by D. A. Young
Her eyes widened with shock, and she quickly averted her eyes, trying to play it cool. “I-I- didn’t.”
Holt grabbed her face and squeezed it hard enough that her eyes welled up and she cried out. “Don’t lie to me. I saw it and heard your little dedication. Who helped you?”
“No one was supposed to see that! I was drunk! Aaah!”
She was on her knees before him, searching for mercy, but none could be found. Dressed in all black, eyes glittering in the darkness, Holt looked like a dark and stormy avenging angel.
“Name.”
The ground was frozen beneath her. Snow seeped through the fabric of her jumpsuit and fell on her bare back, making Geneva’s teeth chatter. “It was Otto! I’m sorry, Holt. I mismanaged the club finances and was in dire straits. I needed money. I went to Matty to ask him, and he said he’d see what he could do. Otto was there and he took me to lunch.”
Geneva lowered her gaze from the condemnation in Holt’s. She’d known from the beginning there was no love lost between the cousins. Otto had visited her often at the brothel. She’d suspected it was because of Holt. The judgment in his eyes confirmed it. “He presented me with a blank check and told me to write whatever I needed. I asked him what the catch was. He said I could have the money.”
She raised her head defiantly. “All I had to do was let him see the videos I’d recorded and give him my opinion of her. I’d drunk too much and freely admitted to him what I’d done. Ever since that happened, he’s been hounding me to see them. Those videos were for my viewing pleasure only. They kept me sane while I waited for your return. We were good together Holt! You know it, even if you won’t admit it!”
“We were what we were. In the beginnin’, we were friends. At least, I thought we were. You were violatin’ my trust the entire time.” Holt released her and wiped his hand against his trench coat with aversion. He pulled something small and silver out of his pocket.
Rocking and shivering, Geneva hesitantly rose to her feet. Her eyes widened when she recognized what it was. She sniffed as the scent of propane finally hit her. They’d doused the perimeter of the club with it. She grabbed at Holt’s arm.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Holt!!!”
Holt regarded her coolly. “I’m showin’ you the difference between business and personal. How do you know Liridon Bojku?”
Panicking, she tried to wrestle the lighter from his fist, tottering in her heels and trying to jump for it. “He’s a VIP guest from time-to-time! He arrives with an entourage, and I always reserve the second floor for him! He has two requests. Privacy and no one looks at him! I swear I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup! Holton, please!”
“Are you able to get in touch with him?”
“He comes and goes! I can ask around! I haven’t seen him in months!” Geneva was crying at the potential loss if he destroyed all she’d worked for. “I swear, I’ll do it.”
Holt’s smile was genuine as he pocketed the lighter. “See? How hard was that? I can be sensible when the situation warrants it. This was business, and we managed to conduct it in a reasonable manner.”
Relieved, Geneva wiped the tears from her makeup-streaked face. “Thank you, Holt. I promise not to bother you or her ever again.”
“I know you won’t.” Holt pulled his phone out and opened the link Blaise sent him and showed it to her. “Check this out.”
“Is that my house?!” Geneva screamed. “You heartless bastard! Why would you- How could you- Why?!”
Horrified, she could only watch as flames devoured her property and firemen attempted to control the blaze. It was her sanctuary, and Holt knew what it meant to her. She’d grown up in a hovel and filled her mansion with antiques and luxury pieces that she loved to lord over her less fortunate friends.
“You disrespected my woman. I want those tapes permanently destroyed. For your sake, I hope you understand that the only reason you aren’t roastin’ in either buildin’ is that you owe me. Dead bitches don’t pay debts. I don’t care what you have to do or even if it’s the last thing you do. Make the meetin’ happen, Geneva. You have twenty-four hours.”
***
He was so out of it that it took Holt fifteen seconds to process that he wasn’t alone in his suite. The moment he did, his axe was somersaulting through the air. It embedded in the wall behind Ivar’s head when he shifted two inches to the left at the last minute.
