Savage Queen (The Dark Elite #3) - Eva Ashwood Page 0,34
to the ground and wale on her until she looks as fucked up as whatever body they pulled out of the car did—the body that was supposed to be her.
“You did,” I grit out. “You fucking framed Dad. You’re the reason we left Chicago so fast. Why we had to hide for all those years, why he said we could never come back. You forced him to run before Damian could kill him.”
Her face turns impassive. She no longer looks like she’s enjoying this little walk down memory lane. Maybe it’s because I don’t seem impressed by her fucked up scheme to wreck my dad’s life. To wreck my life.
Or, who knows, maybe I was just collateral damage. She obviously has no fucking problem with that.
“We women need to look out for ourselves,” she says, her voice cold. “Men think we have no place in their business, in their mafia, except to be ornaments on their arms and satisfaction for their desires. Look at me now, Grace. I’ve changed that.” She jerks her chin. “Those men behind me? They work for me. They obey me. They do as I tell them, not the other way around.”
She says that like it’s something to be proud of. Like it’s proof that every shitty thing she did to reach this point was worth it.
What she doesn’t get is that the men who stand behind me would jump at the chance to do anything for me, and more than that—they treat me as an equal.
And I didn’t have to kill anyone or stab anyone in the back to get here. I didn’t have to ruin lives.
“I want you by my side, Grace,” she says, and for the first time since our meeting began, the softness that steals over her features for a brief moment doesn’t look fake. “I want you with me. That’s why I sent those men to Washington. That’s why I worked with Brian to get you back. Not to have him kill you. But to bring you to me so I could show you what is possible.”
“No.”
That’s all I have for her. Just one fucking word.
“No?” She seems almost shocked. Did she really think she won me over by telling me how she betrayed my dad? How she forced me and him to run, making us go into hiding on the other side of the country?
“No,” I repeat, more firmly this time. “I will never join you.”
I might as well have slapped her across the face, hard.
Even if I was still treated like a prisoner under the care of Hale, even if they still tied me up every night and watched me, distrusted me, hated me, I know the truth now. Everything is crystalizing in my head, all the things my mother has told me finally forming a complete picture, filling in the blank spots and the things I could never understand.
Camilla is responsible for all of this. Every lie that I’ve ever been made to believe, it’s been because of her. Every moment since the day Dad came home and told me she died in a car wreck, she’s been plotting and planning behind the scenes, making moves to eventually take over Chicago.
My father’s death.
My capture.
Even as far back as Dad and me having to flee, having to leave everything behind.
I grit my teeth. “I want no part in whatever you’re doing. So if that’s what you called this meeting to ask me, then we’re done here.”
Her face hardens. “You’re making a mistake, Grace. I’ve spent years building up my power in this city, and I will not be stopped. I’m taking down the Novak syndicate. And if you choose to stand with them… I’ll take you down too.”
12
Zaid
The location Camilla chose is to everyone’s advantage, but I still don’t like it. I don’t like that I can see everything going on between Grace and her mother, but I can’t hear what they’re talking about.
Which means I don’t know what the older woman just said to Grace that made her flinch. I can’t hear what Grace responded with that made Camilla’s mouth tighten in barely contained rage.
But what’s worse than that? Worse than not being able to hear everything?
Not being able to protect her. Not being able to put my body between her and danger.
I’m too far away from her to lunge in front of her and protect her if Camilla pulls something. I’m too far away to even anticipate it coming. By the time any of us got there,