It was a week later, and I was watching her.
I was always watching her, but I stayed away.
Still, I watched. I could do that much.
And as she was working, and I was standing in my private box, a conversation came back to haunt me.
“Was there collateral damage?”
Stephano had wanted to know more. He hadn’t been satisfied with the initial report of what had happened with Jess’s aunt and her abuser.
I had braced myself, steeling myself, and raised my chin up. “What do you need to know, Uncle?”
His eyes flickered just once before his own face hardened. “You killed the uncle?”
I didn’t answer that. “My men buried his body. He’s dead.”
His jaw clenched. He knew I was playing word games, something I’d been doing more and more lately. Anger flared in his gaze before he smothered it. “The aunt?”
“They’re gone. Ashton made his calls. She’d checked in with their local women’s shelter earlier that day. We think she left him.”
“Where’s she now?”
“Disappeared. Probably hiding from him.” I studied him. He wasn’t happy still. I needed to give him a little more. “She’ll never know that she doesn’t need to hide. He’s dead. He wouldn’t help anyways. He was an abuser, and that would’ve made him a liability. He could’ve offered evidence on us if he’d ever been arrested for domestic assault. You know the kind. We have someone in his place who we can control. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
It was enough. I saw some of the suspicion ease from him, and he nodded.
I started to relax.
Until he spoke again. “We have a problem. The family wanting to push in is getting worse, and my health is still deteriorating. I need you to take over the family business.”
I gritted my teeth. “When?”
There was silence. He was back to studying me. “I want you to be running everything within three months.”
Three months. Three months before everything would change.
It wasn’t enough time.
