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I spun and found Belle there, trying to push her way through my guards. “I told you to wait in the carriage.”
“I want to come with you.” She lifted her chin.
Everything in me recoiled at the idea. I locked eyes with Matty, my friend and head guard. I trusted her opinion the most, but she shrugged. Damn it.
I didn’t want to delay this meeting any longer. If Belle wished to see what I did, then who was I to stop her? “Come on, then.” With a gentle push, I guided her inside.
“What is this meeting about?” she whispered.
“Not undergarments,” I answered dryly. She elbowed me in response and I had to smother a smile. Feisty widow.
Walsh was already here, sitting at a wooden table in the middle of the empty floor. Three of his men stood behind him. “I don’t like to be kept waiting,” he called as Belle and I approached.
Irritation slid along my skin like hot wax. Walsh was the leader of the Mudlarks, a river gang in New Jersey. We occasionally partnered on jobs, depending on my mood. These days I was tired of Walsh’s incessant demands for a bigger piece of the North River pie. This meeting would settle all that.
Eager to get this over with, I led Belle to the other side of the table. Without giving her a chance to argue, I sat and brought her down onto my lap.
I casually rested a hand on her thigh. I liked the weight of her on me. Was she enjoying the feel of the silk drawers pressed to her skin while in this position? “I hear you have complaints.”
Walsh jabbed a finger at the tabletop. “The way I see it, things ain’t exactly fair.”
“Yeah? You think you deserve more?”
“That river belongs to us,” Walsh snapped. “The Mudlarks have always worked it alongside your boys. You’re making a fortune while we’re scrounging for scraps.”
My hand itched for a pistol. I’d love to put a bullet through Walsh’s heart. “You’re lucky that I’m dealing you in at all. It’s pure charity; I don’t need your help.”
“That’s horse shit. I ain’t no newcomer, Bax. You can’t shove me aside.”
Wrong. I could do whatever the hell I wanted. Not many had my muscle in Manhattan, and certainly no one in New Jersey could touch me. “Stop making a nuisance of yourself, or consider it a declaration of war.”
“You would go to war instead of giving us our rightful percentage?”
I glared down my considerable nose at him, letting him see the truth of my words. “In a fucking heartbeat. So go back to Jersey and keep the fuck quiet.”
“This isn’t over, Baxter.”
“You’ve wasted my time.” I helped Belle to her feet, then rose. “Worse, you’ve wasted Miss Kelly’s time.”
“Do not leave, not until we settle this.”
I gestured to where my guards had his men surrounded. “There is nothing to be settled, Walsh. You see who holds all the power here. Stay out of my way.”
With a firm grip on Belle’s hand, I started for the exit. Once outside, we headed toward my carriage.
“I thought my father was inside,” she whispered. “That’s why I followed you.”
Ah. So she hadn’t trusted me.
Smart of her.
“I told you I would deal with your problems after this meeting. You need to start believing me.”
I handed her into the carriage and waited as Charlie caught up. “No one goes back to New Jersey alive,” I told him quietly.
“No problem, Bax.”
“Wait!” Belle leaned out of the open door, her face pale. “Bax, no. You cannot have those men killed.”
