Page 134 of Arrow

Because of her.

Because of what would come for her if I lost, even once.

The time for reckoning was coming, but it wasn’t yet.

Soon.

The meeting adjourned with a flick of the hand. Another man dispatched, another city quadrant banished to the shadows. I shook hands, accepted nods, and let my father clasp my shoulder on the stoop outside, his grip a deadweight of expectation.

“Don’t disappoint me.”

I turned, shrugged him off like ash, and walked into the flexing metropolis, every step echoing with the certainty that I would never become him.

But there were many ways to inherit the throne.

Orion was waiting for me on the curb where I’d left him. He gave me a small nod, and his eyes scanned my face, as if he could read every detail of my encounter with my father.

“How bad?”

“The usual.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to shake off the weight of my father’s expectations. “He’s testing me—making sure I haven’t gone soft.”

“He wants you to get rid of her father.”

I didn’t respond. There was no point in confirming what Orion already knew. My father wasn’t subtle in his desires. Kill Giovanni Virelli, secure the territory, and secure my place alongside Atlas, who he knew held absolute dominance over the city’s underworld.

A simple equation with a bloody solution.

“You look like shit,” Orion observed, lighting a cigarette and offering me one.

I took it, letting the flame catch as I inhaled deeply. “Had a lot on my mind.”

“You mean a Virelli in your sheets?” His smirk was infuriating. “I never thought I’d see the day when Arrow Romanov got himself leashed.”

“Watch it,” I warned, but there was no real heat behind it.

Orion and Atlas were the closest things I had to brothers in this life. He’d earned the right to speak his mind, even when I didn’t want to hear it.

“Just saying what everyone’s thinking.” He shrugged. “You’re different since her.”

I exhaled smoke into the cold night air.

“Different how?”

“Like you actually give a fuck if she lives or dies.”

The truth of his observation hit harder than I wanted to admit. I did care . . . more than I should. More than was safe for either of us.

“It’s strategic,” I lied. “The Virelli alliance gives us control of the docks. Giovanni’s connection’s in city hall—territorial disputes settled without bloodshed. Everyone wins.”

“Right. And the fact that you can barely keep your hands off her has nothing to do with it.”

I let the smoke curl between us like a living thing. “You should worry less about what’s going on in my bed and more about what’s in your future if you keep talking.”

“See? That’s what I mean.” Orion grinned, completely unfazed by my threat. “The old Arrow would have already had me on the ground for that comment.”

Dropping my cigarette, I crushed it under my heel. “Maybe I’m evolving.”

“Or maybe you’re compromised.”