“Why me?” she countered.
“This has you written all over it.” He held up a hand when Rory sent him death rays. “I mean no disrespect.”
“We’ve all heard of the homeless you run out of your turf like little spiders who return to the web with secrets from the streets,” Zhao derided.
“Precisely,” was her crisp retort. “For me not to have heard a whisper about this until recently… it says a lot.”
“You didn’t decide to keep this under wraps so?—”
“Let me stop you right there. The rumors I heard were fledgling at best. Barely of interest!”
“That’s what she told us when she discussed the topic at a council meeting,” Luc intoned.
Ha—that was about as dissentient as my brother would get at a Summit.
“Precisely. I didn’t bring it up because I’d never heard of anything as expansive as the locale in Nolita. It was a brothel with a launderette as a front. That’s the sum of what I knew about it.” Rory shook her head. “That they managed to build such an empire under our noses is insane and speaks of a lot of money changing hands to make it happen.
“That their clients also kept it secret is impressive. People of that class and with these shared perversions tend to talk. Except, they didn’t in this instance. That’s curious.”
Her words triggered an unease that spread among us. Even Zhao shifted in his seat.
“So yes, it was an Albanian front and we knew of this, but the backers? No. They buried that deep. For a reason. The Favaros, the Bratva—they used our known enemies?—”
“I disagree. The links to the Bratva are tenuous at best.” Zhao plopped the file on the table. The clapping sound echoed around the warehouse, making our guards shuffle on their feet. “Russian oligarchs tend to invest in businesses that make money. Fighting clubs do precisely that.
“The only viable connection to the Bratva is Brackton’s murder but, trust me, if the Bratva wanted Brackton dead, then they wouldn’t have used the ledger and Anastasia Brackton’s name wouldn’t be floating around. Her husband would just be dead. It’s more likely she wanted to get rid of him herself. That means it’snotlinked to the Bratva.”
Aidan conceded that with a dip of his chin. “Perhaps you are correct.”
“No ‘perhaps’ about it.Sisters—” This was said with a pointed sneer at Rory, which had Luc growling and me cracking my knuckles. “—daughters, wives, mothers, they’re not typically brought into this life. They are vessels for the future.
“As much as it would behoove theLostBoys for the four factions to declare war on the Bratva, I see no reason to.”
“You just pissed off three out of four of us, Zhao,” Brennan drawled. “I’d watch yourself if I were you.”
“We’re in a weapon-free zone,” the Triad head countered with a smirk.
“Only while the Summit lasts.” I grunted, earning myself a snort from Aidan.
“Zhao has a point,” Finn butted in. “As much as I’m loath to admit it.”
“I didn’t bring this information to you to kickstart a war with the Bratva,” Luciu sniped. “Honestly, is this what decades of underfunding in the American education system has led to?!” He ignored the glowers thrown his way, but I got it—Luc had wanted to be a professor before all this. Education was his shit. “You all missed our point entirely.
“This meeting was about showing you the Albanians aren’t just a petty irritation that will fade away. They have backing. They have power. They have extensive trafficking networks. And they’re being utilized like a private army.
“Brackton’s death led to more Albanians flooding our territories than ever before. We all know we have microfactions functioning beneath the surface. Gangs and the like. It’s a part of the macrobiome of the city. Hell, that’s how we found our bearings, which is a warning in and of itself!
“But Brackton’s death not only triggered an influx of Albanians, they began sticking their necks out in a shift that saw them moving away from being pests to players.
“And on top of that, they broke our accord. They’re trading in minors. That alone is a declaration of war.”
“To sum it up for the educationally challenged…” Rory skewered her printout with a pen. “We have another organization gaining impressive ground on our turf, gentlemen. One that needs exterminating.”
Zhao frowned but he turned to face Aidan. “Your family brought this mess upon us.”
“Hardly,” Aidan rejected. “People die and crowns are inherited, and one man’s aims are not his son’s. New York has seen two entirely new factions take over territory and witnessed a major player’s death. The only one of us with stability has been you, Zhao. But a good leader doesn’t set up camp on the seashore when advised of an incoming tidal wave.”
Zhao sneered. “We will eradicate Albanians from our land.”
