First Born

27. Why?

27. Why?

Talon

The minute they left Raúl emerged from the shadows.

"What would you like me to do?"

I thought about it for a minute. I'd already decided to take over Conti Industries. I wanted it all. I hadn't anticipated Kara to go and marry the guy, not after everything she told me she went through with him.

"Talon?"

I held my palm up to stop him. I needed to think. The wheels were turning in my head, but I wasn't there yet. The first question I needed an answer to was related to their marriage. Did they sign a prenup or didn't they? The second question is about the father's will. Who gets what if elder Conti were to die? Did he leave it all to his son or someone else? The third question was easier. How dirty were the Contis?

"I need you to find out three things for me. You can ask Alessandro for help if you need it." Raúl smirked. "The first, did Kara sign a prenup. The second, what's in elder Conti's will. If you a get a copy that would be much appreciated. The third, how dirty are the Contis. I want to know all of their secrets."

Raúl bowed and disappeared.

I paced around my father's office still feeling a bit uneasy. Now what was I going to do about Nikolai? I couldn't let his betrayal go unpunished, but he is my brother. That means something. Many ideas ran through my head but I kept coming back to the one solution. I had to send him away. If I didn't he would keep getting in my way and I can't have that, so having come to a decision, I went in search of Alessandro who was unsurprisingly with Lucas who jumped to his feet the minute I walked in.

"Don't start. I won't tell you where he is."

"He's our brother."

"That is exactly why he's locked away right now. I asked him to do one thing for me; take care of Kara while I was away. He didn't do that."

"You can't blame him. Kara made her own decision."

"Which Nikolai allowed her to do! He couldn't have her, so instead of seeing her with his brother he let her go to that monster. I can't forgive him. I won't."

"Fine. If you want to tear this family apart then do it."

"No one is forcing you to stay here, Lucas. I do remember you making that decision on your own."

"This is as much my legacy as it is yours. I'm not going to walk away from it like you did."

"What's your point?"

"The point is all of us stayed while you ran away."

I scoffed. "Following your dream isn't running away. I made a decision about my own life."

"And yet you come back here after many years and have taken up the responsibility of making decisions about everyone else's life. How ironic."

"I'll say this again, no one is forcing you to stay here."

"You are more like father than you think. You're controlling and a tyrant. Maybe Kara is better off without you."

I wasn't going to be baited by Lucas.

"Alessandro, I need you to look into some volunteer programs in South America for Nikolai. The more rigorous the program is, the better."

"What? You can't be serious."

I looked Lucas in the eye without blinking. "It will help improve his character. Besides, he might meet some beauty there, fall in love and live happily ever after. I do not want him here or anywhere near me. This is the best thing I can do for him."