The Insiders (The Insiders Trilogy #1) - Tijan Page 0,83

floors. Dark leather couch—the good leather, too. The tight stuff. A big mural of a mustang on his fireplace.

He had a fireplace. I pointed at it. “Do you actually use that? Is that safe?”

He leaned back against his kitchen counter, his hands in his pockets, his head down and his eyes lidded. He always gave me that look, and damn but it did things to me on the inside. My little heart flipped over at the sight.

His hair was messed again, too.

“Did you hear what I asked?”

“Huh?” I rewound and nodded. “Yeah. He’s the sixth-richest man in the world. How do you know him?”

He stared at me. Long. Hard.

There was no joy in those eyes, his darkness coming forth once again, and the back of my neck prickled. My heart flipped again, sinking. What he had to say to me wasn’t good. I just knew that much.

Then he said, “He’s my grandfather.”

More gaping.

I couldn’t …

Holy shit.

Still more gaping.

“That guy? But he’s…” Evil. That was the best word.

Kash looked at the ground, his hands coming to rest on the counter behind him. His elbows were splayed outward. His knuckles were white. “He’s acquaintances with dictators, third world leaders. He knows six branches of the mafia. He’s done business with all of them. His friends are murderers, and that’s the best way to call them.” A swift intake of air. “He also has two daughters, one that’s dead and one that might as well be. He has two grandsons, myself and my cousin. And he’s the biggest narcissist I’ve ever met.”

His head lifted and I almost stepped back from the agony looking at me. Pure torment and anguish.

“He declared my mom dead to him when she married Joseph Colello. He didn’t have much. My father’s side of the family are middle class, have a shit ton of pride, and are just as stubborn as my grandfather. When my dad brought my mom around, they saw the torture she’d been through. They witnessed, because that’s what it was. That’s what my grandfather did to her. He would say he would kill her sister if she didn’t leave my father. He’d send her videos of my aunt being raped. They saw all of that, heard all of that, and that’s only the stuff I can handle telling you. There was more. There was worse. All the while, he never came and forced her to return to him. He couldn’t do that because, in his twisted mind, that wasn’t her coming to him. He had to beat her down, destroy her completely. That’s the only window she got to remain where she was, and that’s when she had me.”

I felt faint. “Kash,” I murmured, wanting to go to him.

I did. I started. But he clipped his head to the side. Almost a savage motion. “No,” he growled. Half his hand was white now. He was starting to breathe hard, harsh, through flared nostrils.

I could feel his grandfather’s hate. It was in Kash, coming out of him.

And I ached. I wanted to go to him, comfort him, push it away, protect him from his own family. I wanted to do what he’d been doing for me this whole time.

His voice was low, raw. “My grandfather is the most powerful man I know, and he wants me to return to his side.” His eyes zeroed in on me. “This is where all that ugliness connects to you.” A pause. His chest lifted, held, then lowered.

He closed his eyes but remained absolutely still.

“My father met yours when Peter Francis was young and starting to build his empire. He wasn’t quite there. He needed more capital, and he needed investors. My father invested. Because he got in early, yours gave up enough capital so mine was the primary shareholder. Until he died.”

“What happened?” I moved forward now, feeling as if I had to break through a vortex around him. I moved closer. Inch by inch. Kash looked like a cornered animal. I needed to approach with caution.

Still raw, his voice dipped. “When my parents died, those shares weren’t sold or diluted. Your father kept them, and he’s been acting in representation of me. I hold those shares.”

I reared back. “You said primary shareholder? Is that…” Dear Lord. Did he own more than … I swallowed tight.

A hard glint showed in his eyes. “I own more of your father’s empire than even he does.” He showed his teeth, the smile not a smile at all. And he pushed off the