Page 119 of Root

“No?”

“No. She doesn’t die. Or her brother.”

“There’s collateral damage, you fucking know that.”

“I’m not you, Niko-oolai. Lucy’s on board.”

He eyes me. “She is?”

I nod.

“Did you fuck her, too?”

“Contrary to your belief, I don’t fuck every woman who appears. I mean, I haven’t fucked Rose or Mia.”

“If you did that,” he says, “you wouldn’t like the consequences.”

I get another weight, something light, and start doing bicep curls.

“Do you know how much that fucking suit costs?”

“I’m aware,” I say. “My point is, I’m not a total fuck boy.”

“So how do you plan on saving your little mission of the fucking heart, Rush?”

“By being me. Talking to them. We still carry out our plan, but give me a chance to get the brother out.”

“Her fucking brother?” He doesn’t ask why. He doesn’t do anything apart from move on to his next question. “And what about her? How do you plan on punishing her?”

“I’m not, Nikolai.”

I wait for him to tell me no, to lay down his laws. But he’s just silent as he starts doing some complicated planks that make my abs ache in sympathy for his.

“I’m going to use her, they know her, and since she’s the one with the friends in low places here, we can present a front. And who knows, maybe when this is done she can work for the outfit? She’s smart enough to talk to everyone and those who work in the lower levels need someone who gets them. Someone who comes from nothing.”

He doesn’t point out he came from nothing and I wait. And wait.

“They won’t fucking go for happy families.”

“They’ll be intrigued. And talk. She told me…she said they want dirt on you over Finnegan.”

“And they fucking think I just leave shit around.” He shakes his head as he sits up. “Maybe you’re right.” Nikolai gets to his feet. “This is yours. Pull it off. All of it. The girl, the gang, and the back up in the form of Smith Family and our colleagues. Impress me, Rush.”

“Nikolai?”

“What the fuck now?” He gets to his feet and throws a towel over his shoulder. “I’ve got things to do. The world did not stop fucking turning because I was away.”

“The bar sits on an important piece of land.”

“I know.”

I frown. “So when this is sorted, that needs to be addressed.”

“I can’t take it, and the Smiths don’t want to officially claim it.”

“What if it’s something else?”

“Like what?” he asks.

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