger the exact same reaction in Kayra—-"

"Just get to the damn point," my grandfather growls.

A silver-haired lady with a string of pearls circled around her neck shakes her head at Papou from across the table. "We are not here to fight with you, Astro."

Helene isn"t just the matriarch of the Cholevas clan. She"s also the woman whose feelings my grandfather spurned not once but twice, and even though she"s been saying all these years their failed romance is water under the bridge—-

Yeah right.

The way my grandfather"s face has already hardened tells me we"re thinking the same thing. Helene has never really forgiven Papou for not having feelings for her, and she"s been trying to make him pay for it every sneaky chance she gets.

"This meeting is for your family"s benefit, Astro. Kayra will always be one of this organization"s most valuable assets, and her safety is as much as our priority as it is yours."

Helene may be saying all the right words, but I"m not buying it at all, and I"d have called bull on it, too...if I wasn"t so sure it would earn me a bullet hole in the head.

"Preventive measures must and will be taken, and if we do not want Kayra to be provoked in such a manner ever again, we need to eliminate potential triggers—-"

While I"m sure they don"t mean to sound threatening, "elimination" kinda sorta takes a whole new meaning when it"s the mafia that"s talking.

"And that"s why the majority of us has come into a decision—-"

Papou sputters in outrage. "You"ve all casted your votes without me?"

But Helene acts like she hasn"t heard a word from him. "Every family that is a member of this organization has been asked to present their most eligible sons."

My grandfather surges to his feet. "What the hell?"

"Bailey must find a husband among our kind within the day—-"

"Are you out of your mind?"Papou bellows.

Helene only smiles coldly at this. "You can choose her husband for her. Or let Kayra make the choice or even Bailey herself, if you are the type to leave such decisions to one so young. We don"t care how you do it as long as she"s married before sundown."