I didn’t hear what the response was, but Kai grabbed a bottle of maple syrup and passed it to them. He closed the door again and turned to regard me. His tortured expression was back, hitting a nerve in me and stirring me up.
I hated whatever was bothering him.
He raked a tired hand through his hair, reaching behind him to lock the door. He moved to the living room.
I followed him, sitting on one end of the couch and pulling one of the blankets folded over the back to my lap.
I waited. That’s all I could do.
He started reluctantly. “Yes, I’m waiting for you to deal with your father. Yes, it’s the last thing I want to do here, but we have to. I just, haven’t been able to force it to happen.”
A lump sat in the back of my throat. “You said you wanted to replace me at my father’s company. Do you need him alive to do that?”
He stared at me a full long minute, his tortured look never wavering. “I’ve already started that process.”
He didn’t answer my question.
“Do you need him alive to do that?”
He wrenched his gaze away, sitting in the chair next to me, but angling his body away. As he rested his arms on his legs, his back and shoulders grew rigid. “No. Your father is free to die whenever you want him killed.”
I hadn’t expected that.
“Hey.” I sat forward. “What’s going on here? What are you scared about?”
He whipped his head to mine, his gaze searing me. “You hating me one more goddamn time.”
“What?” I couldn’t have heard him correctly. I blinked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Your father has to die.” He was cold now. “His body will be found. He’ll be declared dead. His company will call an emergency board meeting. In the interim, you’ll be declared alive. At that board meeting, you’ll share with them the news of your resurrection.” His tone was biting. “After that, we’ll declare a hostile takeover of your father’s company.”
“Kai.”
He kept on. “There will be resistance from four members on the board. The other three have already been turned. They will feign surprise, but joy at your appearance, and one of them will bring a motion to appoint you in your father’s place.”
He looked away, his head down, his eyes closed. “I have everything in place, ready to move, but after this, after what you’ll have to do—there’s no going back.” His words were soft, making me ache. “You can’t go back in the shadows after this.”
Oh.
Understanding dawned.
“And you’re worried about me?”
“I’m worried you’ll hate it. I’m worried you’ll resent me because I fucking yanked you out of where you were content, and I’m not allowing you to go back there.” He shoved to his feet. “Me. I am destroying the safe world you had erected, and you’re letting me do it.” He stopped, breathing harshly. “I am fucking terrified that you will hate me at the end of all this.”
I moved in a flash, going to him.
He flinched, moving away.
“Kai.” Pain wracked through me. I reached for him again.
“No!” He moved farther away, glaring at me. “Stop it. Stop acting like you’re okay with all this. I am yanking you into this prison I live in. You’re letting me! Stop accepting everything I’m doing to you.”
He paused, bit out a curse, and in a second was in front of me. His hands cupped my head, his fingers sliding through my hair, and he tilted me back to look at him as he gazed down. He closed his eyes for a moment, seeming to gather strength, and then he began to speak.
“As soon as Brooke went to you, I started planning. I knew I would kill your father. I knew I would replace him with you. I knew I would wipe out half the council. I knew I would kill Barnes. I have moved on his family. This morning, the FBI will arrest half of his family. My men will kill the other half. In the chaos and sudden absence of the Barnes family, my men will move in and take hold of their assets. There is another mafia family in Milwaukee, and they will receive a bribe from the Bennett family. Tanner is here, heading everything up. Tanner will inform this other family that we’ve moved in, that we have holdings in the Bello Company—a company they have wanted to push in on for the last thirty years.