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She stands, turning to face us, sliding her hands into the pockets of her pillar box red pant-suit. If the most beautiful girl in the world wasn’t waiting for me downstairs, I could be forced to agree that Annika held that title. She’s tall, nearly eye to eye with Lance in her red stilettos and lithe in her willowy figure.She has long blonde hair that hangs in soft waves to the middle of her back and her makeup is flawless with lips painted the same colour as her designer suit. She looks like the ultimate femme fatale and although Sydney thinks very little of her purely because she has a vagina, I know he’s a fool to underestimate her.
“Preston, what a pleasant surprise,” I know she doesn’t mean that, her amused smile tells me she is aware we don’t buy her lie. “Fancy a little gem like this coming up on boundary lines.” Her eyes widen in excitement, knowing we have fucked up.
Amiri looks between the two of them, confused. “You two know each other?”
Lance, managing to look completely unphased, moves his smile to the current owner of Starlight Lounge. “Knowofeach other.” He steps further into the room, I follow doing a quick scan as there is no way the head of The Talons is here alone.
Sure enough, to the side of the room waiting silently, leant against the wall, is an older guy who screams security. His demeaner seems relaxed but he gives me the same once over I give him. He’s in his forties, drill-sergeant haircut and deep lines in his face that would suggest he is, or was, a smoker. Unlike his boss who is dressed for business, he wears a black t-shirt over dark jeans, I can’t tell for sure from this angle, but I would put money on a gun tucked in the waistband at his back. Thick arms are crossed over a solid chest, he scowls at us as we enter. I keep my eye on him, my own face sets in a hard expression.
“Arash, could I ask for a private audience with Miss Wolfe for a moment?” Lance asks, with sickening politeness. The man looks like we’ve just stolen his puppy and Lance widens his smile. “I promise you, you’ll have a name signed on the dotted line by the end of the evening,” he continued, putting his palm over his heart. “You have my word.”
I have a little sympathy for the poor man as he stands with a nod and gives us the room. As soon as the door clicks closed behind him, Annika turns back into the Ice Queen she’s known as and drops the smile. “Let me guess,” she says with a flick or her wrist. “This is when you make some vaguely threatening suggestion that I step down and you buy this place on behalf of Daddy and his take-over-the-whole-city ambition?”
She leans back to perch on the edge of the desk, her hands gripping the wood at either side of her hips. Lance takes a step forward, chuckling at her musings. The bodyguard pushes off the wall in response, I step between him and Lance, adjusting my jacket to intentionally flash him the shoulder holster carrying my trusted Glock.
“Boys, boys,” Annika addresses us like children. “Please now, I am most certain Mr Preston isn’t here to decorate Amiri’s office with my brain matter, and I certainly have no intention of hurting him. So, why don’t we all sit down and get this over with, shall we?”
The other man and I both stand down, but no one sits. Annika gives a pointed look at Lance, waiting for him to continue. He just smiles with the same easy politeness and slides his own hands into his pockets in a relaxed stance. “Are you aware of the war coming?” He asks as though he is enquiring about the weather.
Annika raises an already arched brow but doesn’t answer.
“The Kukris are making a play for the abandoned Tantos area and my father plans to help them.”
That has both her brows rising to her hairline. “Why would he do that? Give another group the monopoly of the city? That makes no sense.”
Lance’s smile drops and he pins her with a serious stare. “Because to return the favour, Grigoriy Volkov has agreed to help my father remove you and The Talons from the city.”
Annika’s guard steps forward again snarling at Lance. I puff my chest slightly, baring my teeth at him. “Back the fuck down.”
She holds up her hand to him, an instruction to step away and looks to Lance with suspicion in her eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”
Now that’s a question I’ve been thinking too.
Lance remains serious as he says. “The Daos will be falling under new management soon; I propose a new alliance.”
My attention is stolen from the growly guard to gape at my cousin. New management? Surely, he can’t mean…
“What would that entail exactly?” Annika asks, completely ignoring Lance’s unspoken confession.
He takes a deep breath as if he is thinking about this as he goes. “A peace agreement between Daos and Talons, obviously. We work together to remove The Kukris. They’re nothing but trouble in this city, and I think it’s time for a new generation of leadership.”
“And with The Kukris gone, what do you propose happen to theirs and the Tanto territory?”
Another great question, that I’m sure I would have thought of if I wasn’t still staring at Lance in complete shock.
“That, I believe, is a conversation we should have once the dust has settled. The city has run smoothly for decades because the distribution of power has been split equally four ways.”
“That sounds like you’re blowing me off. Promises made to get me to help you and then you screw me over once the other players are out of the game.” She crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at him.
“Now, now. There would have to be some level of trust between us. Please understand that without my help, you have no chance against The Kukris. If they control half the city, it’s only time before they come for Talon and Dao territory too. I have no intentions to screw you over, I am quite happy with my little corner of the city.”
What he’s saying is making total sense and I can see Annika’s brain working behind her eyes. But I am concerned. Sydney Preston is a cruel, misogynistic, homophobic, greedy bastard who quite honestly, deserves to die. But, he has a lot of loyal soldiers. Those who work under the Dao name may not be ready to follow Lance. Me? I’ll follow Lance into the fires of Hell, he’s my brother and my friend and if this is the path he takes, he’ll have me at his back, but I need to make sure he’s thought this through.
“Now, regarding the club,” Lance’s voice snaps me from my concerns. “You’re right in thinking that Sydney wants to add the property to his portfolio for financial gain. I’m not so concerned about that. However, this place does have sentimental value to me. So, I suggest that as a symbol of good faith between us, we take the club on as a joint venture.”
Annika throws her head back and laughs, lyrically. “You want us to go into business together?”
“Of all the things I’ve suggested this evening, I think owning a legitimate business together requires the least compromise, don’t you?”
