Page 73 of Sinful King

“Here’s where I tell you everything…” Finn and I were walking to the library. “Blair’s been working for the Constanzo family. Their transport issue is connected to our Landell problem.”

Demetrius Cannon was the middle man between both, while working for the Albanians.

I broke all of it down to my brother, refusing to leave him blind in front of our grandda.

“Seems Blair wasn’t just looking for attention, huh?”

Deep down I’d known that.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, opening the library door. “Seems she just wanted your spot.”

He tossed his head back and let out a bark of laughter.

“Touché. But I always knew…” the door closed behind us and he stepped beside me, the both of us staring at the man a few feet head. “Somehow you missed it or maybe you forced yourself not to see.”

I bit back a scoff.

“You get married and suddenly know more than me?”

He laughed, never taking shit serious.

“Ní athraíonn rudaí áirithe,” our grandda said, pulling a book from the shelf in front of him.Some things never change.“You two still bicker like your twelve.”

Finn walked toward him but I stayed by the door, propping myself against it.

“Haven’t seen you in a year, old man,” he said, leaning forward to get a look at the book in his hand before taking it to read the page he’d flipped to. “We need to fix that.”

I watched my grandda watch Finnegan, his understanding of what my brother was asking for without actually saying the words washing over his face.

We were grown ass men, who did a lot of bad shit but our grandda brought out the little boys who only ever wanted his attention. Losing our grandmother came with losing him in a way, too.

He slipped the book from Finn’s hands, put it back on the shelf and pulled him into a tight embrace. I let them have that moment, let my brother get his overdue fill.

“I’m here to stay,” my grandda revealed as they pulled away, gaze cutting in my direction. “You need me, right? That why you sent your cousin and didn’t come yourself.”

I nodded.

“We’re having an Albanian issue at the moment,” I said, putting the most important part on the table. “Is there something I should know?”

He took in a deep breath; his shoulders lifted and dropped as he released it.

“Control of the iron pipeline must be on the line.”

I frowned.

The last time moving merchandise down the iron pipeline—Interstate 95—had been up for grabs, I watched my grandmother die in front of me.

But my father hadn’t gone after it once my grandda gave the position to him. He didn’t think it was worth it. Thought we could build our own lane and we had, but having control of the pipeline meant something bigger for the family.

More problems, too.

“Who has control now?” I asked, remembering it went to auction that same year. “The…” I snapped and opened the door, pulling an eavesdropping Blair inside. “The Constanzo’s have control over the pipeline at the moment, right?”

She nodded slowly, eyes wide.

Violet, who’d been with Blair, stepped in and closed the door behind herself.

“Barely,” she finally said after pulling herself together. “Esi’s dad was killed for access to their routes and the pipeline’s been in shambles since.”

---