“That so, Sam? Is that what you do?” His voice was har
sh, almost as if he were judging me.
I flashed him a smile that didn’t quite reach my eyes. “You need to listen to me. Okay? When we get there, you let me do the talking. You don’t speak to Mama until she speaks to you. You don’t ask her questions. You don’t threaten her or try to intimidate her. You don’t even look at her funny. She can and will destroy you and I won’t be able to do anything to stop her.”
“You sound scared of her,” he said.
I shook my head. “Oh no. I’m not scared of her. Never have been. I’ve never given her reason to make me fear her. But that doesn’t mean I don’t respect her. She doesn’t peddle children. She doesn’t allow the harder drugs at her businesses. And she takes care of her boys and girls. They are there because they want to be, not because she forces them. They aren’t walking the streets. They’re courtesans and they are free to come and go as they please. As long as they follow her rules, she keeps them safe.”
“A whore is still a whore no matter how you dress him up,” Ryan said.
“Let’s keep that opinion to ourselves,” I said. “You’ll thank me later.”
“You should have let me bring my sword. I can’t protect you if—”
“No weapons,” I said. “I was clear on that. And I don’t need you to protect me. I have my magic, and if something happens, then I’ll be the one protecting you.”
To that, he had no retort.
As I pulled him through the crowd, I felt the heat of his skin under my fingers.
This place drove me nuts.
It made my skin itch.
We reached the main doors to the Tilted Cross. A large man stood there that I’d never seen before. I hadn’t been here in months, so I wasn’t surprised that there was new staff. He was huge, bigger than Ryan even, and he held his arms across his chest in such a way that told anyone and everyone to fuck off.
So I grinned at him. “I have business here.”
He glared down at me. “That so? You looking to get fucked?”
“Probably not today,” I said, and Ryan made a choking noise behind me. “I need to see Mama.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, so can you let me in?”
“Bounce, baby boy. Unless you’re a paying customer, get the fuck outta my sight. Mama don’t have time for you.”
I chuckled. “I’m not leaving. You’re going to let me in.”
“Am I? Or am I going to break your face?”
“You must be new here,” I said, and that pissed him off.
“Sam,” Ryan hissed. “Don’t make the extremely large man angry.” He grabbed at and bunched up my robe, and I knew he was getting ready to pull me back and insert himself between the two of us. It was almost sweet.
“A little too late for that,” the doorman said, pushing himself off the wall. He rocked his neck side to side, cracking the joints. His hands were the size of my face. They would probably hurt. Fists that big usually do.
I reached into the pocket of my trousers and pulled out a small, flat disc. It was carved from black stone and inlaid with lines of gold. It was heavy and there was no mistaking what it was. I held my palm open so the doorman could see it. He stuttered to a stop and his eyes went wide. He looked flustered and I almost felt like a bit of an ass for antagonizing him as I had.
Almost.
“Forgive me,” he said. “You go right in, sir. She’s in her office. Moishe will show you up.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You do a good job. I was actually a little bit intimidated.”
He opened the door and smiled shyly at me.