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“You would think with all the money I’ve spent with you over the years, you’d stop doing business out of such a shithole.”
“Old habits,” the man said. “Did you…did you rethink my offer?”
When Declan turned, the man shrank back, stumbling backward when Declan advanced. Aidan almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost.
“Which offer are you referring to? You’ll have to be more specific. Your offer to gouge me for weapons I can get cheaper and faster somewhere else? Or your offer to pay you off or you’ll leak my name in an anonymous tip to the cops?”
Aidan hissed out a breath, and the man flinched at the sound. The son of a bitch.
“I only want what’s fair.”
Something in Declan’s eyes had the man lurching back until he was pressed tight against the wall behind the dirty glass case. Aidan took a step forward so he could see the guy’s hands clearly and make sure he wasn’t going to reach for anything.
“You’re not entitled to what’s fair, only what we agreed on.”
The man’s chin ratcheted up in defiance even though he was clearly trembling. Either he was very brave or very stupid. Probably the latter.
“If you kill me, Wendy knows. She’ll go to the cops for sure.”
“Wendy is dead.” Declan’s smile was ruthless when the man whimpered, and he made a show of checking his watch. “Or she will be in about twenty minutes. Car accident, very tragic. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Ollie.”
Before Ollie could protest, Declan drew his weapon and fired one round into his chest, holstering it as the man collapsed to the floor with a gasp.
“Make sure he’s dead. I’ll call McGee for cleanup.”
Declan didn’t spare Ollie a glance as he dug his phone out of his pocket and let himself out. Aidan stepped around the counter and stared down at the man clutching his chest. Still alive, but barely.
He drew his gun while the man looked up at him, eyes pleading. Aiming at his forehead, Aidan put him out of his misery with a bullet to the brain. When the man relaxed fully into death, Aidan turned on his heel and followed his brother into the street.
“McGee is close. Brogan is going to scrub the cameras.”
“Threatening to give you up to the cops was a bold move.”
Declan glanced back at the door as McGee’s white panel van pulled into the parking lot and around the side of the building.
“He’s not the first one to do it. I imagine he won’t be the last.”
Declan explained to McGee what happened and the level of cleanup he wanted, and they left the men to their work, jogging back across the parking lot to Declan’s Range Rover. Once inside, Declan put the keys in the ignition but didn’t start the engine.
“So…”
“So what?” Aidan replied.
“Can I trust you enough to have my back even when you don’t agree with my choices?”
“Did you ever think you couldn’t?”
Declan reached for the keys, and the car roared to life, but he didn’t make eye contact as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home.
“A lot has changed in the last six months. I need to know you can do more than just follow orders. I need to know you want this, that you can put the needs of the syndicate ahead of your own.”
“I thought I was already doing that by agreeing to your arranged marriage, your terms.”
“And so willingly.” Declan snorted.
Aidan gritted his teeth. “And you’d have gladly given up your freedom to marry someone if Dad had demanded it? Someone who wasn’t Evie.”
“Yes,” Declan said without hesitation. “I would have. The syndicate is bigger than all of us. It always has been. I'm giving you an opportunity to prove you're not as careless and reckless as you seem. Do you want it?”
