Page 154 of Sadistic

Jacksonville is my city, my stamp on our world, and he knows it.

I’m not naive enough to think he won’t be checking in on me from time to time.

"Son." He doesn't look up. "Heard from your uncle recently?"

"Which one?" I have several, not all of them friendly.

"Liam. He's keeping your brother busy in Dublin."

I sink into the chair across from him. "Define busy."

"Running collections for the Irish side. Grunt work, but it keeps him occupied." Now he looks up. "No more photo albums or surprise appearances."

"Good."

"Is it? You could have handled it permanently."

"He's still my brother."

"Yes, but still…" But there's approval in his voice. "Your mother's influence."

"Speaking of Mum, she's stolen my sister-in-law."

"Stolen is harsh. Mentored, perhaps." He closes the portfolio. "How's married life?"

"Better than expected."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I expected her to resent me and instead it feels like the best thing that ever happened to me." I signal the waiter for coffee. "She's adapting well."

"And you? Adapting to having someone else's opinion matter?"

"Learning to."

He chuckles. "Took me a while to figure that out with your mother. You're ahead of schedule."

Mikhail arrives with two other men, and we shift to business.

Territory disputes, shipment schedules, the delicate balance of power that keeps Jacksonville from erupting into war.

It's tedious but necessary—the administrative side of the empire.

"What about the Culebra?" I ask eventually. "Any movement from Bembe?"

"Funny you should ask." Mikhail pulls up something on his tablet. "He's been testing what he can get away with,again. Nothing major—messages, minor provocations. But he's definitely recovered enough to cause trouble."

"The club notice yet?"

"Hard not to. Three of their guys got harassed last week. Nothing they couldn't handle, but still."

I think about Revna's father, about the debt owed for two dead prospects. "They'll retaliate eventually."

"Might be sooner than eventually," my father observes. "My sources say Runes is calling a vote. Full table."

A full table vote means serious action.

The kind that usually ends with bodies.

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