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“Are you done?” she said, glaring at Rose.
The redhead shrugged, but she was still glancing Dante’s way with curious looks Eden didn’t appreciate.
“...Babe, did you learn more about that tracking stuff?” asked Jack, frowning. “Is it over?”
“No, it’s far from over, and there’s more. The Zodiacs think the Core is about to take more of the territories.”
“Wait, what?” said Rose, finally shifting her eyes from Dante to Eden. “More territories?”
“Yeah. It has yet to be confirmed, but plans for an expansion were found, all the way to the former I-90 Express.”
“Are you kidding? That’s this area too!” shouted Jack.
“Sounds like the kind of shit the Core would pull, though,” scoffed Rose. “What are you guys going to do?”
Eden glanced at Dante, who hadn’t said a word since she had asked—rather, ordered him to shut up. She sighed.
“I’m not sure. We have—”
Before she could end that sentence, gunshots resonated, and they all lowered their bodies as a reflex. After a second, it was clear the gunshots weren’t coming from their location, though. The echoes were most likely from a few streets away, but it was enough for all of Dante’s men to have pulled out an impressive arsenal of weapons. Those who were inside closed the door, and Eden was sure all those outside got in position, ready to protect their boss if the fighting approached.
They were almost completely in the dark, the only sources of light were from the basement they had come out of and the burning tip of Dante’s cigarette reflected in his golden eyes.
The three of them waited for a bit, but the gunshots died as quickly as they had started. After a few more seconds of silence, Jack let out a long sigh.
“My God...”
“What was that?” asked Eden, frowning.
“Babe, this neighborhood has been fuckin’ cut-throat since the rumor about the Dragon has been goin’ around! The Snake’s people keep tryna attack the area now; they’ve been terrorizin’ the locals. The Dragon’s lieutenants are tryna keep ‘em out, but there are also some internal struggles going on...”
“They all got much more agitated after Yang’s death,” added Rose, glancing Dante’s way again. “They know they have to act fast if they want to claim the territory and have a chance to defend it. The Rat made sure everyone knows she wants a piece of it too.”
Dante glanced toward Eden as if this was another reason to justify his new crazy idea. Eden ignored him, turning to Jack.
“Are you going to be alright?”
“Alright? Babe, I just spent three days in this place! I still have my head on my neck, but a’right, I don’t know! I’m Black, gay, and a drag queen. What do you think they are going to do to me once the next head’s in charge?”
“They will want to get this place back too,” said Rose, glancing around the bar. “The whole street is an entry point to Chinatown and a hot place for all the customers from the Core… but I guess it won’t matter much if the Core wants to claim back this area anyway. It might not be worth fighting for a place that’s going to be destroyed soon, Jack.”
“I ain’t leaving my bar! Do you know how hard I worked my ass off to pay for it? And yes, I mean that literally!”
Eden and Rose exchanged a glance. Of course, Jack would never leave his bar... Neither of them wanted to abandon it either. Both women were very different in many things, but they both valued this place as one of the only places that would welcome them when they had nowhere else to go. They had both slept here a few times, out of money to have a place to go to or walk through Chicago with fresh oxygen. All the girls Jack had employed had a special relationship with this bar, and although none of the others were there, Eden was sure there would be no other place the girls would like to work more than here...
“...I’ll buy it.”
All their eyes turned to Dante, who was calmly lighting another cigarette.
“...W-what do you mean?” asked Jack, a bit hesitant.
“I’ll buy it. I will own the territory soon, and buy this bar with it. You can keep running it once I’m in charge.”
“You want to take the Dragon’s territory?” said Rose, raising an eyebrow.
“Dante, can I talk to you for a second?” Eden said, annoyed.
Rose and Jack exchanged a glance, wondering if they were supposed to go back to the basement, but Dante chuckled.
