I still couldn’t bend for him, not yet. I might make peace with him once Oison was dead, but I couldn’t let him know that. I wanted my revenge and wanted it on my terms. I knew he’d never agree to give me Oisin straight out, and asking provided me with cover. I could pretend like I’d tried to keep things civil from the start.
“I’m not going to stop my plans and you’re not going to give me what I want. Maybe this meeting is a waste of time.”
“The others will get annoyed sooner or later. Do you want it to come to that?”
“You can go whining to them.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game.” He stepped forward, but I noted he held his hands in sight, clearly visible.
Smart. He made sure nobody took him as a threat.
“I’m aware of that.”
“The country’s been in flux for years, but we’ve kept things stable. Now you’re involved with three families instead of one, and that puts everything at risk. Have some sense, Roman. Stop this before it goes too far.”
“I won’t.”
Darren nodded and let out a sigh like that was what he expected. “All right then. I came here in good faith. I do want things to remain calm, but you seem hell bent on war.”
“I’m hell bent on revenge.” I tightened my fists and looked away from him, up toward the bridge. “You can’t understand what it’s been like for me, knowing that Oisin’s still out there, the man that ordered the death of my father. And I never even loved that old bastard.”
“We’ve all got daddy issues. At least mine won’t spark a coast-wide mafia war.” He shoved his hands into his pockets again. “Just think about what I said. We all want business to continue as usual. If you keep going down this path, I’m afraid everything’s about to change.”
“Is change such a bad thing? Are you so afraid of it?”
Darren only shook his head as if disappointed and walked off. He stepped into the trees and disappeared into the gloom of the underbrush. I waited until I couldn’t see him anymore, then waited a few more minutes before I ran again.
Through the tunnel, out the other side.
He wasn’t wrong. That was the thing—I agreed with him. Everything I’d done so far was a threat to the order of things. The others would step in eventually, when the violence got too bad, or I took too much power. That was how we functioned, how it always worked.
If one of us got too strong, the others came together to knock them back down into place.
The cycle went like that for generations.
Only this time, I didn’t give a damn what the others wanted. I didn’t care if Darren was angry.
I wanted my revenge and I was going to have it.
Afterwards, when Oisin was dead and the world understood that they couldn’t fuck with the Lenkov family ever again, only then would I sit down at the table and negotiate.
But not before.
Erick whistled nearby. I ran down a side path and found him sitting on a bench, dismantling a sniper rifle.
“How’d that go?” he asked. “Darren looked twitchy. Nervous.”
“He’s not happy with the way things are.”
“Can’t blame him.” Erick placed the rifle pieces into a hard case. “Think the others are going to roll down on you?”
“They might. I can’t be sure. I assume you have your ear to the ground.”
“I’ve got men in every one of their organizations, and so far, it’s quiet. Nobody’s talking about you.”
“They might not care if I control a couple more mafia families, or maybe they think I won’t be able to keep power over all of them.”
“Not like you care, right?”
“That’s right.”
He stood up and shouldered the case. “Something feels off about all this.”
“What’s that?”
“Darren came alone.”
My eyebrows went up. “Really?”
“Really. This place is crawling with our guys, but Darren didn’t bring anyone. Why the hell would he do that?”
“I don’t know.” I gazed back out into the woods, trying to make sense of it. Darren knew I’d have my own little army occupying the park—why wouldn’t he bring his own? “Have him followed if you can.”
“Already on it.”
“Good. He’ll be a problem. We only have to hope he doesn’t try anything until after Oisin is dead.”
“We’ll see. He seems to give a shit about the old man.”
“Loyalty, I expect.” I nodded to Erick. “I’m going to finish my run and head back to the apartment.”
“Enjoy.” Erick saluted and walked off.
I watched him leave then fell into a slow jog, my mind whirling through the possibilities.
21
Cassie
I woke up to an empty bed, stretched out, groaned, and stared at the ceiling.
The night before returned in flashes.
His hand on my ass. His lips locked tight on my nipple. Biting his shoulder, digging my claws into his back.
His cock between my legs and the orgasms flowing past like a river, rolling from one to the next in an endless procession of bliss, a trumpet-blast of ecstasy, a sustained note of perfection.