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“Not so fast…” he trailed off, staring at me while holding his palm out, waiting for me to speak.
“Ray,” I offered.
“Ray,” he repeated, the word as smooth as velvet and sweet as poison on his tongue. “What do I get in return for this information?”
“What do you want?” Ilsa asked.
He continued to look at me, directing his answer to me. This behavior wasn’t out of respect but pure intimidation. “Nothing is for free in my business, ladies. Perhaps you can do me a favor.”
It wasn’t a question.
“What favor?” I questioned.
“No fucking way.”
Glancing at Ilsa, we had spoken at the same time. I tried to communicate through a look what I wanted to say, but she only frowned at me.
“Ilsa, it’s only fair,” I murmured.
She scoffed. “You think men like this play fair?”
“You better watch your mouth,” Emrick growled. “Or I’ll fill it for you.”
Ilsa stood, and with a firm hand on her shoulder, she was forced to sit. She slapped the bouncer’s hand away, and he released her, but she didn’t try to stand again.
“Favor for a favor.” Emrick leaned back in his chair. “It’s only fair,” he added, grinning at Ilsa.
“What do you want?” she pushed out through gritted teeth.
“Oh, nothing right now.” Ilsa’s eyes flashed with rage at his answer, and this only served to increase the smirk on Emrick’s face. “But when I need something, you’ll be the first to know.”
The bouncer who had gone down the stairs returned now, and Emrick fell silent as a waitress came into the room. She sashayed up to him and offered him a simpering smile which didn’t travel to her eyes as she filled his glass.
Vodka.
Expensive.
Straight.
When she turned to leave, Emrick snatched at her wrist and forced her to bend so he could whisper in her ear. Her smile dropped, and her face lost its color, but she nodded before leaving faster than she had come in.
Emrick held his hand out, and the bouncer handed him a slip of paper, which he scribbled something on before sliding it across the table to me.
“This is the name and address of the man who owns a good number of those buildings. He would have been the one who tried to kill you.” When I went to grab the paper, he gripped my wrist, and my eyes shot to his, almost getting lost in the darkness of his gaze and the aura of power radiating from him. It was beyond celestial power. It was a complete power over the men in this room, this building, and the city beyond. It was a reminder that fear of him was not only smart, it was necessary, and he was capable of terrible things.
Fear was a powerful tool.
I should know.
“You better be willing to put him out of the picture for good, Ray,” he whispered. “You leave him alive, and he’ll just keep coming after you.” Leaning back, there was no smirk this time. “You should be more careful whose toes you step on in the city. You might upset the wrong people.”
Nodding, I took the paper. When he had released my wrist from his grip, fear lurched in my stomach at the knowledge I wouldn’t have been able to move if he hadn’t have let me.
Ignoring Ilsa’s protest, I grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the room and down the stairs without another word.
Emrick was powerful beyond anything I’d come across on Earth.
Powerful and dangerous.
