He didn’t finish the sentence.
I walked around the table again, slow enough that the sound of my steps echoed. Stopped beside him this time.
“Stand up,” I said.
He hesitated.
Rome sighed. “Mate. If he has to say it twice, you’re going to regret it.”
Leto pushed his chair back and rose. Trying to square his shoulders. Trying to stand like we were equals.
We weren’t.
“You think I need you to protect my reputation,” I looked him over. “You think if Hollis pulls one block, people will think Crow is weak. That we’re… negotiating.”
“It’s leverage. Everyone knows that.”
“I don’t need leverage,”
Before he could process that, my hand fisted in the front of his jacket and I slammed him back into the concrete wall.
The impact knocked the air out of him. His head hit hard enough to ring, not hard enough to crack anything permanent. I’d had practice with that balance.
The younger man jerked like he was going to stand. Rome shifted his weight and the kid reconsidered very quickly.
I kept my forearm across Leto’s chest, holding him pinned.
“You think I’m sitting in those chamber meetings three days out of four because I enjoy listening to old men complain about rates,”
He wheezed. “You care about optics.”
“I care about my brothers getting home alive. I care about ensuring that when I say ‘Villain is Crow,’ no one in those rooms is stupid enough to test it. Let’s talk numbers.”
His voice came out ragged. “Numbers.”
“How much you owe me.” I dipped my head, met his eyes. “How many bones I have to break before you believe that you are not my equal.”
His mouth opened, some half-started objection.
I cut it off with my fist.
Knuckles met cheekbone with a dull, satisfying crack that vibrated up my arm. His head snapped sideways. Non-lethal. But painful. Good.
He groaned, sagging in my grip. I shook him once, to bring his gaze back to mine.
“One,” I said.
The young one flinched like I’d hit him.
“He lied about honoring the arrangement. He lied by omission about Rivas. He suggested we need his boss to keep our image clean. That’s at least three.” Rome tapped his knife on the table.
I didn’t look away from Leto. “I agree.”
The second hit split his lip properly. Blood smeared across my knuckles. Pain sharpened his focus nicely.
“Two.”
He tried to twist away. I shifted my weight, pinning him harder, my shoulder against his.
