Page 83 of His Reluctant Savior

He eyed me dubiously, but I was still there breathing, showing he was willing to listen. “Out with it. What changes? My asking does not mean I accept.”

“First, he wants us to do checks on all clients. I know Layla does it sometimes for the more iffy clients, but he wants us to look at every single one. He’s right when he says sometimes the clients are worse than the targets. Look at what he’s just gone through. Had we not been hired, I wouldn’t have been able to save him.”

“That can be an easy enough change. The client does not have to know we are watching. And the second thing?”

I downed the rest of my drink, setting down my glass, not pouring another, needing to keep a level head.

“He wants us to stop killing anyone simply because we’re paid. He would like The District to take on jobs of those deserving death, not innocent men and women, because they’re in the way of larger machinations.”

Malik shook his head, surprisingly calm. I expected him to blow with that one. “We are killers, Sid. And who is to say who is innocent or not? Us?”

“Would you say that to children like Sully? Luca? Dante? Easton? Me? You? Look at our family. We wereallinnocent once. We all suffered at the hands of someone else who had more power and control. We could actually make real changes. Men like my uncle or Dante’s father were powerful men. The law would never have found them and convicted them. It is up to people like us to end the cycle. While it doesn’t change who we are, it changes who we take on as clients. As Dalton said, we could be the outlier and actually make a big name for ourselves in the underground world while keeping competition down, which in turn, protects us and those we love.”

He huffed a laugh. “You make a great speech, Sid, but you know as well as I that men never change. Kill one evil man, and another takes his place.”

I sat down and nodded. “Then what the hell are we doing? Why do we bother to do what we do? For money? We have more money now that we know what to do with. That we are killers because this is all we know, and we will never fit into regular society? Sure. Hell, we never fit into other organizations either simply because of who we are as queer men… and woman. I don’t know about you, but in the few weeks I’ve been gone, everything has become clearer and put more into perspective for me. I guess love will do that.”

“The family might not go for it.”

I perked up. “Does that mean it’s a yes, Mal? We created The District together. This is our baby. We can make it any way we see fit. The family will go for it because they will listen to you. Not me so much anymore until they trust me again. And they will stay because what they do for us won’t change. What does it matter to them if we kill some human sex trafficker as long as they can take out the intended target?”

Malik quirked a smile my way. “Sully will not be pleased.”

“Sully can get over it. He, too, can still do what he does. Just don’t share the gory details with Dalton.”

“Very well. I will have a talk with them.”

“Does that mean Dalton can come on board?”

“If he betrays us, you both will die.”

“Deal.”

“And I will have Sully do the job.”

“Your threat is loud and clear.”

Malik stood, donned his suit jacket, and put on his tie. “Now, to give them the news.”

I stood in front of him and straightened his tie. “Wait. I would like to catch up with you for a moment.”

Malik’s black eyes were wary again.

“Easton told me Sully had hurt you.”

“How would Easton know such a thing?” he asked.

“He’s observant, and if anyone understands what Sully is, it’s him.”

Malik sighed and nodded. “Sully chased after some men who wanted me dead. Those men were tied to the death of Sully’s family. I told him to stay away, but in his constant endeavor to protect me, he disobeyed me and learned the truth that the death of his family had been my call. You know very well I never ordered his family to die, only the father, but the killer took it upon himself to murder everyone. Sully had almost died from it but was put into foster care at my bidding, which resulted in his sexual assaults and the death of his best friend. All his pain had been my doing over one decision. When he learned of this… let us just say he was not happy and nearly killed me… and rightly so. I do not blame him.”

I gripped Malik’s shoulder tenderly. “And decisions like that are the very reason we should change The District. We cannot let something like that happen again. How do you feel now?”

“I am well, but once he learned of my betrayal, I lost some power and control over him. Be warned that he will not always listen to me now.”

I nodded. “Understood.”

I sat on the couch next to Luca, watching a nature show played on the TV as Owen slept on my lap.

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