Page 44 of Emerald

“He’s not stronger than me,” I protest. “He may have made some alliances, but—“

She cuts me off.

“It doesn’t matter if you could take him in a fair fight,” she says. “He’s not going to play fair. And even if he did, and even if you won, you’re going to lose a lot of men.”

That’s true. I have a vision of two armies facing each other, taking turns firing at each other with their muskets. It’s a stupid way to fight.

Sloane taps the nail of her index finger against her bottom teeth.

“Let’s put aside the idea of revenge, just for the moment,” she says. “Instead of trying to kill Remizov outright, how can you weaken him? You want to cut him a hundred times with a poisoned blade, before you strike the fatal blow.”

“I can’t just attack his businesses and supply lines outright. He’s got the commissioner and the governor on his side.”

“No,” Sloane agrees. “You’ll have to get creative. But that will be better anyway, psychologically speaking. If you can destroy his assets one by one, without him even being sure who’s done it or how, that’s going to put him in a worse state anyway.”

I think of my men downstairs. My brother, cousins, friends since childhood.

“He doesn’t have a family,” I say, thinking out loud. “His men are all hired.”

“That’s right,” Sloane says. “They’re not actually loyal to him. He pays them. And they might be afraid of him. But the bond isn’t as strong.”

I think of his actions so far. One of his first moves was the raid on the diamond district. He needed money.

“Find his cash and you can bleed him out,” Sloane says. “Without money, he’ll lose his men.”

“You are a clever little fox,” I growl in her ear, pulling her even closer against me. “You should give up your job as the grim reaper and come work for me.”

I feel her stiffen.

“I don’t work for anyone,” she says. Her voice is cold. I’ve offended her.

“I know,” I say quickly. “Of course you don’t. I wouldn’t want to, either.”

She relaxes, ever so slightly.

But she’s still on her guard.

I stroke her hair, which is still damp and smells nicely of my shampoo. I use long, slow, heavy strokes with my fingers. I’m deliberately soothing and quieting her. I want her to sleep next to me tonight.

I can feel her body growing warmer and heavier. Her breathing slowing.

“You want to stay here with me?” I ask her, my voice barely more than a whisper.

“Mm hmm,” she says, nuzzling all the closer against me.

I probably should, at the very least, remove all the guns from the room.

But I’m just as drained and relaxed as Sloane.

In this moment, there’s almost nothing that could pull me away from this bed, and the woman lying in my arms.

* * *

13

Sloane

Foxes are hunters, but they don’t rely on brute strength. They’re subtle and clever. Fond of outwitting others.

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