“And now I’m giving you mine, and the answer is no.”
Levi tried to come up with words to fight her, but he knew he’d lose. She was right. The legend of Ivory was more fearsome and older than any of them, and the threat of her wrath was enough to ensure no one invested in Enne’s market or opened their casinos to the Irons again.
“That’s disappointing,” Enne said drily. “I don’t like people who go back on their promises.”
Levi sucked in his breath. Enne knew better than to anger Ivory—didn’t she?
And muck,heknew better. But that didn’t stop him from saying, “I’ll do it. I’m with Séance.”
He swallowed and stared at the ivory knife, wondering if he’d made a deadly error.
Ivory narrowed her eyes. “A mistake,” she hissed. In that moment, Levi was grateful that a table stretched out between her and him. Not that distance would serve as any real protection from a woman credited with sixty-three kills.
Enne needed their support for her stock market, but Levi needed this, too. If the North Side came together, then the casinos would open their doors to the Irons again. Their pressure of the gangs could drive the whiteboots out.
If they united, the city would be their kingdom.
And if not, the city would be their ruin.
“I couldn’t save Reymond, either,” Levi murmured, meeting Jonas’s eyes. He thought Jonas was slimier than a rotting eel, but at least they’d both cared about Reymond. Maybe that would be enough.
Jonas turned over Levi’s words carefully. “So it’s the three of us, then.” For perhaps the first time in their acquaintance, Levi looked at Jonas and smiled.
Just as Ivory reached for her knife, Bryce cleared his throat. “The four of us.”
Ivory’s hand froze in midair.“What?”
“Eight of my friends are dead,” Bryce said darkly. “I’ll protect the ones I have left. Whatever it takes.”
Levi wasn’t sure in that moment where to look—at the fury that crossed over Ivory’s face, or the thrill that filled Harvey’s.
“I see,” Ivory seethed. Without another word, she picked up her knife and stormed out.
Enne stood, chair screeching against the wooden floor. “I’ll be in contact with all of you soon.” And then, to Levi’s shock, she walked out, as well.
Abandoning Jonas, Bryce, and Harvey in the meeting room, he ran after Enne and caught her at the bottom of the stairwell. The music from the club pulsed around them.
“Wait,” he rasped.
Enne spun around and looked up at him. “Why? I got what I came for.”
“You threatenedIvory. Maybe you don’t know—”
“I know,” she snapped. “I’ve learned a lot in the past two weeks, and, you see, I was the one that had everything on the line tonight. Thanks to you, I don’t get to play it safe.”
He stormed down the steps, even if it still ached in his ribs to do so. “Like I said last night, had I not stepped in and made the wager, your plan would have sunk. They—”
“Do you want me to thank you, then? If this all fell through, we would’ve thought of something else. I don’t need—”
“I know that,” Levi said. He white-knuckled the railing across from her, trying not to shout, trying not to reach for her. She had clawed her way inside him and buried herself there, and that meant every one of her words could wound or cut. He didn’t know how to force her out—and he didn’t want to.
Her aura filled the stairwell, but it didn’t storm like it usually did; like he would’ve expected. It was trembling, and that was how he knew not to bite back.
Instead, Levi pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her.
“What is this?” she asked, unfolding it. Then her eyes narrowed. “This is for the market.”
Last night, Levi had written the list of every possible investor they should approach. Enne had asked him yesterday to give it to Grace, but Levi hadn’t made a promise to Grace. He’d made it to her, and he was determined to keep it.
