175 Deal

“I'm going to give you the last chance,” Mickle said. “I'm not going to repeat myself.”

“Mikeal!” I blurted out. “I want him to lose everything.”

“You hate him,” Mickle whispered. “Like you hate me?”

“Whatever deal you made with him, he knows your history with my mother,” I said. “He's a time bomb for you, too.”

“Aren't you?” Mickle squinted at me.

“But he's not my family.”

“We're family,” Mia interjected. “You should trust your daughter more!”

“Daughter?” Mickle laughed sarcastically. “And my daughters are negotiating with their father.”

“Because we're a family of politicians,” Mia said hastily.

I waited in silence for an answer. When the tension subsided, Mickle tapped me on the shoulder.

“I can give you what you want. But you have to give me what I want.”

“Deal!” I subconsciously clenched my hands when I agreed.

Mickle walked to his desk again and held the receiver up to his ear.

“Ian, come in.”

Less than two minutes after Mickle hung up, Ian pushed the door open and entered the ro