Page 157 of The Echo of Forever

“You should know,” I said without preamble, “I don’t need shit from you.”

His eyebrows rose slightly, but his dull expression remained intact.

“If anything…” I shrugged, relaxing deeper into the chair. “You should be on bended knee begging for forgiveness and praising my ability to see the bigger picture. Or else you’d be dead already, pops.”

A smug smile spread across Eliel’s face, like I’d somehow played into his hands. That shit amused me; the man really thought he had leverage in a game where the rules had already changed.

“There are some things you should know before we move forward,” he said, pushing a manila folder across the polished desktop. “First things first…”

I stared at the folder for a moment, then flipped it open without picking it up. The first page contained a report of his wife’s service record, with my father’s name highlighted among her confirmed kills. The others were redacted.

“Don’t care,” I said, shrugging. “My father knew the consequences of his actions, and he died for it. Quinn killing him has nothing to do with Forever. What else you got? I carved out an hour of my day for this; use it wisely.”

Eliel, who didn’t seem deterred, leaned back and smirked. “You didn’t disappoint,” he mused, chuckling a little. “I did my research on you. Florida, New York…” He leaned forward. “The O’Sullivan family. You made a lot of friends away from home.”

I hummed, knowing exactly where this conversation was headed. Forever’s father wasn’t trying to threaten me; he was trying to get close to my connections.

“Made a lot of enemies, too. What’s your point?”

I kept my voice deliberately bored, forcing him to spell out exactly what he wanted.

He studied me for a moment, calculating his approach. I could see the exact moment he decided to drop the pretense.

“I want a ten percent cut of your business dealings outside of Everwood,” Eliel finally admitted. “The O’Sullivans run guns. I want part of their deliveries to you and an introduction to the Don.”

Laughter burst out of me before I could stop it, and I slapped the arm of the chair for emphasis, enjoying the flash of irritation that crossed his face.

“You don’t want to meet the Don, Eliel,” I told him, shaking my head. “He wouldn’t like you very much, nor would his wife. They hate bullies who call themselves fathers.”

I leaned forward, all humor gone from my voice.

“Try again and think really hard about how you want this…” I pointed between us. “…partnership to go. There’s only one way to earn yourself a spot on my good side, and I think you know exactly what the fuck I’m talking about.”

The truth was, I had Eliel figured out the night before in Forever’s apartment. He was calculating and cold, but he wasn’t stupid. He recognized when he’d been outplayed. There was only one move left for him: publicly accept me as his son-in-law and support our marriage.

I stood and checked the time. The meeting was over, and we both knew it. Eliel needed time to swallow his pride before he could give me what I wanted.

“Who’s backing the two of you?” he asked as I reached the door, his voice revealing the first hint of uncertainty I’d heard from him.

I paused, hand on the doorknob, and glanced over my shoulder with a smile.

“More like, who isn’t backing us. Do me a favor and go see your wife. There’s something she’d like to tell you.”

I left him to ponder that, closing the door quietly behind me.

The real power in Everwood wasn’t in buildings like this anymore. It was in the alliance Forever and I represented; whether it worked or not didn’t matter to me.

As long as my wife was here to see the results with me, everything was everything.

I made my way to the skywalk connecting the Fairfield Building to Everwood Group’s headquarters, flashing a visitor’s badge to the guard stationed at the entrance. He waved me through, unaware that the badge was a perfect replica I’d had made weeks ago. Forever didn’t know I’d cloned her access card either; some surprises were worth keeping, especially when they gave me the ability to reach her whenever necessary.

The glass-enclosed bridge offered a view of the city below, everyday people living their lives with no real knowledge of the shit happening behind the scenes.

Forever’s live stream woke the city up.

I swiped the cloned card at the EG entrance and moved through another security checkpoint without issue. These society motherfuckers were so confident in their technology that they never questioned what they couldn’t see or understand. Their arrogance made infiltrating their spaces almost too easy.

The elevator dropped me on the main floor, and immediately, I sensed the tension in the air. A crowd had formed near the reception desk, and at the center of attention stood Forever, her arm extended with a gun pressed firmly against some man’s temple.