Oath Bound
Page 53
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“Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be able to rebind them,” Vanessa said. “We all signed non-competition clauses from the start. But since she’d be rebinding them to the same organization, just under different leadership, the noncompetition clause doesn’t seem to be functioning like we’d like it to.” She shrugged thin shoulders. “Or at all. Fortunately, it’ll take her a while to break all the bindings and institute new ones, making Kenley completely obsolete.”
“Okay. Give me a minute.” I gripped the edge of the table. My head was spinning. The whole damn room was spinning. “How sure are you that Julia Tower inherited all that from her brother?”
Kori and Kris glanced at one another and something unspoken passed between them, but it was his sister who answered. “Trust me—Jake’s people would never follow orders from Julia unless they had to.”
Okay, that made sense. But nothing else seemed to. I needed more information, but I couldn’t outright ask for it. “Why would he leave everything to his sister instead of his wife? Or his kids?” What I really wanted to know was how Julia had wound up with what he’d intended to leave to his children.
“He left some stuff to Lynn,” Kori said. “Personal stuff. The house is hers, but Julia gets to live and operate there, because it’s always been the home base of the syndicate. But Jake would never have left business stuff to Lynn. She knows next to nothing about what he does, other than that it’s illegal, immoral and pays very, very well.”
“And technically, he did leave the business to his kids. The oldest, anyway.” Kris looked disgusted by the mention of the little...rascal. “His name’s Kevin. But he can’t inherit until he’s twenty-one, and until then, Julia has total control.”
“Power of attorney?” That would explain her obvious authority.
“More like regent.” Kris scooted his chair closer to the table and met my gaze with a solemn one of his own. “No one thinks either of Jake’s kids will make it to twenty-one. Julia can’t afford to let that happen. She’s not allowed to hurt them, or outright ask anyone else to, but she had the same restrictions with Jake and still managed to have him assassinated.”
Everyone glanced at Ian, who nodded solemnly—Julia had used him to kill her brother.
“How do you know all this?” Surely the Towers hadn’t advertised the terms of Jake’s will...
“Kenley.” Kris smiled at the mention of her name. “She bound Julia as the executor of his will.”
The executor. Not the beneficiary. So why were his guards still following her orders, if their bindings actually belonged to me? Because they hadn’t been formally introduced to the true heir? Because the will hadn’t yet been properly executed? Because I hadn’t claimed my inheritance?
Whatever the reason, Julia couldn’t afford for me to inherit. She’d keep trying to kill me—likely as collateral damage in the fight against the Daniels clan—until she succeeded.
If Kris hadn’t kidnapped me, would I be dead already? Had I been minutes away from a bullet to the brain, that day in her office?
I wasn’t sure enough of that to give him credit for saving my life, instead of nearly getting me killed. But I was sure that there was nowhere else in the city safer for me at that moment than with this band of heavily armed criminals—now that they’d decided not to kill me themselves.
But they would kill me in a heartbeat, if they found out I was the new head of the Tower syndicate.
Ten
Kris
On my way down from the upstairs bathroom, I glanced into the room that used to be mine and saw Sera staring at herself in the mirror. Just...staring.
“You okay?” I stopped in the doorway, hesitant to enter without permission, since a third strike would mean I was out. And whether or not I was ready to admit it, I very much wanted to be in.
She shrugged and met my gaze in the mirror. “I don’t know what one wears on a covert mission. Not that I have many options.” She held her arms out, inviting me to look. “Is this okay?”
“Waaay better than okay.” The black top and dark jeans were Kori’s, but Sera filled them out...better. So well, in fact, that I tried to forget they were my sister’s clothes. “Doesn’t matter, though. If this thing goes like we expect it to, it’ll be less about stealth than about speed and brute force.”
Still watching me in the mirror, she pulled her long brown hair into a high ponytail, and suddenly she looked eighteen years old. Young and vulnerable. Except for her eyes. The gaze that stared back at me in the mirror was ancient and war-wearied. Scarred. Which made a brutal kind of sense, now that I knew what had happened to her family.
She turned back to her own reflection. “So, what do you need me to do?”
“Just come with us.” I stepped into the room, and when she didn’t object, I took three more steps and half sat on the edge of the desk that had been mine a day and a half ago. “You don’t even have to pick up a gun.”
“In fact, we’re not gonna give you one.” My sister appeared in the doorway, and Sera turned to face us both. “Kris says you can’t shoot.”
“I said she can’t shoot yet. But I’ll teach her.”
Kori shrugged, arms crossed over her chest. “If you’re not planning to teach her in the next ten minutes, she’s not getting a gun.”
