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He takes a shaky breath. “There was a near miss tonight. I think it’s taken ten years off my life.”
“What—” I start to ask, but Salvatore shakes his head and turns back to Acid and Thane, gripping his assault rifle like he’s a split-second away from opening fire at them.
“Your crew is safe, your woman is safe.” Acid toasts Lorenzo with a glass of whiskey. “Everything’s come up roses for the Coldlake Syndicate, just like it always fucking does. You’re welcome, by the way.”
A vein bulges in Lorenzo’s forehead. “You’re the backup crew.The fucking backup crew. You’re the last ones on the list I want touching my woman unless it’s absolutely necessary. When Orchid Protocol is enabled, you’re meant to report to my security detail for instructions, not run them off the road and pistol-whip them.”
Acid shrugs and takes a mouthful of whiskey. “Shows how shit your detail is if Thane and I were able to disable them.”
The jukebox in the corner switches to a pounding metal track. Salvatore points his assault rifle at it and empties half a clip into the machine. I wince at the blast of gunfire. The jukebox explodes in a shower of sparks and falls silent.
Acid sighs. “Ah, man, that jukebox has been here longer than I have. It’s a classic.”
“What’s Orchid Protocol?” I ask. “When they grabbed me, I thought they were the Black Orchid Killers.”
“No. Just a bunch offucking assholes,” Lorenzo seethes. “I set up an emergency protocol. If two or more conditions are met, it’s triggered automatically. In this case, my phone registered that someone else was accessing it and my life signs went dark.” He holds up his wrist and I see he’s wearing a smartwatch. The screen has been smashed. “I got jumped and my phone fell out of my pocket.”
“Nicole. Was she the one using your phone? I swear it was her voice.”
Salvatore puts a hand on my shoulder, but his eyes are still trained on Acid. “Yes, it was Nicole. She’s alive. I’ll tell you everything in just a moment.”
I take a deep, grateful breath. Nicole’s alive. She wasn’t killed because of me.
“Why did you do it, Acid?” Lorenzo snarls. “If you say it’s because you were bored, I’ll torch this place with you in it.”
Acid swirls the whiskey in his glass. “I had my reasons.”
Lorenzo waits.
“I thought you were dead. If you’re gone, I’m not answering to any of those fancy fucks you call friends.” Acid jerks his chin at Salvatore. “They don’t know the first thing about what it takes to stay alive in the west. Snatching the Princess of Coldlake seemed like a good insurance plan.”
“What would you have asked for in exchange?” Lorenzo asks.
Acid runs his tongue thoughtfully over his teeth. “Your quadrant. And Lasher.” He glances at me and smiles, but I don’t understand. I don’t know who Lasher is. “I think I could have got both in exchange for her.”
Salvatore glances at Thane and Zagreus. “You two were both in on this?”
“Strife sticks together,” Zagreus tells him.
“Sure you do,” he sneers. “How’s Lasher these days?”
Zagreus gives him the finger.
Lorenzo pulls out a gun and points it at Acid’s head. “Any last words?”
Salvatore turns the barrel of the assault rifle on Thane.
Acid shrugs, nonchalant as always, but his eyes burn with anger. “Dunno. Go fuck yourself?”
I remember how Acid’s body looked riddled with bullets, and how Lorenzo pulled them all out and stitched him up. My blood runs in his veins. This is how Acid repays the people who saved his life.
I step forward and put my hand on Lorenzo’s arm. “Don’t kill him.”
“What they did is unforgivable,” Lorenzo says tightly.
“I know. I don’t want you to forgive them.” But if Lorenzo kills the Strife men, this place will be overrun by enemy gangs in no time and soon they’ll be on Lorenzo’s doorstep. The four of them have the Black Orchid Killer, my father, and the rest of Coldlake to contend with. It’s Strife’s job to hold back the gangs.
Salvatore tilts his head and quirks a brow at me. “Oh? What do you have in mind, baby?”
