Chapter 10 I pull up to the giant gate outside Triston's house. It's so risky to be here alone. Not only will there be several men here who consider me their enemy, but I've come to Triston's home where he could have set up any number of traps for me to fall into. These men believe that I bombed one of their clubs, shot up Killian Smith's apartment. I blow out a breath. My first job will be to tell them the truth. Then the negotiations can begin. The gates swing open, my driver rolling the car through opening and driving up the long drive to the mansion that sits set well back from the road. A wall encases the entire property, all of it meticulously landscaped. The Smiths own an empire, and this is their crown jewel. At least here in the States. Their eldest brother has the vast English real estate that goes along with the title of duke. My driver stops, and I open my door, climbing out of the car. Making my way up the stairs, a uniformed woman opens the door, showing me, not up the stairs, but toward the back of the house. We move into a well-appointed kitchen where several Smith and Kincaid men gather around an island. "Mister Ivanov is here," she calls to the assembled group. "Thank you, Mrs. Raith," Triston answers stepping away from the group and toward me, reaching out a hand to shake mine before he gestures for me to join the others. I do, and looking down at the counter, note a large tray of nachos in the center of the island. Gris Smith, Triston's twin, grabs a stack of cheese and chips, taking a giant bite of one and then washes it down with a beer. If this more casual environment was meant to relax me, it's working. I've been to a few executions, and I've never once seen nachos served. "Glad to have you here," Gris says after he swallows, "We're still waiting on my brother-in-law, Mason." "Probably tucking in Charlotte," Killian says as he helps himself to a large chip loaded with guacamole. "I didn't think he could get crazier about that woman, but it turns out now that she's pregnant, his obsession has notched up another level." Triston gives me a side glance, which likely means he doesn't trust me and is worried that information will be used against Mason. "Wait until the baby comes," I answer, matching the casual attitude of my companions. "He's going to reach new levels of protective." Everyone stares at me. "Is that why you bombed the Kincaids' club? Protection for your child?" Jake Kincaid asks, holding a nacho in midair as he waits for my response. Jake is older than the others, an uncle to Mason, Leo, and Roman Kincaid. Like me, he's got a bit of gray at the temples, though he married a younger woman who is even more connected to the Vegas underworld than he is. I breathe in deeply and blow the air out my nose. I'd hoped to wait for Mason before I launched into this part of the conversation. "That's the first bullet point on my agenda. Because the truth is, I was responsible for neither that bombing of your nightclub, nor the shooting at Killian's apartment." Silence meets my words, disbelief staring back at me from every set of eyes. Killian cracks his tattooed knuckles. "You're telling me that you had nothing to do with those attacks? When you took responsibility already? Makes it hard to believe you." I twist my neck, cracking one of the vertebrae. Killian isn't wrong. Stepping up to the counter, I reach onto the tray and grab a loaded chip, popping it into my mouth. Nachos aren't really my thing, but it's good. I chew, buying time, making them wait, before I answer. "Most of you know I am one hand in a much larger operation." I grab a beer and crack it open. Behind me I hear footsteps. I turn to see Mason Kincaid enter. He is not the largest, or most muscled man around this island, but every line in his body speaks of power. I take a slow sip of the beer. "Mason." "Dimitri." He stops at my side. "You don't give yourself enough credit. I know you're far more than just a hand." The business I've been able to cut my father out of, the kink clubs, run with efficiency and safety. I don't claim to be a pinnacle of morality, but I keep the people in my employ safe. My father has very different practices. "I came to Vegas ten years ago to purchase the first casino, the one I sold to the Smiths. The money I used to buy that place, however, was not my own but my father's." I look around the circle. "In exchange, I bought out his share of the whorehouses, turned them into legal clubs, and cut out the human trafficking because..." It's completely fucking filthy. "The problem is that many, within my own organization, like my methods better than my father's, and I have been rising in the ranks, getting increasing supporters both personally and financially. With that money, I've been expanding, and I've become a threat." "To your father?" Mason asks, his brows up as he stares at me. I grimace. I don't even know how to describe my father. There is no love there, except for himself. What he feels for us is only about power and malice. "I tried to make three of the four casinos legitimate. I've bought two of them myself. But the more I act on my own, the more control I take..." "The more he interferes," Triston says, his wince not of disbelief but of resignation. I nod. "Triston?" Killian asks and Mason stares across the island at the head of the Smith family. "I've always wondered at the dichotomy in your businesses. There is a kindness in the way you run the sex clubs. You protect the women, it's quiet, controlled. They are valued." "Shit." Mason mutters next to me and the tension leaves my shoulders. They