Frank and I moved to stand next to him. The rest of the men in the room shifted on their feet and looked at Trace.
Her hands started to shake. Damn it.
I moved behind her and put my arms around her body, much to Nixon’s irritation, but he was busy. And I was done standing on the outside looking in. My girl needed me, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be silent about it. She relaxed in my arms immediately.
“I have something to say,” I said slowly.
Every eye in the room was on me.
“I should have killed that bastard the minute I saw him on top of Trace. To be honest, the only reason I didn’t was because I was saving the honor for her. So if anyone else has anything to say, say it now. We’re just wasting time, and every breath that asshole breathes offends me so much that I want to crush his windpipe.”
The rest of the commission whispered to one another and nodded their vote.
A man stepped forward. “We do not need to hear anything else. Mr. Alfero?”
Frank moved to stand in front of Phoenix. “You’ve hurt this family for the last time.”
Phoenix smirked. “I seriously doubt that. After all, it’s only a matter of time before they figure out who she is. And when they do, there won’t be anything that can save you. Not your power, not your money, and not your name. They will come for you all. And I’ll be smiling from hell.”
Nixon handed Frank a bat.
Trace tensed beneath my arms.
He swung hard and hit Phoenix in the head, sending him to the ground with a grunt.
Frank turned, his eyes calm. “Your choice, Trace. Make the call.”
Slowly, she pried herself free and approached Phoenix’s limp form. Her booted foot connected between his legs. The bastard was already passed out, but he’d have a hell of a fun time when he woke up, if he woke up.
“He lives,” she whispered, turning to Nixon. “Remember what you said about the whole setting him up thing?”
Nixon nodded once at her then at me. “Done.”
Great. So basically I was going to have to set up Phoenix. Awesome. Just what I’d been wanting to do.
I held open my arms. Trace walked in to them and laid her head against my chest. I couldn’t control my racing heart. I felt better just knowing she was in my arms, knowing right then I was doing my best to protect her from the world. “You should have let me kill him,” I whispered.
“Sorry to ruin your fun,” she mumbled.
I sighed. “Not fun. Just pleasure.”
I put in a call to Dean De Lange. He needed to get his ass to the restaurant and fast. We chose to wait to call him until everyone had said what they needed to say.
I hated the man.
Hell, I think he hated himself. What made it worse was that I knew the shit he’d pulled with Phoenix. He deserved to be shot for what he’d put him through. He’d created a monster.
Dean De Lange walked in and swore. “Phoenix, what have you done?”
“Yes,” Nixon sneered. “What have you done?”
Phoenix smirked, having woken up only minutes before his father’s arrival. Blood stained his teeth where he had been punched repeatedly. “You think you can silence me?” He laughed. “Father, guess who our little Tracey is? You should know. After all, you killed her parents.”
“What?” De Lange paled and gaped at his son. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“It’s over. And I’m not stupid,” Phoenix spat. “You set them up. I know everything, and now they do too.”
“I didn’t—” his father repeated, but his words were silenced, by the crack of a gun.
I ran toward him, my mind going a hundred miles a minute. Who pulled the trigger? When I turned around, I saw Frank with a gun in the air. Oh shit.
“It is over,” Frank said hoarsely.
Phoenix laughed from his position on the ground, blood trailing down his chin. “Oh, it’s far from over. You have any idea what you’ve just done?”
“Killed the man who murdered my son!” Frank yelled.
“I lied.” Phoenix grinned. “And now you’ll never know. By the way, congratulations on killing the one man standing in the way of making me the boss. You just bought me my freedom.”
“Like hell he did!” Nixon stepped forward, but Frank held out his hand to stop him.
“War is coming,” Faust said from the corner. He knew it, I knew it, we all knew it, and we were all witnesses to it.
My blood ran cold. We had fought so hard to protect Trace from the De Langes — hell, even from her own family.
I never once thought we’d have to protect her from them.
From the originals.
The ones who kept order.
I had a vision of Tex’s father. Oh hell, that would be bad.