Page 32 of Lavish

“Yeah, you know. Your father’s fucking face. Conrad Ashbourne’s death. Nobody wants to be tied to companies destroying the environment. Or workers getting hurt, unfair work conditions. Sabotage between founding families. We look like a fucking daytime soap opera.”

“Then, buddy, you need to put on your big-boy draws,” I said. “Go talk to Yvonne. We all know she pulls your puppet strings.”

Dante looked like he wanted to strangle me. There was a knock at the door.

“You should answer that.”

I glared at him, then slowly headed for the door.

“Ma?”

She rolled my pops in, both looking grim—but that wasn’t even the worst of it. Yvonne and Vincent King were right behind them.

“Why are you here?” I asked them. It was only the grace of respecting my elders that I didn’t snap on Miss Yvonne’s ass like I wanted to.

Yvonne glared at me. I shut the door and turned around to face my parents and the Kings standing awkwardly, with Dante in the middle like a ringmaster.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s really get down to business.” He nodded. “I’m giving you all forty-eight hours.”

“To do what?” Yvonne snapped, looking around my place like it was a trap house.

“Get my money and the festival back.”

“We can just as easily cut a check,” Ma said.

Dante shook his head. “That’s not enough for me.”

“What do you mean, it’s not enough?” I said.

“I need security that this petty little feud is not going to affect Lush or the business I’m conducting as your leader. Excuse me for not trust either of your words.”

“You have a lot of nerve!” Yvonne glared at him. “I’m the reason you’re in this position, don’t forget that.”

“Never, Mrs. King, but don’tyouforget that nobody in this room’s position is secured forever. Legacy or not,” Dante stated bluntly, and he looked over at us. “We all can fall from grace, which I’m sure individuals in this room understand.”

“Stop the games. What do you want from us?” Vincent said.

Dante gave a short, humorless laugh. “I need the Kings and the Whitmores to bury the hatchet.”

Yvonne snorted. “That’ll never happen. They know what they did.”

“We have nothing to say to them.” Pops nodded.

“That’s not going to work for me.” Dante adjusted his cuffs like he was bored. “See, if you don’t do what I ask, I’ll start talking. And trust me, when I talk, peoplelisten. Journalists, prosecutors, board members.”

He leaned forward slightly, voice dropping into something colder than a threat.

“Both families have blood under their nails. You’ve been here for generations, and I’ve got access to archives. Land stolen, contracts forged, bribes paid, witnesses vanished. I don’t even need it to stick—all I need is to get people questioning.”

He looked at Yvonne. “Or I could shut it all down. State audits. IRS. Code enforcement. Environmental violations. Things you didn’t even know were violations.” He chuckled. “One phone call, and the Kings and Whitmores will be too busy putting out fires to notice they’re already burning.”

“I’m aKing,”Yvonne snapped and glaring at Dante. “My ancestors built this damn town. Who the hell do you think you are? You getting too fucking comfortable in office, Dante.”

“Your ancestors are dead, Yvonne,” Dante’s voice was a whip. “They’re not coming back. And if they were smart, they’d tell you to sit down andlisten. Because this isn’t about what your familybuilt.It’s about whatIcandestroy.”

“You’re bluffing,” Yvonne said, though her voice wavered ever so slightly.

“Am I?” Dante shot back, not even flinching. “I just want to make Lush a better place. That’s why I was elected.”