Chapter 4 - THE ASHFORD ULTIMATUM
While I was confronting the ghosts of my past,
the Ashford family was mobilizing for war.
Coraline’s father,
Dominic Ashford,
was not a man who took insults lightly.
The cancellation of the wedding wasn't just a social embarrassment.
It was a breach of contract that cost millions in projected revenue.
By midnight,
three of my warehouses in Brooklyn had been set on fire.
Wesley brought me the news in the study.
"The fires are under control,
sir,"
he said,
his face grim.
"But Dominic has sent a message."
He handed me a scorched invitation to the wedding.
Across the back,
written in blood-red ink,
were the words:
"A daughter for a daughter."
My grip tightened on the paper.
"They're coming for Posie,"
I whispered.
"I've doubled the guard,
Garrett,"
Mave said,
standing in the doorway.
She had heard everything.
"You have to let us go,"
she pleaded.
"If we stay here,
she's in danger."
"If you leave here,
you're dead,"
I replied.
"Dominic doesn't care about justice."
"He cares about leverage."
I walked over to Mave and looked her in the eyes.
"I am the head of the Hail family."
"I have more soldiers,
more guns,
and more resources than the Ashfords."
"I spent my life protecting this empire."
"Now,
I'm going to use it to protect my family."
"But what about your mother?"
Mave asked.
"She's the one who started this."
"She's on her way,"
I said.
"And by the time I'm done with her,"
"she'll wish she had never heard the name Whitlock."
The phone on the desk rang.
It was the private line,
the one only family used.
I answered it.
"Garrett,"
my mother's voice was calm,
almost bored.
"I heard there was a bit of a scene on Fifth Avenue."
"I hope you haven't done anything to jeopardize the Ashford merger."
"Come to the Chelsea house,
Mother,"
I said,
my voice a low hiss.
"Now."
"Don't be dramatic,
dear,"
she replied.
"I'm at the opera."
"Wesley is five minutes from your box,"
I said.
"He has orders to drag you out in front of the cameras if you don't walk out yourself."
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end.
"You wouldn't dare."
"I already did,"
I said,
and hung up.
I looked at Posie,
who was sleeping on the sofa,
unaware that the world was burning around her.
The gray eyes were closed,
May you like
but I could still see them in my mind.
They were the only thing worth fighting for.
