Page 8 of Cardinal

Sighing heavily, I rubbed my temples and peered over my hand at Leah, who flitted around the kitchen, throwing a meal together. "Not without a damn good reason, and even then, I get to take out the trash because it's my problem. Her damn business is within my territory, so the fact something like this happened right under my nose." Yeah, that got my blood boiling.

Like the others in The East Coast Syndicate, I ran a clean business. Every business within our territories had a set of laws they had to abide by, lest they want to face our wrath. Our concrete laws were simple: elderly, children, and innocent bystanders were never to be involved in any kind of illegal or illicit activities; no trafficking humans; any and all underground and illegal activities were to be run by a standing Syndicate member; and pay your damn fees to The Syndicate.

We were only dirty because we ran illicit weapons and drugs, had our hands dipped into the underground and black market in the state, and partook in some trafficking of goods, but that was about it. Still, with everything going on, we held the reins. Black market or not, there were things never to be sold or used. It was ironic for a ruthless mafia to talk about morals, rights and wrongs, and whether things were humane. But what was the point of having total power and control if it can't be used for our desires?

Besides that, we were all fucked up people in our own ways.

"At least let me cut up her face and let her suffer for a few days before you kill her." Leah's grumbling pulled me from my thoughts with a chuckle.

"Tempting, I'll think about it." I honestly might because some shame and humiliation before a brutal death sounded lovely.

"She deserves worse. I mean, there's no way this girl is the first. Lady Heral's been in business before we took over, so imagine how much has happened before and probably after." Leah, having the most heart out of all of us, was rightfully upset and probably correct.

There's no way this girl was her first offense. Which pissed me off because, again, it meant she'd been doing this right under my nose. It made me wonder just exactly how long she'd been at this until this little slip-up. How long would things have gone on if this girl hadn't escaped and my car hadn't hit her? What if I hadn't been held up at the meeting? I could have easily missed her, and things would have gone on.

Gritting my teeth, I took a deep breath while deepening my scowl. "Has she said anything? The girl. How is she doing?" Therein lies my second problem.

What the fuck am I to do with her?

"Juliet. Her name's Juliet." Leah corrected me with a stern look before going back to tossing stuff onto some food tray. "But no, she hasn't said anything. She hasn't been able to. I wish I could say she's doing fine, but I haven't been able to examine her yet. Clearly, she's not fine. No one is ever fine if they come out one end looking like they got jumped in an alleyway. Poor thing literally just turned eighteen, as her birthday is today."

"What?!" I hadn't meant to snap, but hearing the last bit caught me off guard.

"She was seventeen up until now based on the birthdate that she gave me." Leah gave out a heavy and sad sigh, shaking her head in shame as she passed me with the food tray. "She wasn't legal when she entered that place."

As I was about to offer Leah a helping hand, one of my men appeared to let me know of Lady Heral's arrival. My already sour mood rotted and turned foul as I entered my office, where the baneful woman and her guards occupied. "You know why I called for this meeting, Caroline?" I wasn't in the mood for any bullshit, and my curt, sharp tone meant I was in a foul mood.

"You can't just send your men barging into my business like that." Maybe she lacked far more brain cells than I credited her for.

"I can, and I did." I raised my voice a little to put myself higher in the room. "It may be your business, but do not forget who you work for at the end of the day." Giving her a pointed look, I continued, "You know the rules, Caroline, and you're lucky I didn't blow your brains out last night. I suggest you start coming up with excuses and ways to beg for your life while my men tear apart the lounge from the basement up." Gives me more time to think of ways to deal with her. A quick death would be too easy. I needed to send a message to everyone else with her.

"Listen, I don't know—"

Caroline flinched at the sudden boom my hand made against my desk when I slammed it down. "Don't fucking bullshit me, Caroline. That girl came from your club, and your men went after her to collect her. She's seventeen. Seven. Teen. Not only is she underage, but you also broke the rules." Okay, she was seventeen, but Caroline didn't need to know that—besides, I wanted more reason to set fire to her right now.

