Page 28 of King of Desire (Kings of Las Vegas #2)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Triston
Kitchen cleaned, we all head upstairs to my office. It’s more than large enough to accommodate us all, though I do send Ryker and Rush for a few more chairs that are packed in a storage closet.
I opt to sit on my desktop, not a move I normally make, but between Mason and Win, I need any advantage I can get.
Win and Mason take the executive chairs that sit in front of my desk. I expect my other brothers to fan out around them in the chairs that have been brought in, but they don’t.
All four of them stand behind my desk, like centaurs. I take a quick look back to find them in a line by birth order, their arms crossed.
Win notices too, and his eyes narrow.
Mason clears his throat. “To begin, Tris, would you mind repeating our conversation from yesterday?”
I do, explaining how I ended up at Dimitri’s establishment and how this has compressed the timeline in terms of the Dimitri problem, but it has not created the situation. “We were always coming to this.”
Mason nods. “I agree. I’ve been the aggressor in terms of shutting down his involvement in Las Vegas.”
“You’re not alone,” Killian grunts behind me. “Let’s not forget, he riddled my loft with about a thousand bullet holes while Chloe was there. He’s not forgiven.”
Mason jerks his chin in agreement, before he looks at me. “I’m aware that in asking you to complete the hostile takeover, I’ve placed you in a tenuous position.”
I wave my hand. “I was a willing participant. It was the right business move for the future of Smith Brothers.”
“And was nearly tossing it all away on a maid the right choice?” Win rumbles, entering the conversation.
“Win,” I warn. “You will respect Honeyeh, and what’s more, you will give me the grace that I’ve earned.”
Win stares back with hard eyes.
Mason frowns at my brother. “If I may share my experiences…. With two of my brothers, I asked them to prioritize the business over their budding romances. It didn’t work out either time.”
Win snorts. “My brother does not have a budding relationship. He has rules. One of them is no emotional entanglements.”
“I can speak for myself. I do not need you to explain my choices,” I fire back.
“Fine. Then I’ll speak for myself. You should have acted with more care yesterday. You might not have created a situation, but you certainly made it worse.” Win’s jaw is hard enough to cut glass as he glares with hard eyes.
I glare back. He’s not wrong.
But it’s Gris who speaks next. “He was supposed to allow Honeyeh to be auctioned?”
“He was supposed to allow her to suffer the consequences of her own actions. Yes.” Win stands, staring down Gris.
Mason pushes up too. He starts to speak but I hold out my hand. This is between me and Win. “When was the last time you sacrificed anything for this family? Answered to anyone?”
Silence fills the room. “I am the leader of this family. I don’t answer to you.”
“Bullshit.” I’m off the desk. “If you were, you’d understand a leader sacrifices most of all.” I step up, my finger in his face. “What do you give up, playing polo all day? Sitting in the house of Lords?”
I see his face spasm. But I don’t let up.
“The man at the helm, he makes the hard choices, they belong to him. And he takes the consequences too.” What I don’t say, but I’m beginning to understand, is the weight of my burden was killing me, until Honeyeh. That her being in my life has made it all worthwhile.
Without her, I was about to not be me. And if they make me choose, it will be her.
“What the fuck does that mean?” He leans down an inch from my face.
“You can come here and add your opinion,” I say slowly, like I’m not spitting mad, “but we both know the man who is going to do anything, who will be mired in the action, who will suffer the consequences of the choices, will be me. Bitch about my choice if you want, but don’t pretend you understand the weight of the tough calls. You fucking don’t.”
“With me, none of this would have happened.”
I’m done with that argument. “Take it over, then. Have at it. I’ll build my own?—”
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Gris growls behind me. I turn to my brother, preparing to fight. But his glare is focused on Win. “If Triston walks, I go with him.”
Win’s lip curls. “Fucking twins.”
“No,” Ryker points at Win. “It’s not that. It’s that Triston has always been the bow of this ship. And his decisions navigate our ship.”
Killian steps around the desk to stand next to me. “He breaks the water for the rest of us. Including you, Win. You’re not here enough to see it, but that doesn’t make it less true.”
My younger brothers supporting me fills me with gratitude. Killian in particular, because we’ve had our differences. But the fact he’s standing next to me now when I need him most, it fills me with a fraternal affection I haven’t felt for a very long time. I clap my hand on his shoulder.
“Is that how you all see it?” Color rises in Win’s face. “That I am some freeloader and not the man who has had to sacrifice for this family?”
I drop my hand. “Sacrifice?”
“You’ve always had each other.” He waves his hand. “I’ve been forced apart from the rest of you my entire life.”
I’ve never considered it from that angle, but he’s right. I give a nod. “You have, Win. It’s true.”
I see his shoulders drop a fraction of an inch as he blows out a breath. “So what you’re telling me is that rushing into the enemy’s den is going to work out for us?”
Mason clears his throat. “I suggested that Killian enact a more permanent solution but?—”
“I said no,” I bite back. Killian’s got my back, and I’ve got his.
It’s Killian’s turn to clamp his hand on my shoulder. “If it comes to that, the safety of this family, and of Chloe, are my first priority.”
“Fuck this,” Win rumbles and then turns toward the door. I don’t stop him. I’m smart enough to understand I can’t.
Much as my brothers backed me as the head of this operation, I will never be Win’s boss.
He slams the office door as he goes. Rush, who’s remained silent, heads toward the door. “I’m going to talk to him.”
Rush has always been the most accommodating, the compromiser. But I don’t care about compromise.
Win can do whatever he wants.
“Now that the pissing contest is over,” Gris rumbles. “What are we doing about Dimitri before we resort to offing him?”
“We make him an offer to buy him out,” I answer. “Give him the sort of money that allows him to go wherever he wants, do what he wants.”
Mason rumbles. “I hate it. He should suffer.”
“Vengeance is a different agenda from stability or financial gain.” If Mason doesn’t want to do it my way, that’s his right. “I think you ought to be clear with me about which is most important to you. It’s time for all us to show our cards, blackjack style.”
Mason’s mouth twitches. “You’re in the mood to hand out beatings today, I see.”
“My priorities are realigning.” I shake my head. “I’ve stopped caring about more money and started caring about?—”
“Honeyeh,” Gris cuts me off.
He’s not wrong.
“If that’s the case, then you ought to understand the importance of creating the most stable environment we can.”
“I agree,” I nod. “Which is why I think buying him out is the best option. No laws broken, no worry about retaliation from one of his family members…”
Mason lets out a long breath of frustration. “Fine. I agree. But whatever amount you agree on, it will be less the amount of money it takes to repair Temptation and Killian’s loft.”
It’s a big ask, but fair. “Fine. I’ll set up the meeting as soon as possible.”
But just as I’m about to call this meeting done, Win walks back into my office, his scowl still firmly in place.
I’m preparing for another round, when he pulls a small velvet box from his jacket and slaps it on my desk.
“What is that?” I ask, looking from the box to him.
“Mother sent it with me. I thought she was being ridiculous, and I still do, but it was her request that I deliver this, and I won’t go back without having fulfilled it.”
I pick it up, my brows lifting at the sight of a clear blue sapphire winking up at me. “What’s this for?”
“You tell me.” Win cuts his hand through the air before he turns and disappears again.
Killian slaps my back. “She gave me Chloe’s ring too.”
I snap the box shut. “I didn’t ask for a ring.” But it begs the question. How deep am I going here?
“But now that you’ve got it,” Killian starts. “What are you doing with it?