They want to get their hands dirty, and I’m going to let them.
Tone dark, I point between the two men. “I specifically want your eye on these two when they are on duty in the park. Ramp up their training and don’t hold back on them. I want to see what they are capable of.”
My focus drifts to the brooding man in the corner who’s barely said a word. Vincent, one of our oldest lieutenants who oversees all our men in the harbor, lifts a finger to his lips.
Those gray eyes narrow in contemplation, swirling with chaos as they usually do. “I’ll push them to their limits. There’s something about them I can’t put my finger on.”
He sees the same darkness flourishing in their eyes as I do. If I trust anyone to get an accurate read of this group, it's him. Not only is he a perfect shot in training and in combat, but heis a terrifying motherfucker that would straighten my spine if I weren’t his boss.
Vincent has been with us since before I was born. My grandfather, who is now retired with Gran at our estate in Ireland, recruited him from the military. He has more blood on his hands than I do. I swear the bodily fluids of his victims are calcified in his callous hands. I’d say it happened back in his prime, but Vincent is always in his prime. Those muscles, hidden beneath his long sleeves, showcase it.
There is a reason we have him patrolling the tunnels and the park, as well as training our men to manipulate them into machines.
A piece of our empire rests in his hands.
If we are going to pull any of these men into the mob, I damn well know he’ll find the best. Or fix them until their faults are cowering in the darkness, afraid to emerge.
We don’t tolerate weakness.
That means drawing them out early.
A corner of my mouth lifts maliciously. “After the park closes Friday night, why don’t we let loose Rowan and Cathal and see what Lex and Brett are truly capable of. No guns. No weapons.” Just their hands and their pure carnal need, because our men who broke our blood oath will do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means killing these newcomers.
That first night, after I found Kate in the tunnels and brought her back to the estate, I called Imogen and asked her to do her best to fix up Rowan. I hate not finishing things my way, even if there is a beautiful little distraction that kept me from ending his life at that moment, as I should have.
Now, I’m glad he’s been rotting in a cell, battling an on-and-off again infection in the side of his stomach. Cathal is in the cell across from him, so he can watch the motherfucker suffer in pain while I contemplate what to do with them. Turns out, Cathalsealed his fate when he decided to get his dick wet with Rowan and join in on the fun with the girl he paid for.
They’ve been rotting in a cell under the park, awaiting their sentence. We were going to kill them anyway.
As for Lex and Brett, I want to see if we can get their dark sides to emerge early, if they’re as animalistic as they look.
A few days from now, we’ll know.
If these two look promising, they may become our new prospects for the mob. This comes with a long conversation, a significant pay raise, and benefits that are more substantial than any other career they might find elsewhere. The only difference is that they sign their life over to us and carve their name on that line at the bottom of the contract in their own blood.
Death is the only way out.
Vincent lowers his hand from his gray beard, his eyes hard on me. “Rushing the process. That’s not like you. Usually, we watch these guys for months before we propose a promotion to them.”
It’s not like me.
However, ever since some of our shipments have gone missing— the attack in Virginia,Kate—my control over my priorities has been slipping and shifting. It started with one hole in the bucket when I saw Kate on that dock. Then I saw her in the tunnels, and it was another blow to the metal holding me together.
Then I started thinking about Kate.
Kissed Kate.
Touched Kate.
I haven’t fucked her yet, and she’s already filling my thoughts so thoroughly that it’s draining my other priorities, making room for her like she’s becoming one.
And maybe she is.
But the Megalley Syndicate comes first, and if Arden keeps sensing how distracted I am, he won’t hesitate to get rid of her.So, though my body is strained from this metaphorical tether stretching through the fucking space between Kate and me that’s pulling at my stability, I shove my hands into my suit pockets, glancing out the one-sided glass.
We’re waiting with bated breath for Luciano’s next move while we sit in the shadows waiting for our perfect moment. The plan has been in place since we received that mysterious envelope from an anonymous person in the mail months ago. Time isn’t on our side right now, and we need to be prepared for anything, strengthening our army and our men in numbers and skill.
I’d say it's to protect our operations, this world that is all I’ve ever known, but I can’t shake the feeling that I want to increase protection for an entirely different reason.
