“I will,” he said.
“We’ll talk about it later, right now I have to do something for my dad.” I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the image in front of me. I didn’t have time to be talking to Janson; I needed to focus on what was right there. My father.
I pulled into the parking lot of the warehouse, and he was there. Waiting for me. I hung up the phone without another word to Janson
“What took you so long?” he asked as I stepped out of the car.
“Had to make a few calls, finish up with my client, and then head your way.” I squared my shoulders, made sure I was standing tall and looked at him without a hint of what I was really doing in my eyes. It was the truth- sort of.
He nodded. I’d learned not to apologize to him, not to let him see any sign of weakness. Not ever. James Fitzgerald was a mean son of a bitch, and he expected his son to be the spitting image of him. Mean, unforgiving, cruel when necessary. But fair.
And a Fitzgerald never apologized for his actions, but he did take responsibility. I did exactly what he wanted, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was pleased.
“Son, I’m glad you made it. I’ve got a couple of people who’ve… failed us. I wanted you to help me take care of it.”
I winced. I hated this part of it. I didn’t want anything to do with it, but if I showed weakness, he would only make it worse.
“Don’t we have people to do that?” I asked, “I’m really busy-“
“We do, but you know the deal. We have to take care of these things ourselves from time to time. Don’t want people to forget that we do enforce our own rules. Don’t want to get soft, either. This makes us hard. Makes us remember exactly who we are.”
We were monsters.
Chapter Four
Joanna
Seminar was finally over. Two and a half hours of searching through the book of the week, proving you read it with quotes, and trying hard to contradict the author without insulting them. It was a challenge, but it wasn’t a boring one. At least not to me.
I felt confident in the paper I submitted, and I felt good about school. Everything was going just the way I wanted it too. I was a little bit behind, sure, but everyone else was too. Graduate school was exactly what I wanted, and it was going well. I was happy. Content.
Until I saw my uncle’s private car pull up, along the street I was walking on.
f*ck
.
“Get in the car, Jo.” Milo, my uncle’s driver, said. He waited, and I stood there.
“You can’t just come here to school,” I glared at the two of them. “You can’t ask me to do that here.”
“I can, and I will,” Uncle Dennis responded from the back of the car. I bent my head and opened the door, sliding into the seat across from him.
“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“My dear, is that any way to talk to your dear old uncle? Especially when I find out that you are working for the enemy.”
Ice ran through my veins. “Do you know why?”
“Because your father can’t help draining the allowance I give him each month at the races,” he glared. “Oh well, better than putting it up his nose. Why didn’t you come to me?”
“I didn’t want to worry you, Uncle Den,” I said with all the sweetness I could muster. The man was usually very kind to me, but he had a dark side just like all the other men in the family. In both families.
“I know, my dear. I know. But, you see, this presents an interesting… opportunity. You, working for them. The Fitzgeralds.” He smiled at me. “I could give you the money, tell you to give it them, but I don’t want that. No, I like you where you are. Working for the other family. I have a proposition for you.”
I was working for the Fitzgeralds, sure, but I hadn’t been into work for them in almost a week. I hadn’t seen Greyson in days. Five to be exact. I was waiting for tomorrow to see him. At the dinner. I tried not to think about that night.
“Oh?” A proposition. I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was exactly like him to take advantage of any situation that presented itself; he’d just never done it to me before. A stupid, small, infinitesimal part of me thought that he wouldn’t. It was stupid; it was na?ve.
I was a pawn first and foremost. Something to be used.
“What do you need, Uncle?”
“I need you to stay, to work for them. To learn everything that you can. They don’t know that I know, do they?”
I shook my head, “I don’t even know how many of them know who I am.”
“Oh, they all do. I am sure they all know who you are. But you, you are just a girl. A niece. They’ll underestimate you. Let them. Let them think you know nothing and report it all to me.”
“I only have so many hours that I have to work-” I started.