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“It’s not that I don’t want to—”
“But you won’t.”
I’d already lost considerable power because men usually didn’t speak to me that way, and if one of them did, my men would snap his neck without waiting for me to give the order. I was entirely on my own. “I gave my word.”
“Well, you gave us your word too. Look how that turned out.”
I held his gaze, keeping calm and bottling my frustration. “I’ve led the Chasseurs for a decade. In that time, our presence has grown to exceptional heights. We’ve taken Croatia as well as France. We have so much power that we’re untouchable by both the government and the police. In fact, we’re in bed with both of them. Our profits are immense, and I’ve always passed those profits on to you instead of keeping them all for myself. An error in judgment doesn’t dismantle all the victories that got us here. I ask you to remember that before you cast your prejudice.”
It was silent.
My words seemed to have an effect.
Well, except on Silas, who continued to look at me like I was rotten meat.
“Are you okay?”
I stared across the room, watching everyone mingle with drinks in hand, some of them oblivious to the paramount corruption right under their noses. The leaders of our country couldn’t care less about the drugs on the street—as long as they were taking a cut.
A hand moved to my shoulder. “Bartholomew?”
My head snapped in her direction the second her fingers made contact with my jacket.
She flinched at the ire in my eyes.
I didn’t like to be touched.
She pulled her hand away. “Guess you answered my question…”
I looked away and didn’t ask for elaboration.
“You seem angry.”
“I’m always angry.”
“Angrier than usual.”
Because I was.
“Is it about that girl?”
“Woman.” I didn’t fuck girls.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I drank from the champagne glass and cringed—because champagne tasted like piss.
“What happened?”
“She betrayed me.”
“How?”
I stayed quiet because I didn’t want to talk about it.
“Was there someone else?”
“No.”
