The Prison-Made Queen novel Chapter 1014

The thought of his grandfather inches from death made Callahan snap. He brutally shoved Talbot back against the wall.

From this moment on, Talbot was no longer family. He was an enemy. And Callahan didn't do mercy for enemies.

Talbot hit the plaster with a sickening thud, shaking the framed paintings off their hooks. His face contorted in agony as he gasped for air.

Seeing her husband manhandled, Reese scrambled forward, throwing her arms around Callahan’s legs. Tears and makeup streamed down her face.

"Callahan, please! Stop! You can't do this! We're family! Blood is thicker than water!" she wailed. "Your father died when you were so young. If it weren't for Talbot, you wouldn't be where you are today! We were just blinded by greed for a second, but we never wanted to kill your grandfather!"

"Family?" Callahan looked down at her as if she were a roach crawling on his shoe. A twisted, mocking smile touched his lips. "That's rich."

He crouched down, forcing them to meet his gaze. "When you drugged him and locked him in a cage, waiting for his last breath—did you think about family then?"

He tilted his head. "When you were praying they’d find my mangled corpse in a jungle—were we family then? You should be thanking whatever god you pray to that you didn't finish the job. Because if his heart had stopped, you'd be dead already."

The naked, violent threat in his voice choked the protests right out of them. They knew his reputation. He was ruthless in the boardroom and even more dangerous outside of it. If Dante had died, Callahan would have genuinely butchered them.

The sudden, theatrical resurrection of Callahan Langley was the one variable Talbot hadn't accounted for.

"Because I knew you were a snake, Uncle Talbot," Callahan whispered. "If I had showed up right away, I never would have gotten a front-row seat to this spectacular little coup of yours. I never would have caught you in the act of trying to murder the patriarch of this family to steal his throne."

Every word drained a little more color from Talbot's face.

"You... you planned this?" Talbot rasped out. "You set a trap for us!"