I really don’t want to be here, I don’t want to go to this ball, and I really want to be curled up in my bed. I owe this to Kimmy and that’s the only reason I’m here.
"Nothing so far," I shrug. "You know her, she's so dramatic, she'll come running back at some point."
I've become an expert liar.
I find a black lace, open back gown. I pull it off the rack and gasp at the weight. It's heavy and luxurious.
"I think I found one." I call out and Kimmy comes rushing over.
"Well hell Boo, I think you did, too." She claps and runs off to find a matching mask.
I would rather ring in the New Year with all my guys at home. I still haven't heard anything from Oliver and Zeke is still hard at work trying to trace Brody. If I could just get a hold of Oliver, I would try to convince him to come home. We would be able to figure everything else out.
"I booked us a spa during the day on New Year's Eve and we'll get our hair and nails done." She pointedly looks at my grown out highlights.
"Yes ma'am." I roll my eyes.
Tonight is my first day back at the restaurant, thankfully they kept me on even after missing two scheduled shifts. I wish I could be home with the guys catching up and just relaxing but I need this job to at least contribute something.
"Now, let's go have some lunch and you fill me in on all things Brody." Kimmy says as she slips her arm in mine. "I asked them to deliver everything to your house, along with masks for your men."
Great, time for more lies.
"Are you absolutely fucking sure?" Caine stands looking just as shocked as I'm feeling.
"Yes, strangled to death." I confirm.
"Do you think Oliver...?" Cooper trails off and we all stand in collective silence.
Thankfully, Kailey is at work tonight because I really wouldn't know how to begin to explain the shitstorm I've stumbled across.
"It hasn't hit the media yet, just internal within the family." I tell them. "Maybe Oliver will bring his ass back and we can find out exactly what happened."
"Something doesn't feel right." Caine presses his fingers to his mouth and begins to pace again.
He's right, it doesn't. This is sudden and it's going to cause a fucking uproar throughout all the families.
"Is there any way this is bullshit? Something they're saying to cause a distraction for something bigger?" Cooper asks.
"If that was the case then they would have alerted the authorities or the media." I interject. "What distraction could they cause by keeping it within the family?"
"True." He mutters.
"No, he's dead. There's no denying that, the question is `who did it?’" Caine says.
"And I think we need to prepare ourselves for something big to go down." I tell them as I widen the image on my screen.
Kennedy Ballon laying in a lavish clawfoot tub, as naked as the day he was born, and wearing only a set of dark purple bruises around his neck. Bruises that looked very similar to the ones around Kailey's a few days ago.
"Oliver has had many years and opportunities to kill his father, why would he do it now?" Cooper asks.
"I don't think he did. This screams our boy all over it." Caine growls.
"If Brody did this," I say while pointing at the screen. "Then he's just started a fucking war."
"A war would give us a fighting chance." Cooper groans. "This is Armageddon."
"Zeke." Caine looks at me. "We really need to find Brody or Oliver, this shit is about to get messy."
“Someone call my name?”
We all jump up at the sound of Oliver’s voice as he steps into the room. He looks haggard, unshaven, and sleep deprived.
“Bro!” Cooper yells. “Did you kill our brother?”
“No, I got sidetracked and found out my father was killed instead.” He walks straight to the cabinet and takes out the bourbon. “I did offer Brody an out, if he leaves the country I will let him go.”
“The first target you didn’t kill?” Caine asks.
“How do you know I killed each target?” He takes the cap off the bottle and takes a few gulps. “Things changed now that he’s dead.” He points at the screen with his father’s picture.
“How so?” Cooper watched him closely.
“My brothers can never hold me to my contract because it was signed with that sadistic fucker.” He tips back the bottle again. “Now he’s dead and my contract goes with him.”
“They are going to think it was you.” Cooper narrows his eyes. “Won’t they try to kill you?”
“They know it’s not me. When that shit happened I was getting drunk with my older brother.”
“Shit.” Caine mutters, obviously thinking what I am. Brody just dipped us all in hot water.
“Kailey is at work?” Oliver asks as he puts the bottle away.
“She’s been trying to get a hold of you.” Caine growls.
“Can’t take the chance my brothers find out about her. Any connection is a weakness and each of you knows that.” He stalks out of the room and we hear the front door open and shut.
“We need to find Brody.” Cooper stares at me.
“Yeah.” I nod. “Easier said than done.”
“How the fuck did he pull this off?” Caine continues to prowl as I tap away on the darknet.
“Why do we want to save him?” Cooper falls to the couch. “Look what he did to Kailey.”
“Because he’s not well, because he’s our brother no matter what, and we need him.” I answer him.
“I want to kill him but Zeke is right. We made a pact a long time ago and we know the demons he fights on a daily basis.”
“You’re right.” Cooper scrubs his hand down his face. “I just hate him right now.”
“I know.” I nod, I do too.
“The New Year’s Eve party is going to be a problem. We will be out in the open where everyone can see us. Easy to be picked off one by one.” Caine fumes.
“It’s also a good opportunity to see the other families out in the open.” I add.
Kimmy picked the biggest function in New Orleans to go to. I doubt she knew it but this is a high society function and the big families always make an appearance. This year we will be representing ours.
The only thing making me apprehensive is this year they made it a masked ball. Faces partially obscured or even fully, it’ll work in our favor sure but also in theirs as well. Should make for an interesting night.
“I need to go pick up Sha.” Cooper gets up. “Maybe from now on, someone is with her at all times, even while she works.”
“Yeah.” I agree with him.
We are no longer free to roam as we did, we’ll be hunted, and killed off one by one until one of us confesses to that murder. No one kills a king pin without declaring war and Brody just created World War III.