understand. "He bombed my club, not you." "He's sabotaging my success so that he can control me. Without allies, I am far weaker." "And the casino you sold me in exchange for the marriage between Katarina and Ryker?" Triston asks. "It was his. And he agreed because he wants the connection to your family. But I implied I'd wash his money in the other three establishments, and I don't intend to follow through with my promise. Once he learns the truth, our cold war will get red hot." I don't say the last part. That I'd remove my father from this earth if I could. All he does is sow pain and suffering wherever he goes. He destroyed my mother, he is attempting to do the same to my sisters. Triston draws in a deep breath. "We understand bad fathers. Trust me on that." Gris and Killian both nod. "But if all you say is true, how much danger will there be when your sister is a member of our family and you cut him from the business?" "A lot." "Forgive me, but I'm not sure I'm ready to believe all that Dimitri has said," Jake Kincaid cuts in. "Has anyone else remembered that he was meeting with the Italians? He tried to make a deal behind our back even when he'd agreed to tie his business with ours." I grimace. "I was meeting with the Italians. I won't lie to you. But I was neither going to sell them one of the casinos, nor was I breaching any part of our contract." I blow out a breath. "I was hiring them to do a job that I can't." "What job is that?" Mason asks quietly. This information does not strengthen my position as an honorable man. "He has my sisters in a prison. He's a threat to my daughter and the woman..." I stop before I say Ava's name. "The nanny?" Killian asks. Fucking Killian. He can move through shadows like no man I've ever met, and he knows all sorts of secrets, including my feelings about Ava. "You want to take out your father?" Gris asks, popping a giant nacho in his mouth. "Bold. And fucked up." "He killed my mother. Slowly. Painfully." I stop, gritting my teeth to keep the rest of my feelings in, though they've leaked out with what I did say. I shouldn't have said that. While I knew I'd have to offer up some skeletons, I'm too raw on the topic of my mother to use the information as a point of negotiation. And this is about gaining their partnership again, not providing them more fuel to hate me. But those words seem to shift the mood and not against me. "We know about that too," Mason rumbles. "If I learned anything from my father, it was how not to conduct a marriage or raise children." We all come to this shadowed life with deep scars. But my daughter and Ava will live in the light. I take another slow pull on my beer. It's not my normal drink, but it creates the proper pauses I need. "I want safety for my family. Security. I'd pay a great deal for that privilege." "How much?" Mason asks. "What does safety mean?" Triston follows up. Both are excellent questions. I look across the island at Killian, the shadow, as he pops a chip into his mouth and then takes a drink from his glass of water. He's the one man without a beer. When he swallows, he gives a near imperceptible nod. "He wants me to kill his father, for one." "No," Triston cuts his hand through the air. "That is not on the table." Killian doesn't look at his brother, he stares at me. "I've seen you with the nanny. You love her." I swallow, not saying a word. "I didn't start following you until six months ago, didn't begin scoping out your clubs until last month. But I hear the girls that work for you talk..." I still. "And?" "They say that you're a saint in sinner's clothing. That they've never been safer. They say they'll follow you wherever you go because they aren't exploited, they are protected. What did he do to your mother?" I won't tell them all of it. "She was a prostitute. I'm not ashamed, she had more heart in her pinky finger than he does in his whole body. But he treated her like..." I stop, my jaw going rock hard. I can't share her secrets, not in front of strangers. Killian's hand flexes. "I'll do it, even if you don't close the deal with my brothers." The air rushes from my lungs as gratitude makes my shoulders sag in relief. I can't get close enough to touch my father. I'm too known. But Killian... My eyes close as relief washes through me. "Thank you." "What are the rest of the terms?" "I want one casino that connects to your tunnel. That will be enough to sustain me. In exchange, I'll sell you the other two at a bargain price." What I want is a legitimate source of income that can provide for my family. A casino on the tunnel will do just that. "And I might need a few phone taps. I can't do them, but I know you can." I look at Jake who still appears skeptical as he looks back at me. But my attention is diverted again. "And the arranged marriage?" Ryker asks. He's been silent this whole time, his gaze watchful as he listens. It's a smart move to remain quiet. He's learning about me, while giving nothing away about himself. I should make a point to get to know him. He's the man who is positioned to be my brother-in-law. "Stands." I say, holding the counter, and giving him a nod of acknowledgment. "But as you meet my family, be warned, my father should not be underestimated and if we fail, my sisters need to be safe." I still don't know how I'll protect Sasha, but Katarina will be safe married to Ryker Smith. The pieces are beginning to fall into place. "Do you have any idea how Killian is going to gain access to your father?" "He'll come as soon as he learns about the sale of the casinos. And when he does, we had all better be ready."