AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After I’d slid into the back seat of our SUV, I raised my eyebrows at Rafael. “Look at you, stepping into the leadership role.”
He met my teasing tone with a narrow look. “It doesn’t mean anything. I haven’t made up my mind about your offer.”
“I’d vote for you as mafia king,” Quentin piped up from the driver’s seat.
Rafael sighed. “I’m still thinking about it.” He brushed a strand of my hair back from my cheek with a stroke of his fingertips. “Let’s say I’m giving it a try and testing out how I feel taking on a little more authority. We’ll see how it goes.”
I beamed at him and bobbed up to give him a quick kiss. “I can’t ask for more than that.” Then I gave the front passenger seat where Niko was perched a gentle kick. “Where to next, coach?”
Niko studied the list he’d made on his phone. “We haven’t run out of options yet. And Emi is putting in some calls too. If I can just find someone who’s impressed by my extensive star power…” He glanced over his shoulder to wink at me and froze as his gaze slid to the window.
My pulse hiccupped. “What?”
His throat bobbed with his swallow. “I think someone’s here to talk to you.”
I twisted around and found myself staring at the burly Asian man who’d spoken to us on behalf of the Bright Dragon not long after Niko’s attack. He’d obviously just gotten out of the sleek sedan parked behind him, and now he was sauntering over with perfect poise, his gaze intent.
“Shit.” I didn’t want to have a conversation with any of the Devil’s Dozen people in the parking lot of some random arena… but then, I didn’t want to have any conversations with them at all. I guessed this was as good a place as any. No reporters around snapping pictures. No fans or pro skating colleagues looking on.
Actually, that was probably exactly why the guy had tracked me down here.
Gritting my teeth, I motioned for Rafael to open the door so we could both get out. The other guys followed. Seeing us emerge, the turncoats clambered out of their own car to see what was going on.
As my men and my new allies gathered around me, the Bright Dragon’s rep came to a stop a few steps away. His expression stayed cool but mild.
He hadn’t been as much of a jerk as the March Wind’s lackey. I didn’t think the Bright Dragon had been on Mom’s side. But that didn’t mean he was on my side either.
When I’d reported to Beckett that Mom had struck again despite the deal she’d made with her colleagues, he’d been pissed—and promised he was going to take it up with his colleagues immediately. He’d also informed me that his men who he’d given me contact info for had moved their forces right into Tokyo in case I needed help quickly in the future. I had no idea if the Bright Dragon knew about any of that yet or how he’d feel about it.
My fingers itched to call in some of Beckett’s people right now for backup, but that might sour things faster when they weren’t really necessary.
Instead, I propped myself against the SUV’s trunk. “Fancy running into you here. Did you have something to say to me, or do you just hang out in random parking lots for fun?”
The rep held up his hands in a subtle gesture of peace. “Considering recent events, my employer felt we should have a talk.”
“All right. About what?”
He cut his gaze toward the small crowd around me. “There are some things I’d rather not discuss in front of people who aren’t part of our inner circle.”
Before I could answer, Frankie stepped forward with a snort. “Oh, yeah? Well, we’re her inner circle now, aren’t we? After the way you dickwads have been treating her, you’d better give her and the rest of us some respect.”
I whirled around. “Frankie, back off. I’m handling this.”
He jabbed his hand toward the Bright Dragon’s rep. “He’s the one who should back off. These pricks are all the same, thinking they can bulldoze over everyone and call all the shots.”
The other man’s back had gone rigid, his eyes flashing with anger he didn’t let seep into his flattened tone. “I can see my input is unwelcome here. I’ll leave you to the counsel of yourwiseadvisors then.”
“Wait!” I shot a glare at Frankie and walked after the rep as he started to retreat. “He doesn’t speak for me. I’m willing to talk. We’re just all a little on edge after the constant attacks.”
“Whichyoupeople have done shit-all to stop!” Frankie hollered before his voice cut off with a muffled grunt.
The Bright Dragon’s man flicked one last dismissive glance my way. “You are who you associate with, Miss Cordova. You should remember that. We will. I’ve got better things to do than stand around being insulted.”
He got into the sedan and jerked the door shut with a forceful thud.
Fuming, I spun around to see that Rafael had caught Frankie by the arm and clamped his other hand over the guy’s mouth. As the sedan pulled out of the parking lot, Rafael let go.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I snapped, marching up to Frankie. “He could have had something useful to say. He could have been offering an alliance to help keep my mom off my back.”
