“I do.”
“And you think I’ll come back to that? When I don’t have to?”
“I do.”
“Why? What the hell would make me come back?”
“I’ll make you a partner for real.”
I shut my mouth then and stared at him. I felt startled and I wasn’t sure exactly what he meant—but I knew I was interested.
“Partner… how?”
“I offered you a cut before, and that’ll remain. But I’ll offer you a cut on all future sales as well. With each new batch, your cut will increase, until maybe one day we’ll split it 50-50. You do the work, you earn the money, and you get a say in what the crew does.”
“You’ll let me have a say in the crew’s business?”
“Damn right I will. You’ll get a seat at the table, little diamond.”
“Why would you do that?”
He stepped closer to me and I felt a spike of fear and lust.
“Because you deserve it. You’re smart, Leigh. You see things and intuit things, and you fight harder than any person I’ve ever met before, all my guys included. You have no clue how much you’ve impressed me, and I don’t want to do this thing without you anymore. Come back to me and I’ll give you whatever you want and then some.”
I stared into his eyes. I knew coming out here was a choice, and I knew where it would lead me. Seeing him, being so close to him, I knew it would inevitably lead to me following him home again.
But I hadn’t thought it would lead to this.
“Partner,” I said, feeling the word in my mouth. “You’ll make me a part of your crime family.”
“I will.”
“And I’ll get a vote? Your guys will be okay with that?”
“They’ll get used to it.”
I stared at him for a few more seconds, trying to come to grips with this new path opening up before me, this new path I knew I was going to walk down.
I thought about fighting that junky. I thought about firing that gun.
I thought about Owain’s mouth on mine and his cock between my legs.
“Come inside and meet my mom.” I turned toward the house. “If you can impress her, I’ll come back. And you’ll make me partner. And buy me a new wardrobe. And give me a nicer room.”
I heard his chuckle, low and throaty. “Done.”
“Come on then.” I walked to the door and held it open for him.
He lingered as he passed me, his hand brushing across mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat. I thrilled at him being inside my house.
He greeted my mother with a big smile and a polite handshake, and as soon as he asked about the Adams prints on the walls, I knew I’d be going back into the city before the night was over.
19
Owain
Smoke drifted in lazy circles through the room as Viktor smoked a cigarette and a few of the other guys puffed on cigars. The wood paneling around the private room was thick with age and varnish, and the chairs had intricate shaped carved into their backs. I passed out glasses of whisky, shook hands, laughed at bad jokes, and basically played the politician, because I knew shit was going to get tense in a few minutes. I needed to soften the guys up before dropping the hard news.
Leighs sat at the table away from the others. She eyed them like a caged animal not sure if they were about to come feed her or kill her. Not that I could blame her—my guys were about as civilized as wild boar. They laughed too loud, drank too much, smoked heavy black cigars, and liked nothing more than getting into trouble. That was the sort of man I needed in my crew, even if it made things a little unpredictable from time to time.
At the very least, I knew I could trust them.
Rolan talked in quiet tones with Viktor. The twins Ivan and Igor took turns slamming back glasses of whisky and shouting obscenities at each other in some bastard form of Russian they both claimed to speak, but nobody else could understand. Trey, Danny, Samuel, Martin, and Camillo had a card game going, but I couldn’t tell who was winning, and it probably didn’t matter.
“Alright, boys,” I said, standing at the head of the table, my hands in the air trying to quiet them down. I figured they drunk enough to be happy, but not too drunk that they’ll freak the fuck out when they hear what I have to say.
I glanced down at Leigh and gave her a tight smile as the boys started to settle.
“Boss, you’re generous as hell tonight,” Trey said, grinning at me. He was a young guy, dark hair, big smile. Despite his boyish looks, he was a killer, through and through—human life held little to no value in his estimation. “Makes me think you got some shit going on.”
“What, I can’t treat my crew to some drinks?”
“Not in a private club like this, you can’t.” Trey laughed and put his cards down.
“He’s got a point, boss,” Camillo said. “What do you have in store for us?”
“Something to do with the bitch, huh?” Danny laughed but I felt a stab of anger drift through me.
“First of all, don’t talk about Leigh like that.” I stared at Danny until he stopped smiling. “Second, I got some news for you boys, but we’ll get to that in a little bit.”
I felt the mood shift slightly. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of anger at the way more than a few eyes passed over Leigh like she was the cause to all their problems. Danny smoldered in his chair like a chastised little boy, and I had to make sure I didn’t lose them.
“Look at you little girls,” Rolan said. “Afraid of what daddy’s got to say.”
“Fuck you, Rolan,” Camillo said. “You know it’s not like that. We just know shit’s going down with the Jackals.”
“Some of us are having fun.”
