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That’s a dangerous mistake on my part.

In a room full of men who respect only ruthlessness, showing weakness, even for a moment, can fuck you over completely.

I clear my throat. “Eleven percent. And the Iron Kings absorb the cost of any seized shipments.”

Reaper’s eyes narrow. Behind him, his sergeant-at-arms scowls and spits on the floor to show what he thinks of that counteroffer.

“You wantusto eat the losses?” Reaper strokes his beard. “That’s a lot to swallow, considering we’re the ones with our necks on the chopping block.”

I can feel the tension ratcheting up, thick as smoke in this shithole warehouse. My hand remains perfectly still on the table, but I’m acutely aware of the Makarov holstered at the small of my back.

“Risk and reward meets margin, my friend,” I tell him. “We’ve both got to get our piece. Eleven percent is my final offer.”

“Hm.” Reaper drums his fingers on the table. Then he grins, showing a gold tooth that glints in the dim light. “Heard you got yourself a new girl,” he drawls.

I freeze.

“Pretty little thing, from what I hear.Young, too. You dirty dog you.” He scratches his brow. “Works for your boy, right?”

The bare bulb swings. Shadows snake across the concrete.

“Maybe we should talk about fourteen percent, eh?” Reaper’s grin widens. He thinks he’s found leverage, something to squeeze. “I’d hate for word to get around about where she lives, what route she takes to work every morning. You know how it is: Little birdies talk.”

Perhaps I was wrong—Reaper isn’t as smart as I thought he was. Because he’s still grinning, gold tooth shining, thinking he’s got the upper hand now.

He has no fucking idea what he just did.

“Say her name,” I tell him quietly. “I’d like you to.”

He pauses. I’ll never know if he’s noticing his mistake or not, though, because before he has the chance to take it back, shit starts to happen.

The violence erupts from me so suddenly that even Afon is unprepared. I’m vaulting over the table and snaring Reaper by the throat. He goes tumbling backwards and cracks his skull on the concrete floor. I land heavily on his chest.

The Iron Kings reach for their weapons, but Afon and my othervorsalready have guns drawn. Everyone freezes in place. Reddots dance across leather cuts. Hammers cock back. Nobody breathes.

I’m too busy filleting a man to give a fuck.

I’m straddling Reaper’s chest, one hand crushing the man’s windpipe, the other wielding a knife that’s begun to separate his jaw from his cheek.

“Say her name,” I hiss down at him again. “Say it, so I have a good excuse to carve your tongue out and feed it to you.”

Reaper gurgles beneath my grip. His gold tooth doesn’t flash anymore—there’s too much blood filling up his mouth for that. As big as he is, he might as well be a child in my hands. I abandon the jagged smile I’m carving into his mouth and press the knife instead against his cheek, just below his left eye. Slowly, I draw it down. Fresh blood wells in the blade’s wake, a thin red line as the flesh parts. Oh, it will scar beautifully. So fucking beautifully.

“You think you can threaten what’s mine?” I whisper. “You think I won’t burn your entire fucking club to the ground?”

The cartilage of his throat is buckling beneath my grip. It would be so easy to crush it completely. A fitting punishment for his crime.

Reaper’s legs scrabble against the concrete. A few more pounds of pressure and he’ll never breathe again. Just a few more. Just a few…

“Boss.” Afon’s voice cuts through the red haze. “His boys are getting twitchy.”

It’s enough to get through to me. Barely.

I look up and see half a dozen bikers bristling. My own men are ready to turn this place into a slaughterhouse. One wrong twitch and we’ll be hosing brain matter off the walls for weeks.

The smart play is to de-escalate. I don’t fucking want to… but I know I must.

I lean down until my lips are inches from Reaper’s ear. Blood bubbles at the corners of his mouth. “You get eight percent now,” I whisper. “And if I ever hear you’ve so much asthoughtabout her again, I’ll kill every man in your club, torch their bodies, and piss on the ashes.” I let that sink in. “Then I’ll find their families and do the same.”