Page 40 of Once A Crime Lord

It was hard to feel sympathetic after his perverted welcome. “Why’d Gavin shoot you?”

“Because he was pissed.”

“So, he shot you?”

“I pulled a gun on him, he dodged the bullet, and I hit Steven instead.” He nodded at his mute son with the cane.

She reached into her purse and closed her hand around her pistol. This bastard could have killed Gavin. Of course, the one room Blade didn’t check had to be occupied by Gavin’s enemies. Did Steven and his father run the prostitution ring? Steven looked like a nerdy professor, not a part of the underworld. Steven didn’t fit in with his family. No wonder he was so... odd.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“I’m Paul Vega.” He waited for a reaction, and when he didn’t get one, he said, “I’m offended your husband didn’t think to warn you away from us. Is he here?”

“Yes, he’s on his way,” she lied.

“That bastard has ice running through his veins.” Paul shook his head and leaned back against his pillows. “He kills Santana two hours ago and then comes to an event his charity puts on. Fucking genius.”

Her hand tightened on the gun.

“He poked the hornet’s nest on this one.” Paul’s eyes gleamed. “Santana’s the biggest drug lord in Mexico. He set up shop here a couple months ago.”

And Gavin killed him two hours ago? Her stomached clenched.

Paul tried to look innocent but didn’t manage to pull it off. “I thought as his wife, you’d know such things.”

“I don’t need to know what’s happening in the underworld,” she said.

“You’re missing out.” He inclined his head at Steven who was doing a great imitation of a statue. “He just started talking again.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your husband broke Steven’s jaw and shattered his kneecap. He’s had two surgeries and still has a fucking cane.”

She couldn’t care less about Paul, but she didn’t understand why Gavin would attack Steven. She turned to him. “Are you okay?”

Steven didn’t answer. His face was still as a lake. When they met at Lux, Steven made a friendly attempt to buy her a drink, but now he was just blank.

“Why did Gavin attack you?” she asked.

“Steven walked in after Pyre tried to choke me,” Paul answered for his son.

Reluctantly, she turned back to Paul.

“Steven tried to defend me and this is what Pyre thinks is fitting punishment” Paul snorted. “Look at him. He’s no match for your husband.”

“When did this happen?”

“Six months ago, give or take.” Paul winced as he shifted his thigh. “He still hasn’t tracked down the new crime lord, huh?”

That surprised her. “You want to track down the crime lord who killed Manny?”

“I don’t give a fuck about Manny,” Paul spat. “I tried to kill him myself, but he had a sixth sense for a setup. Wily fucker.”

She wanted to beat him with her purse. “If that’s so, then why are you looking for the other crime lord?”

“He killed my son.”

“The crime lord killed Rafael?” That rocked her world. She didn’t know Sadist had made hits on anyone but the Pyres.

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