Page 5 of Princes of Carnage

I’m tempted to tell him to go fuck himself, but the fact that this unknown attacker is targeting another territory besides just Enigma’s throws a new twist into the situation. It means they’re bolder than I realized, since Carnage definitely has a reputation for being the kind of gang you don’t want to fuck with, and that means I really need to take care of this threat soon.

Before it gets any worse.

“I don’t know,” I finally admit. “This latest attack was the most egregious, and it’s what makes me positive that this is more than just random acts of violence.”

“Hm.” Nico’s finger taps against the pulse point on my wrist as he thinks that over. Then he nods. “It’s mostly the same for us. We’ve had a few people run into issues while out doing jobs, but it just seemed like random shit. I didn’t think much of it. Then we had a big drop go missing, and the runner who was supposed to be taking care of it didn’t come back for two days. He says he woke up and had no idea where he was or what the fuck happened and made his way back as soon as he could.”

“Do you believe him?” I ask, glancing between Nico and his two friends. Killian’s expression is so blankly impassive that it’s almost eerie, and Atlas has a hard look on his face that makes me think he’s not a huge fan of this ‘teaming up’ idea.

Nico shrugs, making a low noise in his throat. “If it wasn’t for the other attacks, I might not have. But considering everything else, and this guy’s track record? Yeah. I do. Which means someone is fucking with us, and I can’t let that stand.”

His words are almost an echo of what I was thinking earlier, and the fact that someone seems to be targeting both Enigma and Carnage means it might be bigger than I expected. Someone going after one gang is one thing—that happens all the time. But trying to take on two at once? That takes guts.

“Alright,” I say, my voice clipped. “I’ll consider sharing info with you if I get any leads. If there’s a threat that’s coming for both of us, then we’ll take them out.”

Nico studies my face for a second, like he’s gauging whether or not to believe me. I just stare back at him, ignoring the way he and Atlas are both standing so close that their combined scents are filling my nostrils. I can’t quite tell which scent belongs to which man, but it’s a mixture of something spicy and something woodsy and citrusy.

Finally he nods, looking satisfied. He jerks his head at his two friends, and Atlas lets me away from the wall, dusting off his tattooed hands. Killian backs up, and Nico steps back as well, releasing my wrists.

As soon as I’m back on solid ground and have space to move, my guard comes right back up. I lift my chin and square my shoulders, my hands still curled into loose fists.

I know Nico is trying to play it off as if I’m the one who attacked him unprovoked after he caught me by surprise, forcing him and his men to restrain me so that I couldn’t claw his eyes out or whatever. But I don’t give a fuck if he came here with the most innocent intentions in the world. I’ve never regretted striking first. Nothing gets my hackles up faster than being put in a position of weakness, and I’ll be damned if I let it happen again.

In the back of my head though, there’s still that flash of heat from before, and I can almost feel the phantom touch of Atlas’s thigh against my body.

Fuck.

I run a hand through my hair, trying to shake it off. “We’re done here,” I say coolly. “Unless you’ve got anything else you want to ask me for. Although if you want any more favors, you’ll have to get down on your knees and beg like a good boy.”

Nico’s eyes harden, and a little flash of victory shoots through me. He and his men might’ve gotten under my skin with their unexpected appearance here today… but I’ve gotten under his too.

“It’s not a favor,” he grunts. “It’s a partnership.”

I snort. “Sure.”

“Let’s go,” Nico says to the other two, and they all move in unison the way I’ve seen them do before, turning as one to leave.

They head toward a door at the back of the large, mostly empty space, but before they get far, a sudden urge prompts me to open my mouth again.

“Nico!” I call, and he stops in his tracks. “If it had just been the two of us, I could have fucking taken you. Remember that.”

He looks at me over his shoulder, his mismatched eyes glinting in the dusty gray light. “Then it’s a good thing Atlas and Killian always have my back. Tell me, Quinn. Who has yours?”

His words take me by surprise, knocking me back on my heels a bit—or maybe it’s not the words so much as the fact that I have no ready answer for his question. So I just scowl at him until he turns away again. Without another word, the three of them leave, slipping out of the warehouse as quietly as they must have entered it.

“Goddammit,” I mutter under my breath.

With the three Princes gone, it’s just me and the silence of the warehouse again. I came in here for a reason, and I force myself to focus on it. If I’m going to be sharing info with Nico and his seconds, then I need to have something useful to contribute.

But another five or ten minutes of searching still doesn’t turn up anything. Nothing seems out of place or suspicious. It’s all just the usual shit you’d expect for an abandoned warehouse in the shittiest part of town.

Defeated and frustrated, I head back to where we left the cars, arriving just as the others start to return from their searches as well. I glance at that dark stain on the ground as they gather around me, Nico’s words echoing in my mind.

Tell me, Quinn. Who has yours?

I have loyal soldiers in my gang, absolutely. People who’ve been a part of it since the early days, people my dad would have trusted with his life and mine. But despite all of that, there’s no one I can trust quite like I trusted my father. And although Emmett is helpful with running some of the day-to-day operations of the gang and can be a good sounding board when I’m working through decisions, I don’t have any trusted seconds like Nico does. No one looms behind me at all times like a shadow, like a part of me, ready to take someone down for so much as breathing wrong in my direction. I guess in a way, I’ve always known that, but I hate Nico for pointing it out.

On top of everything else I hate him for.

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