Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 545(@200wpm)___ 436(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Friend or foe, I wasn’t totally sure. I hadn’t fully figured out the friendship between them, but I knew there were conflicted emotions because at the end of the day, Jake Worthing gave me a whole host of assets and resources that his family still had in the city.
His family. Technically through my mother, I shared blood with them, but I would never consider the Worthings my family. I did not choose them.
I added, “But you’re starting to slip, Ashton.”
Walden’s head snapped backward, and his nostrils flared. “Don’t fucking use my first name.”
I ignored that. “Just like your hold on the shipping yards. On the warehouse district. On the north end of the city. On Brooklyn.” I could name more territories, but I didn’t need to. The areas they never retained control over were now mine. I just mentioned the ones I’d taken from them, but there’d be more.
I was expanding. They knew this.
My battle tactic wasn’t to kill their men. It was to take their men. They just didn’t know how I did it, or how I kept their men as mine.
“We still have Red Hook’s Marine Terminal. Plus the rest that you didn’t name.” His grin was icy. “Manhattan.”
“You have parts of Manhattan.”
“No. You have parts of Manhattan, but we’ll be taking them back. It’s only a matter of time. Especially the parts where your girlfriend goes to school.”
“You already tried with Blake. Try again and see what I’ll do.”
“How about this? You stop recruiting or I’ll kill your pretty little Miss Green.” Walden lowered his head so he was equal with me, and he raised an eyebrow. Taunting. “How’s that for a counter?”
How was that for a counter? I repeated his question in my head, but I never faltered. My smile didn’t twitch. “That’s the second time you’ve threatened her in a matter of minutes. Now you get to see what I’ll do.”
His eyes snapped to slits. He was glaring at me, and I knew I was letting him see the void inside of me. It had a certain effect on people.
“He’s not threatening her.” West placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and pushed. “We’re not going there.”
Walden resisted, growling. “Don’t speak for me. I will threaten her all day any day.”
“Stop,” West snapped, shoving him now. “Move.”
Walden remained in place until he pushed up and shoved past my men. West followed at a more sedate pace, standing at the end of our table. He looked at me, almost impassive, but I could see the tension clinging to his body. His face was rigid. He couldn’t hide that. There were pinched lines at the corners of his eyes. He was keeping his jaw tight, and he forced himself to let it all go. He didn’t want me to see his anger.
Interesting.
I didn’t understand that.
I knew he was angry. Why not let me see it? Why try to cover it?
“You are taking what’s ours. That’s an act of war, but we’ve been at war for a while. Haven’t we, Lane?”
I leaned back in the booth, continuing to study this man. He was fascinating. “You already made a move against me when you helped Jake kidnap Blake. Of course, all of that worked out in the end, but your best friend just threatened her again. Twice. She is someone I care about. Is this your way of ‘smoothing it over’? Reminding me of moves I’ve made prior to coming into this city? That’s just good battle strategy. You know this. You surround your enemy before you move in for the kill.”
He went still at my words, at what I was suggesting. They surrounded my nightclub tonight, but I’d already surrounded their city.
He twitched. It was minimal and it was only at the corner of his eye, but I saw it. It was enough to show a crack, and now that I saw it, I could see the rest. I witnessed how his anger moved through him.
Even more fascinating.
I couldn’t place which was the more dangerous of the two. This one who usually showed nothing but was ruthless at the drop of a hat or the other, who’d react with a killing blow like a cobra attacking. Both were intelligent. Both were ruthless. Each balanced out the other. Together, they were formidable.
I was very excited to war with them.
“My intention was genuine when I reached out. I said on the phone that I wanted to come to a compromise, stop this war before it escalates. I’m aware of how fast you overtook Cincinnati. That you’ve run the streets since you were sixteen and that you owned the politicians since you were nineteen. You’re twenty-eight. That’s a long time to operate an entire city. I’m also aware of your vast network, the magnitude of soldiers you have at your beck and call, and the questions surrounding them. How is it that you recruit so fast? The loyalty rate of them. That even if they’re taken and tortured, when they break—because everyone breaks—they only give up lies. Makes you wonder if their loyalty is really to you or to others? Do you threaten their families like the cartel? Is that how you operate? Do you hang the heads of your soldiers’ loved ones if they go against you?”