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“But do you know what isn’t good for business? For any empire in the building?” Looking around the room, his hand lazily circles my lower back. “Civil war.”
Tension suffocates the room, everyone processing the news in their own way.
“So…” Jade’s hesitant, and I’m surprised she even talks. It’s usually better for the firecracker to stay quiet if we don’t want an explosion. “Are we, like, all part of the Cosa Nostra now?”
Nate waves his hand next to his head. “Forget the Cosa Nostra. You’re part of my team, and we don’t belong to anyone anymore.”
And the surprises keep on coming.
Nate has always been affiliated with the Bianco family. In fact, until this morning, he was telling me he took over his empire. And now he wants to separate himself from the Italian criminal organization? That means, he’s having issues with the other families. The Lucianos and the Rossis, no doubt.
What the fuck is he doing?
Jade looks at me, her eyes full of questions, but I nod slightly at her.
Just go with it.
Because this is better for the Kings. And if it means we’re working under Nate, then so be it. I’m stuck with him one way or another.
Emma keeps rolling and unrolling her hair around her index fingers, staring at Nate, but it’s Xi that speaks up.
“So you’re saying you’ll only supply the North Shore crews if we work together.”
When Nate answers, he’s looking at Emma, knowing ultimately, she’ll be the one making the decision for her crew.
“Feel free to find other suppliers to keep your people working, but the Wolves won’t work with North Shore gangs anymore, and I think you lost all value to the Lucianos. I’ve got shipments coming from Canada, Georgia, and Mexico in two weeks. Warehouses will be full. All I need is enough people to do the work.”
“This is bullshit,” Emma hisses. “That’s not what we had agreed to, Nate.”
“Deals change all the time. Welcome to the big boys’ playground.”
Her angry eyes shoot to mine, and her accusing stare means everything. She thinks I was in on it.
“As I said, shipments are coming in two weeks. Emma and Elliot, you have until then to report to me on your decisions. You’re dismissed.”
His movement of getting up forces me to stand too. He guides me out of the room with that same hand on my lower back, and I follow like an idiot.
His last words stay with me, though.
Emma and Elliot.
He’s waiting for a decision from Emma and Elliot.
“See…” He talks discreetly to me as we cross the entrance hall and walk to a different hallway together. We’re going to a more private place, where the ones he deems below him can’t hear us. “I told you when you traded territories with Emma to just go with it. She thought she’d have it all, that she’d take your house and your street. Now she has nothing.”
He knew from the beginning that he was going to unite the North Shore. He used Emma and her greed, promised her things he knew he was never going to give her, and now he has every single one of us in the palm of his hand.
But I can’t discuss anything with him other than the two names he mentioned as he dismissed everyone. The second we enter his living room, and he closes the door behind us, I spin around, pinning him with a stare.
“Emma and Elliot,” I hiss. “Elliot is not the head of the Kings, Nathan. I am. Here’s a little tip to help you next time. My last name. My crew.”
He laughs gently, pushing me to the side as he steps to his sofa. There’s a glass coffee table in front of the giant L-shaped furniture, and a manila folder is waiting on it.
“Your name is White now.”
“No,” I push through gritted teeth. I will never take his fucking name. I don’t care what our marriage certificate says. “I make the decisions for the Kings. Elliot doesn’t lead my crew, do you understand?”
“He’s someone you trust, and I agree, he’s a good soldier.”
