by B. B. Hamel
“I didn’t lose shit.” Clifton’s voice was a growl. “I’m trying to help you our here for old time’s sake. You got lucky Owain, but your luck’s going to run out. I got more guys and more guns than you do. If we make this war a real thing, you’re going to lose, bit by bit. All that blood’ll be on your hands. I tried to be reasonable.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Patchybeard took a few steps forward. “Fuck this,” he growled. “I’m going to—”
A shot rang out. A single gunshot echoed through the sapce. A board about a foot from Patchybeard’s head flipped over and clattered to the ground with a brand-new hole in it.
“Better not move again,” Owain said, “or Viktor won’t miss next time.”
Fear sparked in Patchybeard’s eyes and for a second I thought he might turn and run. But instead, he stayed still and glared at Owain like he was caught in quicksand.
Clifton reached out and yanked Patchybeard back by the collar. He stumbled and ran into Cannonball, and the two of them pushed at each other, almost coming to blows.
“I’ll be seeing you around then,” Clifton said, ignoring his two underlings as they bickered.
“Can’t wait.” Owain sneered.
Clifton turned and shoved his guys back the way they came. Their footsteps echoed as they moved back down the side hall. Owain didn’t move until their motorcycles started up again and pulled off, engines roaring until they faded in the distance.
He turned to me, his expression grave.
“What do you think?”
“I think he’s an idiot.”
“You’re right about that. So the price fixing’s a bad idea?”
“Very bad. You’ll lose all your customers. Only reason they come at all is because your prices are lower, but if your prices aren’t any better, they won’t bother coming out to the bodega. Clifton can ride up wherever they are and deliver.”
Owain snorted and shook his head. “I knew it was a bad idea. I just couldn’t put it into words.”
I let a little smile spread across my lips. “That’s why you got me.”
“Guess so, business girl.” He laughed and reached out. I let him grab my waist and pull me against him. I stared up into his eyes and smelled his masculine scent, like motor oil and dirt. “You were a good investment.”
“So far, at least. Who knows when I’ll turn on you.”
He laughed and let me go, shaking his head. “You’re not that dumb. No, little diamond, we need each other now. There’s no turning back. Clifton knows your name and your face, which means you’re in the shit now.”
I felt my stomach sink down into my toes.
Oh god. I hadn’t even realized it, but he was right.
Before I was some girl working in the back. They didn’t know who I was or what I looked like, since all the guys that saw me ended up dead so far.
I couldn’t hide from him now. If I left Owain, I’d still have to worry about Clifton.
So on top of all my other problems, now I had that to deal with.
Fucking hell. I was stuck with him, whether I liked it or not.
“Come on,” he said. “At least you’re getting paid.”
“I guess so.” I let out a frustrated breath. “Take me home, asshole. I’m done for the day.”
He laughed, offered me his arm, and led me back the way we came. As we passed by a side door, I caught sight of Viktor with a rifle on his shoulder, smoking a cigarette. He nodded to me and didn’t smile.
I realized I was another one of Owain’s soldiers, whether I liked it or not.
15
Owain
The meeting with Clifton only pissed me off even more.
So I hired ten guys and finished Leigh’s shop in a week.
She had no clue. She spent that week in the bodega, slinging pills like I wanted. I kept Viktor on her at all times, since I figured the Jackals would try and hit her again sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before Clifton worked up the balls to try something stupid.
Which made me add a few special modifications to the store. They weren’t exactly in her specifications, but fuck it, I knew security was going to be an important part of this whole deal from now on.
I dropped her off after her shift that Thursday and stayed up all night finishing the place. I came back late, got a few hours sleep, then woke her up just after eight the next morning.
She pulled the covers down and glared at me. “I thought I was getting a day off?”
“I got a surprise for you. Get your ass out of bed.”
She glared even harder. I didn’t know that was possible, but she managed.
“What surprise?”
“Won’t be a surprise if I tell you. So get your pretty ass out of bed and come downstairs. I’ll make some coffee.”
She grunted and threw a pillow at me. I laughed, caught it, and tossed it on the ground.
I left her to wake up and followed through on my part of the bargain. I got the coffee going then made myself breakfast. I heard the shower run and she came down ten minutes later wearing jeans and a torn old Star Wars t-shirt she probably got off eBay.
“Why did you wake me up? I was having a great dream.” She poured coffee into the biggest mug I owned and drank it black.
“Yeah? Did it involve you and me on a hammock next to the ocean at sunset?”
“No.” She rolled her eyes. “Not even close.”
“Right. Sorry. More like you locked in my basement sex dungeon getting your body—”
“Not a sex dream.” She sighed and closed her eyes like she was tired of my shit already. And she probably was. Couldn’t blame her. I was relentless. And funny as hell.
“I got something better than a good dream.”
“I don’t know. I was flying in this one.”
“Well I can’t make you fly, but come on, drink your coffee and get in a better mood. We’re leaving in five.”
