Page 24 of Twisted Trust

“Do you want me to bring the car around?”

“I don’t know, Donald. What the fuck do you think?”

Donald stops dead. “You don’t pay me enough to deal with your shitty moods. Do you need a cigarette or something?”

I stop a few feet away from him and turn. “No. And I don’t pay you at all.”

“Exactly.” Donald snorts. “Your dad does. So you wanna check your attitude?”

A flash of overwhelming anger bursts through me but as quickly as it rises, it fades.

He’s right. Donald, of all people, doesn’t deserve to take the lashes of my fury.

He’s just my driver.

“Sorry. Get the car, sure. I’m gonna head down to the gym.”

“You need company?”

“No. I need to think.”

Donald nods and slips away toward the stairwell, leaving me in front of the elevator.

I map out the ornate golden patterns that rise up the doors to create the illusion of a golden arch while my mind spins in circles.

Demanding to take credit will make me seem childish.

Perhaps I can highlight my friendship with Nazario and emphasize the peace we now share, thanks to my hard work, as it benefits the whole family.

Stamping out the Red Serpents would also catch people’s attention.

Or I find a wife and pop out an heir before Antony can do the same.

Suddenly, Maeve’s child pops into my head with his vibrant eyes and thick, dark hair.

The mirror version of my younger self.

But that’s impossible.

Don’t all kids look the same when they’re young?

It has to be a coincidence.

I pace away from the elevator to work off some of the nervous energy singing through my limbs when the elevator doors slide open and Chip walks out.

He stops when he catches sight of me and his eyes widen, but everything else melts away to nothing when Maeve steps out from behind him, frowning at Chip for having stopped dead in her path.

Without the swelling and dirt from the parking lot, or the sickening glare of the hospital lights, she looks as beautiful as the last time I saw her.

Wide blue eyes, an oval face with full red lips, plump hips, and so much thick brown hair that frames her face in waves.

Most of it is scooped away from her face and held in place by pins.

Physical attraction to Maeve was never an issue.

When I was with her, I could never stop thinking about her or the things I wanted to do to her.

After she betrayed me, that didn’t exactly change.