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But to me this was everything. This was my honor, my life, my crew. I couldn’t back down, not after the Jackals came at me and insulted me in my own business. They’d have to die for what they did, especially if they came near me again.
“Think about my offer,” Dante said. “You don’t have to decide right now. Take a night and sleep on it.”
“My answer’s no.” I stared at him, trying to conceal my rage. “You don’t own this city.”
He laughed. “Problem is, I actually do. Take a night, think about it. I’ll see you around.” He walked to the door slowly, sauntering like his shoes were better than the floor. He disappeared outside and headed down the sidewalk.
“What the hell was that?”
I turned back to Leigh. She stood with an ashen face and wide eyes.
“That was the second most powerful mobster in this city.”
“And you just turned him down?”
“Damn right I did.”
“Owain—”
“You don’t understand the politics here.” I walked to the window and stared out down the block. I couldn’t see him anymore but a big, black sedan rolled down the street.
“I understand he offered you more money and customers. That’s a huge deal, right?”
“The Leone family is on our side right now. We’re in a truce with them, technically we’re in an alliance. But sooner or later, they’re going to fuck up, and when they do it’ll be our turn to own the city.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“If we start backing down and doing what they want now, then when the time comes we’ll be too weak to step in.” I shook my head and tried to push my anger away. The arrogant bastard pissed me off, thinking he could waltz in here and push me around.
“We don’t want a war with the Jackals. Wars cost money and lives and—”
“I want a war.” I turned to her, staring into her eyes. “I want to kill them. I want to make them bleed. I want Clifton to know that he’s a tiny little ant crawling around in a great big forest, and I’m the fucking wolf that’s going to stomp on him. I want to hurt him. It’s not about business. It’s about pleasure.”
She stared at me, lips parted. I couldn’t read her expression, but it wasn’t good.
And I didn’t care.
I turned back to the window, seething. I wanted to break something, but I knew I had to get it together. I couldn’t lose my temper and go ape shit, not right now.
I had to save that for the Jackals.
“Hang out here for a while,” I said. “Take a walk around, maybe pick out some furniture. There’s a computer in the back if you want to get online.”
“Owain—”
“I’ll be back to pick you up later, all right? I got some shit to do.”
I didn’t look back as I left the store.
I knew I probably shouldn’t leave her alone, but I was too angry to stop myself. I got in my car, but before I left I shot a text to Viktor to make sure he could come hang around the shop and keep an eye on her. I was in a shit mood, but I wasn’t going to leave her without protection.
I pulled the car into traffic and rolled down the block, doing my best to take calming breaths, and failing.16LeighI sat in the back of the bodega in front of the crappy TV and dreamed about my shop.
Owain did an amazing job. I didn’t know what to expect, and sort f thought it would look like crap when it was ready— but I was so wrong about that. The place looked incredible, way better than it had before. The custom shelves were gorgeous, the flooring was expensive and high quality, and the counter he had built looked even cooler than the one I had before.
I was almost happy about the fire… almost.
Sometimes I forgot why I was doing all this. Sometimes I forgot that I started out as Owain’s captive, that he lent my brother money for drugs, that he blackmailed me with my mother’s safety to keep me around. It was easy to forget when he made me laugh, made me smile, made my stomach do flips when he came close.
It was like I lost my mind, or maybe I was beginning to see the complicated underbelly.
People weren’t one dimensional. They weren’t one thing only. Even killers and gangsters and bastards like Owain were complex and multifaceted. I wanted to get beneath the surface, to really see what made him think and run and act the way he did. I wanted to learn more about him, so much more—and I wanted him to strip me down to my barest essentials in return.
Maybe it was only physical. I had an intense reaction every time he came within a foot of me and it was hard to ignore it. I kept thinking about his lips between my legs, his tongue in my mouth, his taste and touch driving me wild. I wanted more, god, I wanted so much more, but he held it back from me. I didn’t know if it was on purpose or what, but the longer I held out, the more I wanted to give in.
