Page 1 of Ivory

1

The garage stankof grease and fear.

Cars, or pieces of car, were spread all over the workshop. Dark stains covered the concrete floor. The smell of oil was embedded in the walls.

Terror wafted in exquisite waves from the man standing in front of me. His eyes were full of it. They had been since I walked in the door.

And I hadn't said a word.

It was Jake who spoke. Call him my second, my right hand man, whatever you want. He was one of the very few people in the world I actually trusted. In our line of work, trust was rare, but critical. Give it to the wrong person and you’re fucking dead. There’s no in-between.

Jake raised an eyebrow at the trembling man. He appeared calm and cool, but his bright blue eyes pierced souls and broke down lesser people. He wouldn’t just smile while he was ripping out your throat, he’d make you smile too. "We hear you've been selling artefacts."

Silas Wheeler looked from Jake to me, then to two bodyguards who accompanied us.

Ben and Kyle stared back, unblinking, matching expressions of indifference on their faces. He would get no help there. Silas already knew he was a dead man. Unless he could somehow talk his way out of trouble.

Good luck with that, I thought.

His tongue darted over his lips. I couldseehim thinking desperately. This was one of my favourite parts. When people knew they fucked up and were screwed, but they squirmed anyway. Once in a while I let them live. Usually not. Worms weren’t worth the hassle. Still, I would hear him out. I was nothing if not fair.

"Some artefacts might have come my way," he admitted. "I was, um, going to let you know. I'm a busy man. You know how things are." He gave a short, high laugh. He almost,almostconvinced himself he dug himself out of the shit.

The doubt in his eyes was both obvious and delicious.

He continued, "I'm trying to keep this place running, more or less by myself. I thought when my nephew finished school, he would come and work for me. Ungratefulprickdecided he's too good to dismantle cars."

Jack nodded. "It's so hard to find good help these days." To those who didn't know him, he seemed amenable, chill.

I saw the barely contained violence behind his smile and in his eyes. Lowlife slugs like Silas served their purpose, but he despised them as much as I did. People without the spine to admit when they fucked up. It wouldn't stop us from killing him if he did, but at least he might earn some respect from us first.

Silas nodded vigourously. "It really is. Young people today." He shook his head. "I don't know what the world is coming to. Am I right?" He looked at me. Apparently he hoped I would be a softer touch than Jake.

I gave him an ice cold, measured look, and he glanced away.

Hells yeah, dumbass. Nothing about me was soft. Especially not my heart. Assuming I actually had one.

"So, about those artefacts," Jake said. "The rules are the rules. You could have shut down for an hour or two. Sent word. Picked up a phone and texted. Hells, even sent up a smoke signal." His voice got more and more dangerous as he spoke.

And Silas got more and more nervous. "Imeantto. I swear. Next time—"

"Next time," I echoed. "How manynext timeshave you had already? Two? Three? We've been more than fair in giving you second chances." Several, in fact.

He served his purpose as a way to dispose of cars and cash. But I made it clear to everyone in the city of Sydney, and the rest of the state, that the sale of all magical artefacts came through me first. They weren't a common commodity, but they were fucking dangerous and I didn't want them in the hands of my enemies.

Several times, I had stopped a sale, or bought the artefact myself so I could lock it away in a safe somewhere. I knew there was a possibility people would funnel more artefacts into the area, hoping to make money from me. Whatever. I would rather have them than have those things floating around in the ether.

"You've been more than generous," Silas said. His eyes flicked from side to side, obviously looking for a lifeline from someone. He even looked pleadingly at Kyle and Ben, but they were my men. They worked for me. Whatever I ordered them to do, they would. I trusted both almost as much as I trusted Jake. They would do nothing to help Silas.

"Yes," I agreed. "We have."

Silas looked back at Jake. He assumed the last word would come from him. That because he had a cock, he must be the one calling the shots.

So many people thought that.

They were fucking wrong.

Jake looked at me. "Ivory?"

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