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“Fuck.”
I jumped and wrapped both hands around the bottom rung of the ladder. The entire metal escape screeched. I half expected the whole thing to fall to the ground beneath me, especially when the ladder crashed down to the second level. My feet hit the platform hard, making it quake like it was being ravaged by an earthquake. I don’t know how, but it stayed attached to the building somehow.
With a shaky breath, I scuttled up the ladder. I gripped the windowsill and tried to open it, swearing copiously when I realized that some twat had painted it shut. There was no time to waste, so I balled up my fist and put it straight through the glass.
Ava shrieked from inside, but that only spurred me on.
I quickly shrugged off my suit jacket and used it to knock the remaining glass aside. I laid it across the windowsill when I was done and leapt through. The fire seemed especially bad here. The smoke was so thick that just taking a single breath coated my lungs and I choked back a cough. The massive projector screen was in flames. Pillows and blankets were burning up like nothing more than kindling.
Ava rushed to my side, and I wrapped my arm around her waist. Knowing time was of the essence, I threw her over my shoulder and tore out the window. The metal structure was starting to get hot. I didn’t know how much longer the rickety thing was going to last, so I flew down the ladder to the second-floor platform as quickly as I dared. When I reached the edge, I swore when I saw the ladder to the ground was hanging on by a single broken screw.
“What’s wrong?” she cried out and I didn’t answer.
Next to me, the window blew out and flames licked the walls. I roared and threw myself off the ledge, twisting my body hard as I pulled her flat against my chest.
My back slammed into the roof of the van parked down below.
My whole body stiffened with pain from the impact, but the important part that she was safe and I’d taken the brunt of it. I gave myself the briefest of moments to let the ache fade. When that passed, I gathered her in my arms and jumped off the ruined van.
My driver was still waiting for me. I gripped the door handle and flung it open, sliding into the backseat as fast as I could.
“Take me to Brentwood. Call James and let him know I’m coming,” I roared.
Frank quickly nodded and closed the divider. I placed Ava gently down on the seat beside me and started running my hands all over her, checking her for any injuries. She sucked in a breath when I grasped her left ankle, and I jerked my head up to face her.
“It’s nothing. I just stepped on it wrong when I ran up the stairs. I think I just rolled it,” she exclaimed.
“Did anyone hurt you?” I growled. I was having trouble keeping a grip on my anger. No one got to touch my woman. I wanted to tear them apart.
“No. Mikey got to them before they got to me,” she immediately answered. “I’m okay,” she reassured me, reaching for me and wrapping her arms around my neck.
For a long minute, she was quiet, and I just held her.
“There was a gunshot,” she said shakily in my ear.
“They killed Stevie,” I answered her simply. There was no use keeping the information from her. She’d find out sooner or later.
“I recognized some of them from the picture. It wasn’t Jon or Anthony. It was the other guys,” she explained. Her voice was trembling, and I hated it. I held her even tighter, wanting to protect her from the world. I wanted to take her fear away.
Anthony had sent his soldiers to take her from me. He was going to pay for that.
“He’s not going to stop.”
I could feel every tremor that swept through her body and I wanted nothing more than to see him dead.
“I know. I’m going to have to kill him,” I spat.
“You can’t. It’s too dangerous. He’s a mobster, for God’s sake,” she answered worriedly.
“I think it’s time I told you a little bit about me,” I said as I sat down beside her. Wanting to keep her close, I gathered her in my arms and tucked her into my lap. She didn’t protest, although I could feel just a hair of hesitation in her body as I held her.
“What do you mean?” she asked tentatively.
“Fifteen years ago, this city was my playground. I was something like Anthony, but much greater. Even today, I still hold more power than him,” I began. She didn’t interrupt.
“I ran the city like a business. I bought off politicians, cops, rich upper east siders, whoever needed persuading to be my ally. In exchange for looking the other way, all of us made massive amounts of money off the sale of drugs, weapons, and whatever else you desired on the black market. I reigned for several years, but a life like that doesn’t remain settled for long.”
I paused. She looked back at me, intent on listening to my story.
