Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)(55)

Go Mi Nam dutifully purred like a runaway bulldozer.

“Do I not get comfort?” Leon asked sadly.

Matilda walked around the table, hugged him gently, and patted his hair as if he was a dog. “It will be okay. You can shoot people next time.”

Everyone was finally here.

First things first.

“Family, Prince Berezin.” I nodded at Konstantin.

“Konstantin, please,” Konstantin said with a charming smile.

The family glowered back.

“Konstantin represents the Russian Imperium. He will be helping us with this matter,” I said.

Arabella took the metal spoon out of Runa’s drink and bent it.

I explained the prince, the contract, Smirnov, and everything surrounding it.

Nobody said anything.

“Do you know who attacked Linus?” Arabella demanded.

“Yes,” I told her.

“Did you do anything about it?”

“No.”

The outrage on my sister’s face was so stark, I almost asked Alessandro to summon a shield for me.

“Catalina!” Arabella snarled.

“It’s Kaylee Cabera, and I don’t know how she fits into this yet.”

“I do,” Konstantin volunteered.

I pivoted to him.

“Kaylee was a dud,” Konstantin said. “Luciana was facing a lot of pressure from the family to select an official successor and it couldn’t be Kaylee. Of course, you are already aware of the connection between Arkan and Luciana.”

Alessandro waved him on.

“Luciana contacted Arkan to fix the problem and so he did. Kaylee survived and became one of his mutant Primes. Unfortunately, someone alerted Duncan to the matter, and he went after her. Luciana realized the Warden was making circles around her daughter and getting closer with every pass, so she appealed to Arkan to kill him. He refused.”

“Why?” Leon asked.

“The Warden of Texas is a risky target,” Alessandro answered. “He probably wasn’t sure he could handle the fallout.”

“Luciana took her monster child and did it anyway,” Konstantin said. “And to top it off, she failed to seal the deal. Arkan went into a rage, threw some things, and once he calmed down, decided that he needed to do damage control. He ordered Xavier to kill her and to make it public.”

“And he had her killed at Linus’ restaurant,” I thought out loud. “As a kind of peace offering. ‘Look, she tried to murder you, and I punished her in retaliation.’”

“Exactly.” Konstantin nodded.

In Arkan’s mind, this probably made Linus and him square somehow. And the Russian prince had seen an opening to bring Arkan down. This matter put the Wardens and Arkan on a collision course, so he gave us both a little push. I had put most of this together already, but it was nice to have a confirmation.

“I want her dead,” Arabella stated, her voice flat.

“Not as much as me,” I told her. “I’d like to rip her throat out.” I made the squeezing motion with my hand. “Then she couldn’t hurt us anymore. It would be reassuring.”

Everyone looked at me. Apparently, I must’ve said something surprising.

“Unfortunately, there is the small matter of the oath of office,” I said. “I’m the Acting Warden. I have . . . obligations.”

“Screw obligations.” Arabella punched the table. It quaked a little.

“We will arrest her,” Alessandro told her. “If she resists, we will neutralize her one way or another.”

Arabella pinched her lips together, her mouth a hard flat line.

“We are on full lockdown going forward,” I said. “Arkan is coming. Do we need to get the kids out?”

“No,” Ragnar said.

Halle raised her head off the table. “Absolutely not. We’re not leaving. This is our home.”

I looked at Cornelius.

“I will remain here,” Matilda announced.

“It seems like the most prudent course of action,” Cornelius said.

Patricia grabbed her trash can, stepped out into the hallway, and shut the door.

We all silently looked at each other until the retching sounds stopped and she came back in.

“Sending the children out creates an opportunity for hostages,” Patricia said.

“Then the kids will stay,” I said. “What about Regina?”

“My wife is still with her cousin in Lyon,” Patricia said. “She isn’t due back for another week. I’ve let them know about the situation and asked her to not cut her trip short.”

I could imagine how that had gone. Knowing Regina, she would’ve wanted to be on the next plane to Houston.

“Where are we with our phones?” Mom asked.

Everyone looked at Bernard. He reached under the table and produced a large box filled with neatly stacked phones, each labeled with a name. Leon took his phone out and passed the box around the table.

“This won’t happen again,” Bernard said.

“Is there a plan for this Arkan situation?” Arabella asked.

“Konstantin provided us with a breakdown of Arkan’s finances. He has squirreled away a big chunk of money stateside. We take it away from him,” I said. I knew an FBI agent who would be overjoyed to help.