"She snuck in, got into something she shouldn't have, and threatened to go to the cops. That's why I sent my men after her. I needed them to collect her so I could deal with her correctly." A plausible story, but she shouldn't be in such a state if that were the case.

Surely, if something that unsavory happened within the walls of Caroline's business, then she'd know and put a stop to it before it got out of hand. Besides, Juliet was much too broken to fit the story Caroline tried to weave with me. Juliet's eyes were filled with fear and desperation before they became desolate when her light faded to almost nothing.

Honestly, I wouldn't have bothered taking her back to my home if she were anyone else. But something about her reached deeply into me and gripped at my soul the moment her warm, brown eyes landed on me. Even though she remained in a flighty state, I saw the way her eyes relaxed upon the sight of me.

Usually, the sight of me brought fear and terror, but she looked so relieved, comforted, and safe. She marveled at me as if I was her salvation.

"Why do you even care about some stupid little teenager anyway? Just release her back to me, and I'll deal with it all so you can keep your hands clean and happy. You already have a lot on your hands, and surely you don't need this nuisance either." She seemed a little too eager to get her hands on Juliet, though. The over-stretched smile with the taut eyes plucked at my nerves that already stood on end.

Seething out a low growl, I gripped the desk's edges and narrowed my eyes at Caroline. "Because she came stumbling out of your establishment like a damn zombie. No, wait, let me rephrase that: because that teenager came stumbling out of your establishment beaten, bloodied, and halfway to Death. Obviously, you're incapable of handling a damn child because if you had a handle on her, then she wouldn't have gotten into the lounge in the first place, and if she somehow did, then she shouldn't have gotten into such a dire situation to end up in the state she did. Since it's blatantly obvious that you cannot handle her, I won't be handing her over to you to fuck things up further. Why was she even there? Children like her don't exactly break into lounges at that hour of the night for shit and giggles." Time to see what I could pull from her.

Remaining tight-lipped, Caroline averted her eyes from me until I pounded a fist onto the desk to snap her attention back to my stern face. "Quit wasting my time, Caroline. I have much better things to waste my time on than you." I seethed through a scowl. "Whether you leave here in one piece is up to you. I am prepared to dispose of you right here, right now, and deal with the bullshit of your pathetic death." Taking in a deep breath, I kept a lid on my rising anger. "So, if you want to leave here alive, I suggest you start telling the truth."

The older woman's shoulders deflated with a long sigh, and her eyes averted from me to the side for a split second. "Her parents owe me money, bad deals, about 5.3 million. She was just there to work it off however she could. They told me she was going to be eighteen in a few days." It wasn't a lie, but I sensed she held something back. "Listen, she knew her reason for being there, and how she worked off the debt was up to her. There are plenty of things to do at the lounge. She's seventeen, so she's legal to work—"

I quickly snapped at her with a snarl, "Only in certain establishments and to a certain time only. You have to be at least eighteen to work in an adult-only establishment. So, your point is moot and rounds us back to the point of the fact that she should have been nowhere near or in the lounge. Which, again, brings us back to my point of you being irresponsible, so no, I won't be handing Juliet over to you."

I wanted to swipe the smirk off her face with a knife. "Oh? First name basis, are we? Is there another reason why you won't return her to me? I don't see why else you'd be making such a big deal unless you're involved with her." Damn snake, trying to turn this back around on me. "You and I both know debts need to be paid by any means, and don't act as if some of your staff are here of their own volition."

"Of course, I'd be on a first-name basis with my betrothed. I'm making a big deal because you touched what is mine. She was promised to me to relieve a debt owed to me, and we are to wed once she is of legal age. I wasn't allowed around her until she turned eighteen and graduated high school, but given the new circumstances, my presence in her life is needed now. She is payment to me, my possession, my soon-to-be wife, mine."

What. The. Fuck!

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