All Chapters of The Price Of Us: Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

ELIAS“Sir, you have to understand—the stocks are plummeting. We need to do something about it, and fast.” I tuned out the voice of the financial manager. I hadn’t even wanted him in this board meeting, but somehow the rat managed to weasel his way in. I wasn’t in the mood for any of this. In reality, all of this—the real estate holdings, the casinos—was just a façade. A convenient mask for my true kingdom.The mafia empire my family had built over the last sixty years. There were more pressing matters to attend to in that world. And though this company was the perfect front for our darker dealings, I was growing increasingly sick of pretending to care about its surface-level issues. Rising from my chair, I turned to my second-in-command, Cathan, and gave him a single look—one he immediately understood. He addressed the board without missing a beat. “Mr. Montgomery will ensure these matters are resolved. For now, he has urgent business elsewhere.”“So, the fact that stocks are cr

ELIASMy twin sister, Elaine, was as annoying as ever during my short visit to her place. She never missed a chance to needle me about “settling down,” even while I bounced her youngest on my knee and pretended not to hear. The woman had a mouth like a whip and the subtlety of a jackhammer.Annoying.Her children were equally chaotic. I left with more hair pulled from my head than I cared to count. They’re the only ones who could bring me to my knees—literally and figuratively speaking. I loved them, of course, but my tolerance had its limits.So, I left earlier than usual.I had work to do anyway—my bimonthly check-in at Allure, one of my more legitimate fronts, though anyone in Chicago with half a brain knew better than to think that was all it was. Cathan had also just closed a deal with an arms supplier we’d been circling for months. Not many people could convince a man like Jakob Huber to sign anything, let alone trust again after what happened in Prague. But Cathan? He could tal