King of the Don's

thirteen

Vaughn

The day after Briar and I got into an argument, I knew she was still upset with me. She would walk by my office without acknowledging me, and give me the silent treatment me when I attempted to talk to her. It was safe to say it pissed me right off.

Usually when people were upset with me me, I didn't care. It was part of the job. But this felt different with her, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. 

I was still thinking about my issue later that day when I was in my office. I was on an hour long phone call when I heard a knock on my the door. I figured it could be Briar, but I knew she wouldn't voluntarily come to me at this point. I had given her zero reason to. Instead it was Richard, who came in with a solemn look on his face, "Don, I need to speak with you. Is now a good time?"

I motioned for him to sit as I ended the unnecessary phone call, "Go ahead."

"I need to speak openly, but this only comes from my experience and need to assist you." He told me, and I frowned. I wasn't going to like what he had to say, I knew this from experience. 

"You may say your piece." I instructed him, and he took a seat in the chair in front of me, "It's about the girl."

I sat back in my seat and waited for him to continue, and he let out a deep sigh, "I say this with the upmost respect for you, and for the families," He started, "I am afraid you have been too soft on the girl. I think a decision needs to be made about her, and there is only one way out of this mess, Don." Rich explained, and while I felt my gut churn on the inside, I nodded for him to continue. 

"She's very pretty, and I'm sure she's very nice. But, you know she can't be your wife, she's not from the families. You would lose respect-"

"Would I lose your respect?" I asked him, and he shook his head, "It's not me you have to worry about, Don. You know you have my unconditional support." He explained. 

"If I would lose respect over whom I choose as a bride, I wouldn't want their support anyways. I am the Don. What I say goes, people do not make demands of me." I reminded him, and he shook his head, "It's not just what I think, Don. There's a system, but I feel as though you're getting attached," He continued, "I see how you look at her, and how she looks at you."

I took in his words and considered them for a moment. Briar and I did mesh well together, but she just fit in so easily with me and my life. I never liked being around people, and if I was being honest with myself, I like being around Briar.

"To be quite frank, at this point, you need to put a bullet in her before this gets to be too much. She may be a great girl, but that's it, she's just a girl. This was always the plan, please don't lose sight of that. You are the king of Don's."

I didn't say anything, and he took it as his cue to continue, "Look at how she spoke to you yesterday in front of your men," He reminded me, "She blatantly disrespected you in front of three men who hold you in high regards. A woman from the families would not act like that. We are bred for this life style. Briar is not."

No matter how this conversation made me feel, and how much I wanted to avoid this, Rich was right. No matter if I wanted to deny it or not, Briar was an outsider, and I had no real plan with her. I realized I had been dragging this on too long, and I had let my feelings get into the way of my duty.

"You also need to consider her disability," He began, "It's not suitable for a-"

"I'm going to stop you right there, Briar's hearing does not concern you, nor anyone else, and I will not ever tolerate a comment like that again," I told him, "Moving over that, I thank you for your insight Richard, you've given me much to think about." I told him, "But my personal life is none of your concern. You will not speak like this again." I added, and he gave a nod of respect, "Yes, Don."