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“Uh, boss?”
“Are you stealing from me, Harper?” Sydney keeps his tone unnervingly calm.
“What? No! Of course not.” Julian’s eyes bulge and his voice is an octave higher than it is normally.
“Mr Pullman here seems to think you’re lying to me,” Syd finally looks up.
Julian shoots a glare my way and pulls his lips back to bare his teeth like some kind of feral animal. I just raise my brow at him, keeping my pose casual leaning against the wall with my arms crossed against my chest and one leg bent with the foot against the wall. “You’re going to believe a fucking faggot who’s been with you less than three years over me, Syd?”
I roll my eyes. I’m used to the insults, these guys don’t like me, they don’t like that I suck cock, but I don’t give a shit. Lance however, still gets his knickers in a twist every time. “Watch your fucking mouth.”
Syd doesn’t defend my honour. He doesn’t give a rats arse what his men say to me. “I believe he has no reason to lie to me. But you do. Take a seat Julian.”
Julian tentatively slides into one of the chairs opposite the desk as Sydney walks around to stand in front of him. “Syd…”
“Where’s the money Julian?” Sydney speaks quietly.
“I didn’t take any, Syd. I swear.”
“Where’s the money?”
“Sydney…”
“Where. Is. The Money?”
“I…I…I…” Julian’s eyes fill with tears as he realises that he won’t win. “I lost it,” he whispers.
Sydney nods as though he knew that would be the answer all along, the fire in his eyes dulls and he almost looks as though he’s taking pity on the blubbering man in front of him. “Hmmm. Tell me, Julian, how is your wife?”
Julian pales further. “Sh…sh…she’s well.”
Sydney places his hand on Julian’s shoulder and leans right in so there is only an inch between them. “And how well do you think she’ll be when I tell her that she has taken on your sizeable debt to me as she buries your cold, dead body?”
“Wha…”
The shot goes off before I even have time to process the fact that Sydney has pulled the gun from the holster at his hip. Julian flings back in the chair, his head hanging over the back with a significant hole between his eyes, his face now barely recognisable. I hardly flinch this time. The first time we were on our way to a job and Lance knew it would end in bloodshed, he told me not to react as Sydney had opted for exposure therapy when Lance panicked the first time he saw a dead body.
Blood is dripping thickly from the back of Julian’s head and onto the green carpet. It occurs to me at this moment that I am far more comfortable around death than I should be. Did Julian deserve this fate? Probably not. Is this the way things are in this world? Yes. The fact is that you have to be a special kind of stupid to steal from Sydney and the penalty would have been obvious. As much as I don’t like the idea of someone losing their life, no matter how homophobic or misogynistic they are, Julian was aware of the risk when he stole. It jarred me when I first saw Lance pull the trigger, so detached from the man I know. I was less surprised when I saw Brent kill a guy with his bare hands after he’d made an attempt on Lance’s life. Yeah, this world isdifferent to what I’ve known before, but still, I have Lance and he has me.
“So, how did it go at the place on Penn Street?” Sydney rounds his desk once more and sits back in his chair like he doesn’t have a corpse sat opposite him. “Have you signed the paperwork?”
“No, not yet.” Lance speaks quietly, the only time I see him less than confident is when speaking to his father.
“What do you meannot yet?”
Lance clears his throat. “There are a few things to work out. I think I can get a better deal than what’s being offered.”
Sydney leans back in his chair, glaring at his son with contempt. “Do not fuck this up, boy. I’ve let you take lead on this, but that property is essential. It is right on the border between Daos and Talon territory. If that bitch, Annika Wolfe gets wind that it’s up for sale, she’ll waste no time in snatching it up. I will not lose to her.”
“It’s fine,” he cajoles. “It’s not on the open market, we’re the only ones in talks with Amiri so there’s no reason it’ll be swiped out from under us.”
“I’m not willing to take the risk!” Sydney shouts, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Brent still looks cool as a cucumber leaning against the wall behind Lance, but I know how he feels about Sydney. I know that if and when push comes to shove, he’ll do the same to Sydney as he did to the last guy who tried to hurt Lance.
“Dad…”
“I worry I have trusted you with too much too soon,” Sydney sneers and Lance bites back his response. “There’s a war coming, son. The Kukri’s are moving in on O’Reilly’s old ground.”
I dart my eyes to Brent’s whose cool façade is crumbling, his jaw clenched and his nostrils flaring.
