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“Yeah.” I look up at the ceiling while he undoes and realigns my tie. “She’s gone.”
“Mmhm.” He works competently. Quietly. “What do you think she’ll do with the information she got while she was here?”
“What do you mean?”
“She was abducted.” He works the knot, lifting and tightening it. “She was harmed. She almost died. She was treated by Mayet, and met Arch.She got eyes on Cato.” Finishing, he claps my shoulder and waits for me to bring my gaze down. “She got the premium fucking experience, and even before that, she was blasting us all over New York. Now she’s back in the real world, and better armed. You think she’ll write her articles and set us on fire?”
Exhaling, I lift my shoulders in a shrug. “Probably. Most sane folks would.”
He turns on his heels and goes back to his coffee. “What did Towers want?”
“To visit.” I follow him across the room, then taking down a fresh mug, I set it under the coffee spout and press the button to get the machine started. “She’s been away. She’d just gotten back and wanted to come by.”
“At midnight?” He pulls out a stool and settles in, sipping his coffee. “She just had to come see you, at midnight, while you had a guest?”
I snort and head to the fridge for creamer. “You sound like Christabelle.”
“Cannon doesn’t like her either?” He considers that for a beat, then nods. “Interesting. Where has Towers been, anyway?”
“Seattle.”
I drop a dollop of cream in my coffee and slam the door shut, making bottles rattle on the shelves. Finally, I take my steaming mug from the machine and turn to rest against the counter. “Clarke called last night to apologize.” I bring my coffee up and sip. “Promised to be a good boy in the future.”
Micah scoffs, his shoulders hunching as he leans over the counter and peruses today’sCannon Daily, since the paper continues to print, even without Ms. Cannon steering the ship.
“Anything in there about us?” I grunt.
“Nah.” He turns the page and pays minimal attention to what has been published: stock market trends, help wanted ads. “Shit’s all quiet when the princess herself is kept under wraps. Kinda wish I could see into tomorrow to know what she writes about us now that she’s out.” He closes the paper and glances over his shoulder to me. “I bet it’s gonna be colorful.”
“She’s a colorful kinda woman. What are you up to today?”
“We have a meeting with Richard Whittaker at eleven. And Clarke called me around midnight to let me know he was on a call with you and the line cut out?—”
I pull out the stool beside his and laugh. “Guess my phone died around midnight, then.”
“Well, he’d like to stop by today and speak with us face to face.”
“To suck my cock?” I look to my brother. “I don’t see what else needs to be said, Micah. He tried to screw us, he got screwed in the end. He’ll pay his debt, and our business will be resolved. Our issue now lies with Pastore and his incessant need to hurt us.”
“So what are we gonna do about him? He wants us dead, Lix. He wants this house, he wants our turf, and he wants your head on a spike most of all. Tim destroyed much of his business while Pastore was weak. Now he wants it back.”
“You don’t get it back all because you throw a tantrum. And I’m not handing shit back to that pussy, even if he sticks my cock in his mouth and asks nicely. Pastore isn’t gonna survive the year if he keeps his shit up.”
“Cordoza told you to leave it.”
“Cordoza told me to leave things alone for as long as there’s peace.” I set my elbows on the stone counter, and look up when Mary bustles in.
She makes a beeline for the pantry, takes out a pan, then eggs and milk from the fridge.
Scrambled eggs for breakfast.Delicious.
“I’m leaving Pastore alone for now. I’m leaving it with Cordoza. But if he escalates…”
“Then you escalate,” he sighs. “Yeah. I know.”
“So it’s in his best interest to sit the fuck down and enjoy the things he has. It’ll be over my cold, dead body that he takes something else from me.”
20
