I worried about her every moment she was out of my view. However, she insisted on staying home tonight, and I chose not to argue, despite my desire to. There was a delicate balance between protecting her and controlling her. Therefore, I respected her choice and ensured one of my men were stationed outside her door.
“Hey,” she answered.
“I’m sending you some documents to review,” I said. “And please double-check that all your doors and windows are locked.”
“I live on the thirtieth floor, Thal,” she said. “Nobody’s getting into my windows.”
“Lock the doors, Daphne. I don’t care if you live in the clouds. Rhea has monsters who can scale glass if the price is right, and right now? You’re the most expensive thing in Vegas. You aren't Zeno’s ward anymore. You're a target for the city, but you’remyresponsibility. If I find out a single person has breathed the same air as you without my permission, I’ll burn the building down with them inside. Do you understand?”
“Then we need to prepare.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “But before anything, I need to know you’re safe.”
“I appreciate that, Thal, but I assure you, I’m fine.”
Her voice carried a tone of annoyance, and I didn’t blame her. Clearly, she was safe and sound at home, but why did I have this persistent feeling I couldn’t shake? Maybe I was overthinking, but I didn’t mind.
“I’m going to order extra protection for all our properties, including the warehouses that store our weapons and other resources. If Rhea strikes, I believe she’d hit there first.”
Honestly, I expected her to hit where it would hurt the most. That might have been my tactic in the past, but now that Daphne was part of my life, it was clearly hers.
Maybe that was why I was so on edge. I could always buy more weapons. Anything in the world could be replaced.
Except Daphne.
Anger surged through my veins. “I’m not fucking around, Daphne. You need to understand that. My mission has always been to reshape Vegas into a different place than the one Iarrived in. I’ve been working tirelessly to wipe out the syndicates that have held this city for too long. I won’t rest until they’re gone.”
I could hear the concern in the long beat of silence on the other end of the line, in the way her breath hitched, a soft, jagged sound that made my chest tighten. I closed my eyes, picturing the exact way her brow would furrow in the dim light of her suite.
“That’s a heavy burden for you to bear alone, Thal,” she whispered, her voice vibrating through the receiver and straight into my marrow.
“I’m not looking for a better Vegas, Daphne. I’m looking for a total purge. I’m tearing out the syndicates because they think they can own people. They think they can own you. I’m going to build a kingdom from the wreckage, and I’m going to make sure it’s a place where no one ever dares look at you as debt again. I’m not looking for pride. I’m looking for total, undisputed control.”
Her voice softened. "I’m right here. I’ve already told you I’ll do whatever you need.”
I knew I was asking a lot. Working with me meant danger, a potentially deadly risk. It wasn’t a responsibility I took lightly.
Each decision and action felt like walking on a razor’s edge, aware that Daphne and I were always in the line of fire.
God, it tore me apart that it had to be this way. I closed my eyes, picturing her beautiful eyes, and a sharp ache pierced through me, as if my heart was being torn apart.
I had to protect my empire. I had to defend this town and everyone in it. I couldn’t do it alone, but I carried the weight of not messing it up, of not turning away when the stakes were this high.
Ignoring the problem wasn’t an option. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I knew what I had to do. It was time to take action, no matter what the cost.
Unfortunately, that came with a lot of danger.
But I didn’t see any other way to do this, and that fact alone was heart-wrenching. I had to do it, but I also had to do it while protecting Daphne.
My mission had been ingrained in me long before I ever crossed paths with Daphne. I had accepted the inherent dangers as just part of my way of life, a normal aspect of doing business.
But everything changed the moment she became mine. Suddenly, this mission, along with the risks it involved, transformed from a simple duty into something much more personal and emotionally intense. It was as if the stakes had shifted from vague danger to a powerful connection that threatened to reshape my every thought and action.
I was consumed by her. Love was too soft a word for the jagged, terrifying addiction that had taken root in my chest. Somewhere between the Aruba surf and the blood-stained concrete of that warehouse, she’d become the only thing I was willing to commit genocide for.
She wasn’t good anymore, and that was why I worshipped her. Good was for girls who stayed in gilded cages and let men decide their value.