His grandfather looked terrible. Bags under his eyes and his hair, lank and hanging around his face. He pulled a titanium flask from the inside pocket of his navy suit, uncapped it, and guzzled a lengthy swig. “You’re getting soft.”
Holt had already detected hints of clove and chestnut that could only be found combined in his grandfather’s cologne by the time he grabbed the axe handle. He pulled it out of the wall and holstered it. “Sure, let’s go with that.”
Holt snatched his grandfather up by his lapels and threw him against the wall. Ivar winced but didn’t attempt to avoid Holt’s fist connecting with his face. Starbursts exploded behind his eyelids, and his groan turned into a hacking fit. It went on and on until Holt dropped him with disgust, pissed at his loss of control. He knew better. Control your emotions or they’d control you.
“You can’t possibly still be mad about our conversation?”
“That’s simply for being a manipulative, heartless bastard,” Holt retorted. “For abandonin’ Matty! He’s comin’ home today. You say anythin’ about it or add a plot twist to it, I’ll hack you into tiny pieces where you stand. Understood?”
“Of course, he can come home.” Ivar’s self-satisfied smirk irked Holt like nails on a chalkboard. “You never let me down, Holton. Always predictable in defying me.”
“Tread carefully, old man. My tolerance level is now non-existent.”
“I put Matias there to see who would come to his defense. Vera tried but folded under Julian’s command. Can you imagine that? He turned his back on his own son!” Ivar’s pitying sigh contradicted the mischief in his eyes. “Otto is too entrenched in his own pity party to give a damn about anyone else. Blaise is off helping everyone but his own family. Tage is…Tage.” Ivar rubbed his chest to ease the tightness and wiped the sheen of perspiration from his brow. “Only you and Thea did what was right.”
“They are who you made them,” Holt corrected him, thinking of the uncle who never spoke.
“If he were a stronger man, things wouldn’t have turned out the way they did. He let love cloud his vision.” Ivar contemplated him with pursed lips, and Holt felt uneasy. He could practically see the wheels turning in that fucking rat trap mind. “They’re not like you. You’re my thinker. You analyze and assess and don’t give a damn what anyone thinks of your conclusion.”
“Ivar, we’ve already established our differences. Why are you here?”
“You were taking too long to come home.”
“That’s not my home,” Holt automatically retorted.
Ivar ignored that and loosened his tie. “Also, to let you know that Matty could come home. He was my choice to precede me, you know. But now he’s gone.”
Holt looked away, for once at a loss for words. Even though this day was turning out to be the worst of his life, he still held on to hope for his cousin. “Don’t speak of him like that.”
“The sooner you come to terms with it the better off you’ll be. With that being said, it’s time you fulfilled all of your familial duties. I’ve replaced Matty with you. You are going to come back and run the company with me for a year.”
“Say what?” Holt laughed outright in his face. The unmitigated nerve of this asshole! “I’m never goin’ to work for your damn company, Ivar.”
“Yes, you will. Falk Incorporated needs someone like you at the helm.” Ivar stood and unbuttoned his top button. The pressure in his chest was increasing.
“And why would I wanna do that, pray tell?”
“Because if you do not, I will certify that not a single family member i
nherits an iota of my company or monies. What will they do then, hmm? You’ve said it yourself numerous times. They depend on me for everything.”
Holt always knew the day would come when he regretted not doing the world a favor by taking this motherfucker out. Today was that day. If Ivar went forward with his plans, and the family ever found out…they would direct the blame at Holt and his family instead of Ivar.
“Sonofabitch! You’re resortin’ to blackmail now?” Holt felt claustrophobic, suffocating from these ridiculous expectations. He grabbed his grandfather by the arm and stared into his red-rimmed eyes. “This isn’t a fuckin’ game, Ivar! They don’t work there simply for the money! They work there out of misguided loyalty to you!”
Ivar’s laugh was skeptical. He pulled free of Holt’s hold, stumbling back. “No, they work there to prove that they aren’t like you and Elin, willing to turn their backs on family! It’s fear that drives them. Not that I blame them. When succumbed to, fear renders its victim insignificant and powerless, making courage obsolete.”
