Page 74 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series
I nodded, steeling myself. Dom shoved the doors open with a little too much force, and I breezed through and out onto the sunny patio where Andrea happened to be enjoying lunch on this unseasonably warm March day with her son, the sinfully gorgeous Ferrero Heir.
Zach looked up at my approach, a mischievous smile spreading across his lips. His eyes heated as he took in my sheer blouse, pencil skirt, and dangerous red heels, then he sat back in his chair, arms crossed and ready to watch the show unfold.
Andrea’s back was to us, but her bodyguard was quick to step into my path, impeding our way to her table.
“This is a private luncheon,” Ramon said, crossing his burly arms over his chest as he aimed his dead stare right over my shoulder at Dom. “You have ten seconds to turn around and leave this casino before I call the Enforcer team up here to deal with you.”
“Ramon, what—” Andrea barked, turning around in her chair, but before she could finish, Max appeared from the shadows.
He had a gun to Ramon’s head before the bodyguard could reach for his weapon or his phone.
“Hold it right there, motherfucker,” Max said with his usual teasing lilt. “My sister just wants to have a quick discussion with your mistress. You’ll let the Knight Heir pass, or else the staff will be mopping your brains off the floor when we’re finished.”
Ramon’s face didn’t betray one speck of emotion, but he did as he was ordered, remaining still as a statue as I stalked around him.
Andrea’s porcelain face morphed into a cunning smile as I took a seat at the table.
She’d had what Hannah referred to as “the good work” done by a talented doctor, so she hadn’t aged a day since the last time I saw her—a sleepover at Zach’s house a few weeks before I “died.” I remembered how she’d flitted in late, wearing the fifties-style swing dresses she favored back then, patted Zach’s cheek and told him he was a good boy, then disappeared into her office for the rest of the night.
The uncontrollable rage and pain I expected to feel when sitting across from the woman who murdered my mother remained at a contained simmer under my skin. Instead, I felt numb, my brain and my body shifting into the familiar mode of hyperfocus on the mission. No other emotions need apply.
“Oh, goodness,” Andrea said with faux excitement. “To what do we owe the pleasure? Did my son decide it was time to bring his little plaything to meet his mother?”
Zach squeezed my thigh under the cover of the white tablecloth, but he remained silent, his unbothered, lazy smirk affixed to his face.
I smiled right back at her. “You may not remember this, Andrea, but we’ve actually met before. I understand if your memory is slipping a bit, though. It happens at your age.”
Her smile evaporated—being called “old” was not something Andrea would abide by.
“What do you want, you conniving little slut? If you’re here about that bullshit tender offer from that company you’re using to pretend you’re something in this City, you can save your breath.
I’ve already rejected it. Ferrero can’t be bought , silly girl. ”
I tutted, making a show of digging a file from my large designer bag. “I think you of all people should know, Andrea, that anyone can be bought. Especially disgruntled shareholders who find out they’re being lied to.”
If she’d had any color in her face at all, it would have drained away.
“Oh, Princess,” Zach rumbled, feigning surprise. “What have you done now?”
I tossed the file folder on the table. Andrea didn’t reach for it; instead, she remained eerily still, her unsettlingly familiar brown eyes boring into me like she was trying to crack my skull open so she could watch the life spill out of me.
Back at you, bitch .
“Since you don’t appear interested in reviewing the documents I’ve provided, I’ll just give you the executive summary,” I said.
“My team thought it odd, to say the least, that while the majority of Family businesses saw their stock take a bit of a dip once it was revealed that you’re all a bunch of murdering psychopaths, most of the Ferrero empire was holding strong.
So, we went digging. Your team did an excellent job cooking the books and hiding what was really going on, but unfortunately, my team is better.
We provided evidence of the real story to all of the shareholders of Ferrero Innovations—which, in case your memory is slipping again, I’ll remind you is what you stole from my Family—and then we made them all a very generous offer for their shares.
Well above what would be the true fair market value, which, let’s be honest, is actually shit. ”
Andrea’s stone facade cracked, and she hurled the crystal champagne glass she’d been drinking from at the solid wall of the casino, and it shattered on impact.
I ignored it. “So, as of yesterday, Knight Acquisitions is now the majority owner of Ferrero Innovations. We also held a vote, and you’ve been removed as sole board member and CEO of the company.
All Ferrero lackeys are being escorted from Knight Tower as we speak, and your Enforcer team’s access to my tower has been revoked.
Consider this your notice that if anyone affiliated with Ferrero comes within fifty feet of Knight Tower, my team has been authorized to eliminate them on sight. ”
I stood up, smoothing my skirt and tossing my bag over my shoulder before I leaned down to kiss Zach’s cheek. “See you at home,” I whispered, loud enough for Andrea to hear.
He winked at me. “Later, baby girl.”
As I marched away, I heard Andrea hiss at Zach, “How the hell did you let this happen?”
“You got outplayed, Mom,” Zach replied, and I could practically hear his shrug.
“You’ve always taught me that you have to be ruthless to stay on top in this City.
It turns out Jolie Knight is as fucking ruthless as they come, and the only people to blame are the ones that killed her parents in front of her and failed to make sure they’d finished the job. ”
“ Zachary ,” Andrea snapped.
As I collected Max and Dom, both of whom now held guns aimed at Ramon, I heard Zach’s chair scrape across the shiny cement floor. “Thanks for lunch, Mom,” he said, oozing sweetness. “I’ve got to head back to the Academy or I’ll miss my afternoon lab.”
“Zachary!”
He ignored her, and by the time we were through the patio doors, he’d caught up with us. He muscled his way in between a grumbling Max and me, wrapping a possessive arm around my waist. “That felt even better than I’d imagined, Princess.”
My stomach dropped as the numbness faded and trepidation came rushing in. While Zach hadn’t exactly declared war on his mother, his time pretending to be her good little foot soldier was over.
He knew the risks, but it worried me all the same. Eventually the Families would stop underestimating us, and then the real games would begin.