Page 106 of Once A Crime Lord

She froze. Everyone knew about the notorious Roman family from New York. She knew the Pyres were related to the Romans but had never met any of them until now. “You’re visiting?”

“Something like that,” he said with a smile she didn’t trust.

The door behind her opened and Blade appeared.

“Angel,” Blade said, voice tight.

“Old man,” Angel acknowledged and jerked his thumb at the Bugatti. “Want a ride? I’m testing out Gavin’s car to see what I want to buy.”

“I’ll take her,” Blade interjected and gestured to the guards to bring a car around.

“We’ll meet you there,” Angel said and draped an arm across her shoulders.

“Angel—” Blade began.

Angel turned his head. All signs of the affable bad boy vanished. His eyes were cold and sinister.

“I know who she is. You think I’d let anything happen to her?”

Blade said nothing.

“We’ll meet you there,” Angel said firmly and led her to the Bugatti.

She glanced at Angel as he climbed into the driver’s seat and revved the engine.

“We always have drivers,” Angel said conversationally as he peeled out of the driveway and barreled toward the gates. “This car is nice. What car do you drive?”

“Blade usually drives,” she said faintly as they passed through the gates with inches to spare.

“Maybe when this is over you can drive yourself,” Angel said easily as he shifted gears and put on mirrored shades.

Silence fell. She didn’t feel like talking, especially to someone she didn’t know. She looked out at the desert, which passed in a blur thanks to Angel. He might not drive often, but he handled the car with the efficiency of a race car driver.

“Gavin’s going to fix this.”

She tensed but didn’t look at him.

“He came to New York, said he wanted to step down because you’ve paid too high a price for his role. We heard what happened to Uncle Manny and Vinny, but we weren’t able to come out for the funerals. Shit’s been tense in the city. We thought everything here was taken care of until Gavin showed up and told us about this fucker.”

Something clicked in her brain. “You’re taking his spot?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t know what you’re taking on.”

“You know who I am.”

“Yes.”

“Then you know I was born and bred for this.”

“Gavin was too.”

“Gavin would do it for the rest of his life, but you want out, so he’ll give you that. He’s fully capable of doing this until the end of time.” He shifted gears and then said, “You didn’t grow up in the life. I get it, and hearing what you went through, what you’re still going through, I don’t blame you.”

“You said Gavin went to New York?” she asked quietly.

“Yes.”

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