“A notion that you’ve never dissuaded them of!” Holt snarled. “I won’t do it.”
“Then they’ll be unemployed, homeless, and unprotected,” Ivar shrugged unconcernedly, confident Holton would do the right thing. He had the upper hand, and they both knew it. He pointed to his suitcase on the coffee table and wheezed, “I’ve already made the necessary provisions in my will. There’s a copy for you to review in there.”
The tyrant looked peaky. Holt reluctantly grumbled, “You don’t look so good, old man.”
“I don’t feel it either.” Ivar dropped to his knees, one hand clutching at his chest, the other held out to Holt. Eyes pleading, he gasped, “Help…help…”
That was as far as he got.
“Ivar!”
He collapsed in Holt’s arms.
***
The bastard was going to live.
He’d had a heart attack, but he would be fine, the doctor explained to Holt at the hospital.
Of course, he would be fine, Holt thought sardonically, staring down at Ivar lying frail in the hospital bed while the doctor droned on about shit that held no merit to him.
Evil didn’t die.
His first instinct was to leave Ivar where he lay, but then Holt remembered the will. He’d called for help and applied what assistance he could, all while staring at the briefcase the entire time he waited. As soon as the paramedics left, Holt opened the briefcase and pulled the documents out. His mind balked with the knowledge that Ivar hadn’t lied. The documents were dated and legalized two days after they last Skyped. If Holt didn’t fulfill his duties, the family would be stripped of everything except their personal belongings.
Holt didn’t give a shit about Otto and Julian. Tage, he was on the fence about. However, Matty, Blaise, Thea, and Jules deserved their share. He couldn’t just base his choice on himself. That would be selfish. If he fulfilled his duty, Holt could then hand the company over in good conscience. How they chose to run it would not be on him. That was the reasoning Holt consoled himself with as he called Elin and listened to the phone ring.
Motherfucker.
Ivar was going to get his way after all.
What else was new?
Chapter Twenty-Three
“I can’t believe that Otto would go to such extremities,” Thea commented, looking first at Blaise for support and then Holt for confirmation. “To employ such vengeful tactics against his own flesh and blood!”
He raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Ivar chopped my mother’s foot off and raised Otto, yet you can’t believe that he turned out that way?”
“He does have a point, Thea,” Blaise agreed with distaste.
On the surface, not a flicker of emotion touched Holt’s face. Beneath his skin was an entirely different matter. The veins in his temples were throbbing, and he was rigid with fury. The effort he exerted not to lose his shit and go next-level made his lungs burn.
Stricken, his sister’s mouth dropped open. “I can’t begin to imagine how your poor girlfriend is feeling.”
The cousins and Julian were sitting in a private suite of the hospital, and the doctor had just left after updating them on Ivar’s condition.
“What did your lady say?” Julian asked, hesitant to broach the subject with the force field of deadliness cloaking his nephew. “Were you able to make things right with her?”
“If not, we can speak on your behalf and testify to what an asshole Otto can be,” Blaise volunteered with revulsion, still in disbelief over their cousin’s actions.
“I am going to hit it the pause button on us.”
Kat’s words were branded indelibly in Holt’s mind. “It won’t make a difference.”
“Sorry to hear that. I’ve never condoned his behavior but have always hated the bad blood between you two and tried to play peacemaker.”
“I’m aware of that.” Simple sentences were all Holt could manage in his present state.
“That was before his latest infraction,” Julian suddenly added. “Don’t let him get away with this. He’s a product of his environment but to hurt an innocent woman in such a way is contemptible and not without retribution.”
The door opened and the subject of their discussion slinked in, bold as brass, shadowed by Ras. His brash cockiness waned slightly at the sight of Holt’s eerie calmness. Their eyes clashed and instantly, the air was charged with violent tension.
Otto’s arrival prompted the siblings and their father to stand and confront him.
“You bastard!” Bristling with acrimony, Thea confronted her older cousin and thumped Otto in the chest.