“Ten minutes?” Sera stepped into the boots she’d been wearing when I’d pulled her through the shadows in Tower’s supply closet, and I made a mental note to take her shopping. She deserved clothes of her own. And for my own comfort, I really needed to see her in something my sisters had never worn.
“Okay. Give me a minute.” I gripped the edge of the table. My head was spinning. The whole damn room was spinning. “How sure are you that Julia Tower inherited all that from her brother?”
Kori and Kris glanced at one another and something unspoken passed between them, but it was his sister who answered. “Trust me—Jake’s people would never follow orders from Julia unless they had to.”
Okay, that made sense. But nothing else seemed to. I needed more information, but I couldn’t outright ask for it. “Why would he leave everything to his sister instead of his wife? Or his kids?” What I really wanted to know was how Julia had wound up with what he’d intended to leave to his children.
“He left some stuff to Lynn,” Kori said. “Personal stuff. The house is hers, but Julia gets to live and operate there, because it’s always been the home base of the syndicate. But Jake would never have left business stuff to Lynn. She knows next to nothing about what he does, other than that it’s illegal, immoral and pays very, very well.”
“And technically, he did leave the business to his kids. The oldest, anyway.” Kris looked disgusted by the mention of the little...rascal. “His name’s Kevin. But he can’t inherit until he’s twenty-one, and until then, Julia has total control.”
“Power of attorney?” That would explain her obvious authority.
“More like regent.” Kris scooted his chair closer to the table and met my gaze with a solemn one of his own. “No one thinks either of Jake’s kids will make it to twenty-one. Julia can’t afford to let that happen. She’s not allowed to hurt them, or outright ask anyone else to, but she had the same restrictions with Jake and still managed to have him assassinated.”
Everyone glanced at Ian, who nodded solemnly—Julia had used him to kill her brother.
“How do you know all this?” Surely the Towers hadn’t advertised the terms of Jake’s will...
“Kenley.” Kris smiled at the mention of her name. “She bound Julia as the executor of his will.”
The executor. Not the beneficiary. So why were his guards still following her orders, if their bindings actually belonged to me? Because they hadn’t been formally introduced to the true heir? Because the will hadn’t yet been properly executed? Because I hadn’t claimed my inheritance?
Whatever the reason, Julia couldn’t afford for me to inherit. She’d keep trying to kill me—likely as collateral damage in the fight against the Daniels clan—until she succeeded.
If Kris hadn’t kidnapped me, would I be dead already? Had I been minutes away from a bullet to the brain, that day in her office?
I wasn’t sure enough of that to give him credit for saving my life, instead of nearly getting me killed. But I was sure that there was nowhere else in the city safer for me at that moment than with this band of heavily armed criminals—now that they’d decided not to kill me themselves.
But they would kill me in a heartbeat, if they found out I was the new head of the Tower syndicate.
Ten
Kris
On my way down from the upstairs bathroom, I glanced into the room that used to be mine and saw Sera staring at herself in the mirror. Just...staring.
“You okay?” I stopped in the doorway, hesitant to enter without permission, since a third strike would mean I was out. And whether or not I was ready to admit it, I very much wanted to be in.
She shrugged and met my gaze in the mirror. “I don’t know what one wears on a covert mission. Not that I have many options.” She held her arms out, inviting me to look. “Is this okay?”
“Waaay better than okay.” The black top and dark jeans were Kori’s, but Sera filled them out...better. So well, in fact, that I tried to forget they were my sister’s clothes. “Doesn’t matter, though. If this thing goes like we expect it to, it’ll be less about stealth than about speed and brute force.”
Still watching me in the mirror, she pulled her long brown hair into a high ponytail, and suddenly she looked eighteen years old. Young and vulnerable. Except for her eyes. The gaze that stared back at me in the mirror was ancient and war-wearied. Scarred. Which made a brutal kind of sense, now that I knew what had happened to her family.
She turned back to her own reflection. “So, what do you need me to do?”
“Just come with us.” I stepped into the room, and when she didn’t object, I took three more steps and half sat on the edge of the desk that had been mine a day and a half ago. “You don’t even have to pick up a gun.”
“In fact, we’re not gonna give you one.” My sister appeared in the doorway, and Sera turned to face us both. “Kris says you can’t shoot.”
“I said she can’t shoot yet. But I’ll teach her.”
Kori shrugged, arms crossed over her chest. “If you’re not planning to teach her in the next ten minutes, she’s not getting a gun.”
“Ten minutes?” Sera stepped into the boots she’d been wearing when I’d pulled her through the shadows in Tower’s supply closet, and I made a mental note to take her shopping. She deserved clothes of her own. And for my own comfort, I really needed to see her in something my sisters had never worn.
