Page 169 of Unwritten Rules

“Fucking hire your own team in the backyard, then! Your team doesn’t even play fair since we pay for the results anyway. The only people who have benefited from that university are the scholarship recipients. The rest of ‘em are just playing Barbie dream house, and that includesyou.” He looked like he was about to fish around for a bottle of something when he brought out a small, ornate box from his desk. Pulling out a pill, he popped into his mouth and grabbed another cigarette from his silver case. He lit it up. “If I assume correctly, that girl is just as magnetic as her mother, no?”

“Sir?”

Did he just roll his eyes at me? “I know you’ve stayed at her house as many nights as she allows. You think your men don’t gossip and compare dicks when you’re not around?”

I was confused. My grandfather was talking to me like he was interested in my company. He wasn’t drinking. His face had expressions on it.

“It’s a necessity to ensure—”

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved his hand in my direction. “You’re all business about it, but you’ve played the game well. She’s in the Vaughn family for more than one reason at this rate. Don’t think I don’t know the tricks you like to use. At least when she runs, it’ll be to us. I expect an easy transition into leadership for both of you. Connecting our families like this was the smartest thing you could have done for us.Especiallywith the contingency plan.”

?Chapter 45

Fallon

Itapped my fingersimpatiently on the table, staring at the men around me. We’d be ordered to an emergency meeting, and it didn’t seem like good news.

“Look, I know everything feels hopeless and we need to plan for the worst, but we can work with what we’ve got. Your mother had a will, and we can fight everything until the bitter end. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Evans ruffled his normally well-done hair, clearly disturbed by our plans and sneaking around not making a dent in Sylvia’s plan.

I made plans of my own in the background. If she stole everything, I would continue to fight, but it would be dirty. The people I had around me could roll in the mud, especially Jason.

“What do we do in the meantime?” I asked.

He shrugged, another abnormal movement for him. “We’re working on getting new judges and lawyers to comb through your paperwork. We can go to the media with a scandal like this, but it could destroy Montgomery Group with our clientele. We work in luxury–and sometimes discreet–business. It wouldn’t be a good look.”

I gritted my teeth. “Which is what she probably planned for, too.”

“Exactly,” he tried to compose himself, “but we must push forward and keep up appearances. Try not to lose hope, kid. Your mom has figured her way out of shit situations before. This might be the worst one yet but keep your chin up.”

Everyone sat in their chairs, the tension thick in the air. I couldn’t breathe with the anxiety running through my veins.

Tempted to scroll through my phone again and look at the other series of threats and pictures I’d gotten, the trash can across the room looked like an inviting place to be.

The door opened and a few people strolled in, an air of haughtiness about them. The crowd of men separated to reveal a woman.

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