“Leaving for where?”
“Your surprise. Stop trying to get me to ruin it.” I headed into the other room and gave her a few minutes. She ate a yogurt and grudgingly followed me out to the car.
I didn’t talk on the way over. I let her stew a little bit. She leaned back in the passenger seat and a shaft of sunlight played on her face. I kept glancing at her, at the way the light made her skin glow and reflected off her pink lips. She was beautiful in the sort of way that snuck up on you—anyone could see it, if they went looking, but sooner or later it appeared whether you wanted to find it or not. She was the decoration on top of a wedding cake, the tile backsplash mosaic in a Roman villa. Gorgeous, functional, delicious.
She realized where we were going when I turned onto South Street. She didn’t say anything though, only sat up straight and peered out the window with obvious excitement. I barely managed not to smile.
I pulled the car up out front of her shop. The big steel shutters were pulled down. She frowned a little, head cocked. “I don’t remember those.”
“I added a few things.”
“They look intense.”
“They are.” I got out of the car and walked over to them. She followed and watched as I entered a code into a number pad set in the wall. The shutters slowly rolled up, revealing the front door—and the refurbished place inside.
She took a sharp breath and shoved past me.
I grinned as she looked around. It was barren, but I got the bones in place. The floors were all brand new, but I didn’t skimp on the materials. I had custom shelves built that matched her old shelves, except the wood matched the floor. Her washing machine counter got burned to shit during the fire and had to be tossed, but I had a new version built out of old vintage ovens in teal and green and orange.
I had to admit, it looked fucking awesome in there.
“I can’t believe this.” Her voice was soft as she turned and stared at me. “I didn’t think it’d be done this fast.”
“I put more guys on it.”
“But why? I
mean, why rush? You didn’t have to do this.”
“I wanted to. We need a place for you to work, right?”
“Yeah, but—”
“You’re not going to miss Sander, are you?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “Not at all. Well, okay, maybe a little.”
“We’ll bring him along if you want.”
“No, that’s okay.” She turned and walked to the counter, running her hand over it.
I had to admit, it felt good to see her like that. I didn’t expect to get such a rush of joy from seeing her smile, but god damn did it feel good to make her feel good. It wasn’t something I was used to.
I was the kind of man who took. I lived my life like that, taking what I needed, and I only gave back when it benefitted me the most. I paid my guys well and spread the loot around, but mostly because I wanted to keep them happy and loyal, not out of the kindness of my heart.
This was different. I didn’t need to finish this place so fast, and I didn’t need to make it look so good. I did it because I wanted to make her happy and for no other reason.
Fuck, maybe I was going soft.
“Thank you.” She grinned at me, shaking her head. “Seriously, Owain. Thank you.”
“You have some work to do still. Got to get furniture and start stocking the walls again. But, yeah, you’re welcome.”
“When can I start?”
“Soon. You’ll have to keep going to the bodega, but you can start ordering whatever you need.”
She paused, fingers sliding along the counter. “I don’t have money.”
“I’ll give you an advance on what you’ll earn from the pills. Does that work?”
She was quiet for a long moment. I thought she might snap at me, but then she looked up and I saw a strange, probing look in her eyes.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Lots of reasons. Mostly it’s my fault this place got fucked to begin with.”
“That’s very true.”
“So I’m making it right, at least.”
She chewed her lip and nodded. “Yeah, you are. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome. How does half a million sound? That enough to get you going?”
She almost choked on her words. “Half a million?”
“I can do more, if—”
“No, no, god no. That’s more than plenty. I got started on way less last time.”
“Good.” I gestured around me. “Welcome to your new store.”
Her eyes narrowed and for half a second I thought she was giving me a dirty, angry look.
Until the shop door chimed and I turned around.
The man standing in the doorway was tall, broad shoulders, dark form-fitted suit. His eyes were light, and a small smile tugged at his lips.
I recognized him, though we’d never met before.
“Excuse me. Are you Owain?” He smiled a little almost like he was uncertain.
But he fucking knew.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“I’m Dante. It’s good to meet you.”
“I know who you are.”
He extended a hand to me and I hesitated. Dante was one of the top men in the Leone Crime Family, the top mafia in the city. They weren’t our enemies, not really, but dealing with them wasn’t technically in my job description. That would be Hedeon’s world, and I could imagine him getting pissed off if I stepped on his toes.
But fuck it. The guy was in my store, so clearly he wanted to talk.
I took his hand and we shook. His eyes drifted from me and over to Leigh.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
“This is Leigh. Say hello, Leigh.”
“Hello.” She frowned at him. “Nice to meet you.”
Dante shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around the room. “Nice place. Heard you guys have been busy here.”
“We had a little fire,” I said. “You know how that stuff goes.”
“I get you.” He walked around and hand his hand down a shelf. “Dangers of doing business, right?”
I grinned and glanced over at Leigh. She looked slightly surprised as Dante turned toward me, arms crossed over his chest.