“Get out of his face, Thea.” Ras tried to interfere, only to be greeted by the barrel of Blaise’s gun between his eyes.
“This is a family affair. Back the fuck up and take a walk,” he dictated coldly.
Meanwhile, Thea continued to yell. “What possessed you to do such a thing?! Do you have a death wish??? You’re not even supposed to leave the house with that psycho Bojku gunning for you!”
“Someone needed to wake that silly bitch up,” Otto drawled maliciously staring over her head, challenging Holt who hadn’t moved. “She didn’t even know she was dancing with a devil. She should be thanking me. I’m here to bring Matty home and pay my respects to Grandfather. I’ll also read him the riot act for moving your brother in the first place.”
Thea regarded him sadly. “You disgust me. I’m ashamed to call you my blood.”
Inside, Otto was reeling from her words. “You don’t mean that, Thea. This has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it.”
“Unfortunately, yes, we do mean it,” Julian answered, regarding his nephew sadly. Otto sneered at him. “You were hell bent on destroying their relationship and have behaved abominably. We don’t hurt innocent people, nephew. I’ve been weak in the past and chose to remain so when I should have stood up for those who needed me. Never have the error of my ways been more blatantly exposed than in the last two weeks. I was frightened of becoming a target for my father and making my family one in the process.”
Julian couldn’t stop his tears from flowing and didn’t even try to hide them. “I should have tried harder with all of you instead of being a mute coward. I should have interceded when you chose to direct your hatred toward Holt.” He squeezed his nephew’s shoulder. “Otto, you know, even if you won’t admit it aloud, that Holton is a victim of circumstances as much as you are.”
He extracted a handkerchief from the inside of his suit jacket and dabbed at his face. “Luckily for me, my children didn’t inherit my cowardice. It’s not too late to get it together, Otto. I’ve decided to leave the company. Vera and I will be moving from the estate once Bojku is disposed of. I’d like to take Tage if he’s willing. Moving on for him is impossible at the estate. Maybe to Gothenburg? A change of scenery might be just what he needs.”
Julian glanced at Holt and confessed, “I’ve been weighing the pros and cons for a while, and our last co
nversation only reinforced my decisions. I’ve spent my entire life living to please my father instead of enjoying as if it wasn’t the only one I’d ever have.”
“It’s understandable; sometimes, change takes a bit of courage,” Holt encouraged, still staring at Otto.
“Father, I’m very happy for you and Mother. Does Grandfather know? What will happen to the company?” Blaise couldn’t stop grinning while Thea looked shocked.
“Your grandfather doesn’t know yet, and I fear that I’ve waited too long to tell him. Now, I’m worried about his health and how he’ll react to the news.”
“Don’t. If we know nothing about Ivar Falk, it’s that he always has a contingency plan.” Thea replied.
Wasn’t that the truth, Holt thought dismally. He’d have to tell them soon.
“No matter what, I’m happy for you, Dad, and we’ll get through all of this together. I’ll help in any way that I can. The jet-setting is getting a bit old. It’s time I stayed landlocked for awhile. Make some guy happy for more than just a night.”
“Thea!” All four men shouted.
“Children, thank you for allowing me to bend your ear. Ras, please escort Otto home. It’s not safe for him to be exposed.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Uncle.” Julian’s speeches hadn’t dissuaded Otto’s hatred for Holt. If anything, it had further strengthened under their censure. “I bet you just couldn’t wait to run and tell them,” he hissed.
Holt’s look should have incinerated Otto to ashes. He rose to his feet, all pretense at civility gone. There were no qualms given about the way he was about to pick Otto’s carcass clean like the fucking savage he was. “I felt it was important for them to understand what transpired, so the next chapter in our sworn enemy saga that you created makes sense.”
“What is going to happen next, cousin?” Otto mocked. “Did your plaything come to her senses?”
Obliterate.
It wasn’t just a verb.
It was Holt’s present state of mind.
“It’s simple, Otto. We’re goin’ to do what we always do. I beat you and you get beaten.” He smiled ruthlessly as he approached, and everyone shifted out of his path.
