Lenrog’s expression cools. “You will not move against them again without speaking to me first.”
“I do not answer to you.”
“No. But if you continue striking my ecosystem, it will react. Not because I dislike you. Because systems defend themselves.”
“Your ecosystem attacked Evie.”
“And has been corrected.”
“Not enough.”
Lenrog folds his hands on the table. “You want to protect her. I understand that. But if you turn Halo into a battlefield over one bakery, she will lose regardless of your strength. Businesses need supply routes. Permits. Insurance. Quiet inspectors. Customers who are not afraid to enter. Think beyond fists.”
My first instinct is rejection.
My second is worse.
Recognition.
The war taught me to solve immediate threat. A rifle aimed at civilians. A breach in a corridor. A soldier raising a blade. Problems with bodies and distances and outcomes measured in seconds. Lenrog speaks of pressure applied invisibly through bureaucracy, fear, logistics, reputation. He is not stronger than me. He is larger in another direction.
“What do you want from Sweet Tooth?” I ask.
“Nothing.”
I do not believe him.
He smiles. “I enjoy your skepticism. Truly. But Miss Mercy has already refused protection payments publicly enough that taking them now would look like weakness on my part. Besides, Halo loves her. One does not tax saints during a religious mood.”
“She is not a saint.”
“No. Saints are usually less entertaining.”
“You will leave her alone.”
“I will leave her business unmolested by my people, so long as you stop reducing those people to expensive medical accounts.”
“Ron is included in your people.”
“Regrettably.”
“If he comes near her?”
“Call me.”
The suggestion is so absurd that I stare.
Lenrog slides a card across the table. “That number reaches Arturo. He reaches me.”
“I do not call criminals for permission to defend her.”
“You call if you want the matter solved without making the street choose sides.” His voice remains mild, but something hard gleams underneath now. “You are strong, Kauss. You are not stronger than an entire city.”
“I have fought armies.”
“And now you want a bakery. Adjust strategy.”
The words strike with unpleasant accuracy.