“That’s how it goes,” I said. “I got to admit. I didn’t expect the number two guy in the Leone family to show up today.”
“And I didn’t plan on stopping by, but I was in the neighborhood on business and I saw this store was open, so—” He shrugged and swiveled his neck.
“What can I do for you? I’d offer you a seat, but that got burned up.”
“I wanted to talk to you about the fire, actually.”
I tensed, not sure how to respond to that. I didn’t think the Leone family would give a shit about some feud with the Jackals, since we were both small compared to their family. But if Dante was here personally, that meant he has a vested interest in this, and it couldn’t be good. I wondered if Clifton had gone to him, or if this was bad luck.
“What can I say? Bad electrical wiring.”
He snorted. “More like a bunch of asshole motorcycle douchebags.”
“Them too. They didn’t help.”
“I know about the Jackals. And I know they tried to hit you again, what, a week ago? Two weeks? I’m losing track of time. Lots of shit going down in the city these days.”
“About a week ago, yeah.”
“They’re probably not too happy with you right now.”
“No, they really aren’t.”
“How’s business been since then? Getting a lot of customers?” He paced around the room like a caged tiger. Leigh gave me an uncomfortable look and I nodded back to her, trying to calm her down.
Dante was dangerous, no doubt about that. He was the calmer, more collected of the top guys in the Leone family. Him and Vincent Leone ran their Philly operation, which meant they ran half the city. He probably expected me to bend over backwards to please him right now, and he was in for a rude awakening. I didn’t give a fuck who he was or what he did, my business was my own, and I only took orders from Hedeon.
“Business is fine. Jackals haven’t been back.”
“But they will be. And that’s a bit of a problem.” He smiled at me almost apologetically, like he didn’t want to be having this conversation any more than I did.
“I don’t see how it would affect you, unless you’re trying to muscle in on the pill business.”
He waved a hand. “We have our own business set up and moving. We don’t need whatever volume you’re moving, to be totally frank. No, I’m more worried about the trail of bodies you’ve been leaving.”
I grunted and leaned up against the wall. “Why’s that?”
“See, we got relationships with the police. And the police don’t like gang violence. When shit like that happens, they turn to us and they tell us to make it stop. If the city remains calm and the bodies don’t start dropping, then the police mostly leave us alone.”
“Mostly, huh?”
“Can’t ignore us entirely. Got to make some arrests. Low level shit though, nothing that really matters, but makes them look good.” He gestured like, what can you do?
“Pretty good arrangement then. You get to keep making money and your soldiers take all the heat.”
“That’s how these things go. But you’re starting to see my problem though, aren’t you?”
I grunted and stood up straight. “You want me to stop killing Jackals.”
“That’s pretty much it, yeah.”
“Here’s the problem though, Dante. The Jackals came at me. They tried to hurt Leigh over there. They tried to ruin my business. I killed them in self-defense, and to be totally honest, they got off fucking easy. So if I see a Jackal, I kill a Jackal. That’s how these things go.”
He grimaced a little like he smelled something awful. “I totally understand your position, believe me. I’ve been there. You can’t show weakness, not in this business, but sometimes ending a war isn’t weakness. Sometimes it makes prudent business sense.”<
br />
“In this case, you think it’s smart to back off.”
“If you do, I promise you we’ll make it worth your time. Maybe a few more customers come find your shops, yeah? Maybe it gets easier to move your product.”
“All that in exchange for ending a war that doesn’t really bother you at all, huh?”
He shook his head. “I just explained how it does.”
“Yeah, right, you said some words that I mostly ignored.” I took a step toward him. “Now you listen. The Jackals started this. You want it to end? Go talk to Clifton. Get him to take your fucking deal. I don’t plan on going out there on the hunt, but like I said, if I see them anywhere near my stores or my people, they’re going to die. No more questions asked. They already had their chance.”
Dante sighed and rubbed at his face like this was nothing more than a frustrating nuisance. And to him, that’s probably exactly what it was.
But to me this was everything. This was my honor, my life, my crew. I couldn’t back down, not after the Jackals came at me and insulted me in my own business. They’d have to die for what they did, especially if they came near me again.
“Think about my offer,” Dante said. “You don’t have to decide right now. Take a night and sleep on it.”
“My answer’s no.” I stared at him, trying to conceal my rage. “You don’t own this city.”
He laughed. “Problem is, I actually do. Take a night, think about it. I’ll see you around.” He walked to the door slowly, sauntering like his shoes were better than the floor. He disappeared outside and headed down the sidewalk.
“What the hell was that?”
I turned back to Leigh. She stood with an ashen face and wide eyes.
“That was the second most powerful mobster in this city.”
“And you just turned him down?”
“Damn right I did.”
“Owain—”
“You don’t understand the politics here.” I walked to the window and stared out down the block. I couldn’t see him anymore but a big, black sedan rolled down the street.
