Page 20 of King of Sinners

“And besides, since when do we make a practice of allowing upstarts to make the rules? We don’t allow anyone to tell us what to do. Ever.”

I see my words sway the other men. They know I’m right.

“If I say that I have their witness well in hand, then the Dukes, out of proper respect, ought to take me at my word and leave the issue be.”

Jake scratches his chin, and I can see he agrees with my argument. It’s old school in a way he likes…

Leo’s lip curls. “Maybe we should vote on whether or not to turn?—"

Roman stands too, his eyes sparking fire as he glares at Leo. “We’re not voting on her life.”

Every eye is on him now.

“I’ve got to meet this girl,” Jake says, pulling a cigar out of his pocket and lighting it in the conference room. He sets the sprinklers off regularly, but the fucker lights up anyway.

Roman’s hand slashes through the air. “It’s not like that.” His gaze goes back to Leo. “She begged Mason last night to take her life instead of handing her over. She’s got a warrior’s heart and that’s not the kind of person you just toss away, Leo.”

“You respect a woman? That is interesting…” Jake grins around his cigar. “More interesting than you wanting to fuck her, that’s for sure.”

Roman’s lip curls. “We don’t make decisions with our dicks. It’s Leo who is forgetting that. Not me.”

“We don’t need to vote. Not yet.” I pick up a pen standing it on the desk, sliding my fingers down its surface. When I reach the bottom, I flip the pen and start at the top. It’s calming and distracting. “I’ve nearly got the permits for the tunnel that will cut the Italians out of the chain of casinos. If I get the job done, we’ll make a different kind of deal with the Dukes. One where they forget Charlotte exists and we give them some part of the Italians’ bones to pick. It will be a win-win.”

The casinos are connected by above-ground walkways. But I’m about to get digging rights. And when I do, the Italians are going to take a real hit in earnings, their traffic being seriously diminished. That’s when I’ll call in my debts and buy them out.

“And Charlotte?” Leo asks, his teeth clenched and his jaw hard. “What are you going to do with her while you haggle digging rights?”

“She stays put for now. No one speaks a word about her.”

Leo moves so fast, if I were a different man, I wouldn’t be able to react. He vaults over the table landing next to my chair.

But I see it coming and push out of the seat, standing to face off with him on even ground. He leans forward, his face an inch from mine as he spits. “She should be staying with me.”

Now we were at the heart of the problem.

Leo is still pissed I cock-blocked him two years ago. He knows how to hold a grudge, and in this one, I can’t blame him.

I’ve never put my desires before my brothers and he knows I did this time. Knows there has been a shift. It’s dangerous ground because I’ve never done it before. Those kind of moves were for my father. And how he’d ended up dead.

Which is why, I never let that shit happen. But Charlotte’s the kind of beautiful that can make a man froth. Pit them against one another. Even brothers.

Maybe I should give her up to him. He was the one that asked her out and brought her around. “No.” The word rips from my mouth before I can hold it back.

Roman is now standing next to us like a referee in a boxing match. “She’s staying with Mason,” Roman answers quietly backing me.

I’m not certain why Roman is on my side in all this, and it’s not the time to ask.

Leo turns his head, his face now in Roman’s, the veins of his neck popping out. “Who the fuck are you to decide anything?”

Roman’s brows cock as he eases back. “The man who rescued her.”

Silence falls as those words sink in. Roman chose to bring her to me because he agrees that’s where she belongs.

She does. I can feel that now. But I can also feel some loyalty shifting with Leo in a way that is so dangerous.

“Don’t worry,” Luke calls from his seat at the table. “Mason will give her up if it’s in the best interest of the family. We’re all still clear on where our allegiances lie.”

“That so,” Leo answers, his voice smooth velvet. Which is much worse than when he’s spitting and yelling. “I want to hear that from his lips. Mason?”

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