“No.” My body was buzzing by now. I loved this shit. “I know you did. I assumed you would, so we had each of them collected and disarmed. You’ll find them outside, behind the closest dumpster. Some might still be alive.”
Walden’s eyes turned to ice. “You have the advantage inside. We have it outside. Thirty of our men have surrounded this place. One gunshot and they’ll storm in shooting. You have civilians here. Customers.You’llbe the reason why they’re murdered. I’ll make sure the police blame you for their deaths.”
“Yes. I imagine you would be able to do that.” I agreed with him.
Walden had quite a few police and administrators on his payroll. It was just one of the many strongholds they had that I was chipping away at. The last count I knew that he had was over a hundred, but thirty of them were now mine. If they weren’t mine, they weren’t breathing anymore. I considered that a win because those were thirty openings for someone I paid to fill.
I motioned for Levi to put his gun away and leaned forward, my smile never falling from my face. I looked between the two friends. West was watching me warily. He was the one who wasn’t able to understand me. Walden wasn’t even trying. He was too emotional. There was too much baggage still fresh in his mind.
Yes, it was true that I put a contract out on Jake Worthing. But I’d rescinded that contract, allowing Jake, his woman, and all of her family members to remain alive. What I got from that deal was Blake promising not to run from me. It’d been the precursor to our current agreement because she’d been the one to advocate on behalf of Jake and his woman. There were other details that surrounded those events, but it was more important to note that Jake Worthing had been someone Ashton Walden considered a friend.
Friend or foe, I wasn’t totally sure. I hadn’t fully figured out the friendship between them, but I knew therewereconflicted emotions because at the end of the day, Jake Worthing gave me a whole host of assets and resources that his family still had in the city.
His family. Technically through my mother, I shared blood with them, but I would never consider the Worthings my family. I did not choose them.
I added, “But you’re starting to slip, Ashton.”
Walden’s head snapped backward, and his nostrils flared. “Don’t fucking use my first name.”
I ignored that. “Just like your hold on the shipping yards. On the warehouse district. On the north end of the city. On Brooklyn.” I could name more territories, but I didn’t need to. The areas they never retained control over were now mine. I just mentioned the ones I’d taken from them, but there’d be more.
I was expanding. They knew this.
My battle tactic wasn’t to kill their men. It was to take their men. They just didn’t know how I did it, or how Ikepttheir men as mine.
“We still have Red Hook’s Marine Terminal. Plus the rest that you didn’t name.” His grin was icy. “Manhattan.”
“You havepartsof Manhattan.”
“No. You have parts of Manhattan, but we’ll be taking them back. It’s only a matter of time. Especially the parts where your girlfriend goes to school.”
“You already tried with Blake. Try again and see what I’ll do.”
“How about this? You stop recruiting or I’ll kill your pretty little Miss Green.” Walden lowered his head so he was equal with me, and he raised an eyebrow. Taunting. “How’s that for a counter?”
How was that for a counter?I repeated his question in my head, but I never faltered. My smile didn’t twitch. “That’s the second time you’ve threatened her in a matter of minutes. Now you get to see what I’ll do.”
His eyes snapped to slits. He was glaring at me, and I knew I was letting him see the void inside of me. It had a certaineffecton people.
“He’s not threatening her.” West placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and pushed. “We’re not going there.”
Walden resisted, growling. “Don’t speak for me. I will threaten her all day any day.”
“Stop,” West snapped, shoving him now. “Move.”
Walden remained in place until he pushed up and shoved past my men. West followed at a more sedate pace, standing at the end of our table. He looked at me, almost impassive, but I could see the tension clinging to his body. His face was rigid. He couldn’t hide that. There were pinched lines at the corners of his eyes. He was keeping his jaw tight, and he forced himself to let it all go. He didn’t want me to see his anger.
Interesting.
I didn’t understand that.
I knew he was angry. Why not let me see it? Why try to cover it?
“You are taking what’s ours. That’s an act of war, but we’ve been at war for a while. Haven’t we, Lane?”
I leaned back in the booth, continuing to study this man. He was fascinating. “You already made a move against me when you helped Jake kidnap Blake. Of course, all of that worked out in the end, but your best friend just threatened her again. Twice. She is someone I care about. Is this your way of ‘smoothing it over’? Reminding me of moves I’ve made prior to coming into this city? That’s just good battle strategy. You know this. You surround your enemy before you move in for the kill.”
He went still at my words, at what I was suggesting. They surrounded my nightclub tonight, but I’d already surrounded their city.
