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“I heard some rumors on the street about that,” Gattrock’s leader says. “The numbers that are being thrown around, though? Sounds like bullshit.”
“It’s not,” I tell him grimly.
My brothers and I have already decided not to go into specifics, and we’re sure as shit not going to give anyone Riley’s name or let them know how she’s involved. I confirm how much fucking money McKenna got his hands on, though, and assure the other gangs that we’ve verified it.
“No fucking way,” says the Stonebrew gang’s cocky-ass leader, scowling at me like he wants to punch something. “Are you shitting me? With that kind of money—”
“West Point becomes a massive, looming threat,” I interrupt. “To all of us.”
The statement shuts him up, but I can tell he’s still skeptical. They all are.
This time, it’s the Cobalt Crew's leader, Wolf Mathis, who speaks up. “All due respect, Maddoc, but you Reapers have history with West Point. We don’t.”
“The fuck you don’t,” Dante drawls, crossing his arms over his chest. “Who disrupted your business down by the tracks last year?”
One of Mathis’s seconds narrows his eyes. “That was a misunderstanding.”
Dante smirks. “Really? Because it looked a lot more like your people turning tail and running when McKenna decided he was going to take over some of your protection racket.”
The whole Cobalt delegation bristles, but I’ve got enough of my people stationed around us to make them think twice about taking too much offense.
Besides, it’s true.
“McKenna’s always been a threat,” I remind them all. “He just hasn’t had the power to rock the boat too much before now.”
“By rock the boat, do you mean push into Reaper territory? Because that’s what it looks like from where we’re standing,” Mathis says with a sneer. “In fact, it sounds like this little meeting of yours is less about a ‘common enemy’ than it is the Reapers asking for help in your long-standing feud. The one you’re now losing.”
“We’re not asking for anything,” I say tightly. “We’re offering an alliance that will benefit us all.”
Mathis scoffs. “I don’t see much benefit to joining up with the losing side in a war we’ve got no part in. How much territory have you lost so far, Maddoc? Heard one of your warehouses burned last week, and just the other day, West Point staked a claim to the entire 300-block over by the old transfer station. Didn’t that used to be Reaper territory?”
“It did.”
In other circumstances, I wouldn’t put up with this shit. As it is, I exercise every bit of my self-control to keep my temper from getting out of hand. There’s more at stake here than a little posturing, and it’s no surprise that, out of everyone we invited, Mathis is being the most combative. Our history with them is a rocky one, but unfortunately, we need them.
More importantly, they need us, even if they don’t realize it yet.
“We haven’t lost any territory due to neglect,” I tell them all. “McKenna hasn’t been sending his people after us—”
Mathis snorts again, but I ignore him.
“—he’s using some of that bottomless well of cash he’s got now to hire unaffiliated mercenaries. Trained operatives who are employing strategic military tactics to advance into Reaper territory and dismantle it, block by block.”
The other gang leaders exchange looks, even Mathis shutting up at that news. Every one of them is ruthless in his own way, but we’ve all come up through the streets. Not a single one of them has the knowledge or training to go up against the kind of people McKenna’s brought in, not any more than the Reapers do.
“You sure about that, Maddoc?” the leader of the Kraits finally asks, scratching the back of his head. “That ain’t usually how we do things in Halston.”
“If I wasn’t sure, you wouldn’t have been invited here.”
I don’t just mean to the meeting. I mean into the heart of our territory, where we can be as sure as it’s possible to be that we can still defend ourselves. Where we’ve only welcomed them because we’ve got no other choice.
“You’re right that the Reapers have a history with West Point,” I go on as I watch that sink in. “But if McKenna succeeds in tearing us apart, do you really think he’ll be satisfied?”
The Kraits leader snorts, shaking his head. “Damn. No, I don't. He doesn’t pay much mind to us since our territory is so far from his borders, but that piece of shit has never made a secret about how greedy he is when it comes to expansion.”
“He’ll go after all of you,” Logan says quietly. “Once he gets a taste of winning, he’ll roll right over every other gang who has territory he’s interested in. Every operation whose business he wants to get his hands on.”
A vein starts throbbing in Mathis’s forehead, and I’ve got no doubt at all he’s thinking back on what West Point’s already taken from him. It’s the main reason we invited him here, despite our differences.
