Victor - Her Ruthless Husband (Ruthless Triad 3)

“Okay, spread ’em,” says a guy standing outside the warehouse’s open roll-down door. He’s got an accent nearly as tough as Phantom’s.

Just as Han’s liaison promised, Victor, Phantom, and their men are all weapon checked at the door. But still, Phantom brought along a backup plan.

Since there were no restrictions put on who could come to the meeting between their two gangs, Phantom ordered ten Silent Triad to accompany them. Bruisers with martial arts backgrounds. Just as Phantom and Victor used to be before DNA evidence became harder to surmount and they began delegating their dirty work.

“That way, if they try to light us up, at least we’ve got a fighting chance,” Phantom explained when they walked out of their mansion to find two other Audi’s idling behind the one Phantom would be driving to the designated meeting place.

Victor is grateful for his cousin’s paranoia. At least one of them is thinking straight. He certainly isn’t.

She’s never going to forgive you for this.

Darrell’s gleeful and triumphant words swarm around Victor’s head as he holds out his arms as instructed.

Phantom’s extra men make the weapons check take longer than expected. But eventually, they all are allowed inside. However, everyone but Phantom is told to wait outside the door of Luca Ferraro’s upstairs office.

His cousin slices Victor a dark look after that edict and tells Victor in Chinese Sign Language, “If this bitch kills us, my reincarnation is going to hunt your reincarnation down, just to say, I fucking told you so.”

That colorful threat issued, they enter the room.

Neither of them have seen Luca since that one time when he accidentally decided to set foot in a 24K nightclub. But he looks much the same to Victor.

He’s still what Phantom often derisively refers to as “pretty”—especially when giving Han a hard time. Other than a few fine lines around his crystal blue eyes, Luca Ferraro could’ve been mistaken for a man in his 20s.

But he now carries a gravitas that Victor didn’t remember him having the last time they spied him from afar. Luca Ferraro waits for them alone in his office, standing behind his desk without any fear whatsoever in his eyes. Most likely, because he’s now the don of one of the most powerful mafia families on the eastern seaboard.

But his power doesn’t matter. He’s harboring Dawn, and Victor wants her back. Operation Good As New. That’s all that matters. Fix this. Fix this. Fix this.

Victor and his cousin don’t bother to take a seat. Without any preamble, Victor slides his phone across to Ferraro. It’s opened to a notes app with a typed-out list.

“This is what we’re prepared to offer you in exchange for handing over Dawn Kingston-Zhang,” Phantom explains to Ferraro. “It includes a few territories in New Jersey you might recognize.

Ferraro picks up the phone. And his eyes light up when he gets past the coded offerings of laundry services and future weapon deals to the neighborhood territories the Silent Triad took off his family back in the early 10’s after they partnered with the 24K.

“You serious about just handing these territories back over to us?” Ferraro asks. He looks up with narrowed eyes from their generous offering list. “I thought you guys and the 24K were basically married.”

“Not anymore,” Phantom answers, leaving it at that.

Han would have painted a picture for Ferraro. Let him know just how lucrative and sweet being in business with The Silent Triad could be for their partners. But Victor supposes he should be grateful Phantom hasn’t dropped any insults or swears yet. Five whole minutes. That’s a record for him.

However, Ferraro isn’t nearly as circumspect.

“Damn. I was hoping that whatever you offered me would be bullshit. This makes it way harder to say no.”

Victor does not sign in meetings with potential partners. Ever. But the stakes are so high. He breaks his long-held rule.

He signs, and Phantom translates, “Then don’t say no. I promise not to hurt her. But I must have her back. Our parting is a fight that went too far.”

Ferraro levels Victor with a considering look then seems to decide out loud, “Okay, I believe you…”

But before Victor’s heart has a chance to lift, Ferraro adds, “My wife, though? There’s no way she’s going for this deal. And there’s no amount of money in the world that would make me betray her trust. I did that once, and it didn’t work out too hot for me. I was exactly where you’re at right now for years. So, I’ve gotta say no to this deal.”

Ferraro grimaces. “But you know, if you ever want to do something together without Dawn being brought into it, I’d be more than happy to ally with you guys. I respect your game, and I think we could make for good business partners. Just not in exchange for Dawn Kingston. I’m truly sorry about that. For myself most of all.”