Page 17 of Mine, Forever

He held out a little slip of paper for me to take. I looked at it before looking back up into his eyes. They didn’t hold fear. He knew he had nothing to fear from me, being one of my police informants.

“I believe you. I don’t need to read it.”

“Sir?”

“Well, you wouldn’t be searching my residence without a good reason. Especially not without a valid warrant, would you?” I moved past him and into my building. He followed close by waiting until we were out of earshot of others.

“Sudden warrant was granted, requested by Jenkins.”

The damn police commissioner was requesting my place to be searched now? What the hell hold did Giordy have over Jenkins—one of the only men who wasn’t on my payroll in this city?

I nodded, dismissing him and walked over to the window. Giordy stood on the opposite side of the street smirking up at me with a smug look on his face.

All of this was for Ebony. I just knew it—what was he scared she would tell me?

I continued to watch him until someone ran up to him whispering in his ear. His demeanor suddenly changed, and he jumped into a car speeding off. All of them were leaving including the cops.

“Apologies for the intrusion, Mr. Black.”

“Didn’t find what you were looking for?”

“No, it doesn’t appear she’s here.”

“She?” I feigned innocence.

“Yes… a lady named…,” he looked down at the warrant in his hand, “… Ebony Caine.”

“Well, I could have told you that.”

He left and closed the door behind him. I took my cell out of my pocket and dialed York. When he answered, the only thing I needed to say was my request. We’d never been good at hellos or goodbyes.

“Find everything you can on Ebony Caine.”

“Did you say Caine?”

A question?

York never questioned me. He simply got the job done.

“Problem?”

“No, not that I can think of.”

A lie.Was York lying to me now?

Who the hell was Ebony Caine, and how did York know her?

I hung up, trying not to think too much about who she was and why or how York knew her. He hadn’t reacted when I told him what I was going to do to her, never once had he tried to stop me. If he knew her, he would have reacted by now, which meant it wasn’t her he knew, but the name.

I thought back to her in that asylum, seeing her so scared had me hard as a rock. I knew how bad that asylum could be. In fact, I’d made it that bad for a good reason. They’d break her without even putting her name on the register. Then I’d know everything about Giordy and his plans without anyone interfering with her. She was mine—well, until I got my answers.

Obviously, she knew something Giordy couldn’t afford to get out. But he also knew something the Commissioner was keeping quiet. Why else would he do anything Giordy asked? This was a fucked situation, and it was going to rain corpses before Giordy conceded defeat to me. What the hell would Ebony know that has Giordy so scared he’s willing to start a war with me?

One thing at a time, and right now I needed to face my men and put a plan into action for retaliation against Giordy and his restaurant—again. Even though I owned most of the clubs in the city, I didn’t need the money from the loss of one establishment. But that wasn’t the point. This was about respect, and I’d lost all respect for Giordy Torelli a long time ago.

War had erupted, and I was going to claim victory, one way or another.

???

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