Bloodbound: The Alliance
Chapter 50 - 54

Chapter 50: Chapter 54

Alden POV

Colton slants closer. "And how do you know this?"

I scoff condescendingly. "Common sense. Who else has a ghost crew that could get in and out, undetected, no physical, forensic or even digital trace? Just blood and carnage."

"If Botan executed the kill order that means Haru green-lit the hit," Colton points out. "Why would he do that? That’s a lot of heat and noise and Haru hates both. Not to mention the gruesome death of the Governor’s son. What was Haru’s aim? I knew Adler was one of your influential allies—was this a message to you?"

A smile flourishes on my face as I raise my shoulders in genuine bafflement.

"If Haru is ready to do that to him—just to send a message. Imagine what he’s prepared to do to you. So why are you smiling like that?"

"Because Adler is stepping down," I announce as my smile grows wider. "And guess who he’s endorsing as a prime candidate?"

Colton falls back into his chair with an astonished expression. "You? He wants you to be his successor?"

I nod excitedly. "The death of the son has been too heavy for him. And now that’s made a way for me."

Colton lifts a hand in confusion, blinking fast. "Haru’s plans of removal and insertion are a lot more intricate than the slaughtering of guards, and the kidnap and killing of a high-value target like his son."

I toss up an indifferent hand. "Either way, what benefits me, benefits him. So this win will keep him off me and my family."

Colton snorts wryly. "Now you wants to be the family man? I’ve known you too long. The only thing you love more than yourself is your interests."

***

Silas POV

The lounge has become a chaotic blend of paper stacks, coffee-stained mugs, and the glowing laptop screens as Luciano and I sit side by side, managing father’s political campaign finances. Luciano’s fingers fly over the keyboard as he inputs the latest figures. His brow furrows with concentration as the numbers blink across the screen.

I flip through a pile of invoices and receipts, my pen tapping against my thigh in a steady rhythm. I mutter softly to myself, cross-checking amounts against the detailed spreadsheets sprawled in front of me. Each figure is meticulously scrutinized, every dollar accounted for.

"We might have to cut back on that last round of media buys or increase fundraising targets for the next few events," Luciano reports, his voice weary, but his eyes are sharp.

The front door opens and Luciano and I pause in eerie unison.

Shortly, he appears in the archway overlooking the cluttered chaos with an impressed smile.

"Boys," he greets merrily. "Hard at work I see."

"Where were you?" Luciano demands. Normally that’s my line.

Dad manages to hold on to his smile even though his brows clench at Luciano’s tone. "Handling business just like you."

"Not like us," he says with an edge of hostility in his voice. "We’ve been here working for you whilst Avara is in another kind of state upstairs. It took Kels coming over just to get her to eat because she hadn’t eaten since Morocco. Something you should know."

His smile vanishes into a dangerously calm expression. "My focus is where it’s needed," he says with a correcting tenor. "Why are you acting like I was the one that botched the plan?"

A flash of fury makes Luciano’s head snap back to give me an appalled look. He dumps the laptop off his lap before he launches to his feet. Uncertain of where this is going, I put everything aside, drawing to full height and inching closer. Even though I know nothing will pop off. Luciano respects order, so he respects father—no matter what.

"You’re still talking about the plan—I’m talking about the images that Landen leaked and—"

"I’m not the one that leaked them," dad shouts back like that’s a credible defense. "Why was she ever alone with Landen to begin with?" he mentions with a measure of judgment that rouses my own anger.

"Same reason why she does anything—for you," Luciano snaps, hurling his words at him, each one like a dagger. "She knew if she had to assimilate well with the Vacherons. She needed to become civil with all of them, even Landen."

Dad looks back at him incredulously, almost scornfully. "By the look of those pictures, it looks like she’s doing a lot more than being civil."

Luciano cocks a fist back—smack—dad’s face whips to the side, spittle flying from his mouth. I don’t even know what to do because dad deserved that hit. He’s still dad, but no one gets to speak about Avara like that, not even our own father because that mere insinuation is disgusting. Especially all that she shouldered and endured for this family because of him.

Luciano stabs his finger at him. "Don’t you ever—"

Neither of us saw it coming. Dad strikes Luciano in the jaw before he lands another barrage of devastating blows in his gut. The last one sends him reeling and I lunge to catch him. The force, much more than I anticipate, hauls us both to the ground as my one knee slams on the floor with Luciano caught in my arms. He coughs and involuntarily ejects a slaver as a speck of blood taints a random stack of documents. I look up at dad and even though we’re the same height, suddenly I feel like a kid again as his imposing figure towers above us.

"Never speak to me like that again," he warns with a haunting echo in his voice. "Next time you try to land a hand on me again. You’ll wake up in the hospital. Now I won’t be scrutinized for what I did for this family. I promised your mother the world, now I plan to give it to you. My heirs. My lifeblood."

Dad sinks to his haunches to align his face with Luciano. "The truth of empire building is that its foundation is laid on a graveyard of ambition and sacrifice, where the bones of the fallen prop up the throne."