Page 100 of Bonds of Obsession

I’ve been watching Quinn’s face, and I can see the exact moment something inside her breaks. But instead of crumbling, she seems to harden.

“There won’t be a next move,” she says, her voice carrying over the murmur of voices. “Not for Enigma.”

A shocked silence falls over everyone listening.

“What do you mean?” Cabby steps forward first, the color draining from his face. “We can rebuild. We can?—”

“No.” Quinn cuts him off. There’s a steely determination in her voice that tells me her mind is already made up. “I’m disbanding Enigma. Tonight. Right now.”

“You can’t do that!” someone shouts from the back. “This is our family!”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing it.” Her voice almost breaks, but she pushes through. “Look around you. This isn’t just business anymore. This is personal. They’re burning down our world, and I won’t—” She swallows hard. “I won’t watch anyone else die for my fights.”

“They’re our fights too,” Cabby says, but he’s just wasting his breath.

There’s nothing that’s going to change Quinn’s mind on this. Not tonight, anyway.

“Not anymore.” Quinn shakes her head. “I’m releasing all of you from the obligations you’ve made to Enigma. Take the money we saved, split it, and get out while you can.”

32

QUINN

I startto walk away from the burning shop, from my former gang, from all of it, but Cabby catches my arm before I can make it more than a couple of steps through the broken glass in the parking lot.

“Quinn, wait.” The emotion in his voice is understandable but still catches me off guard. “You’ve gotta reconsider this shit. This gang is all we’ve got.”

I don’t want to debate my decision. I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

I turn to face him, aware of others gathering around to listen. “I’ve made my decision.”

“Fuck that.” He shakes his head, agitated but respectful. “Look, we can beef up security, change how we operate?—”

“What the fuck is going on?” Damon pushes through the crowd, cutting Cabby off. “You can’t just?—”

“I can and I am.” I’m doing my best to keep my voice steady even though my heart has already broken into a million pieces. “As of right now, Enigma is done.”

“Bullshit.” Damon moves closer, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. And maybe I have, but I won’t let anyone else getsucked into my insanity. Not after tonight. “We’ve lost people before. We’ve had setbacks. That doesn’t mean we quit.”

“This isn’t quitting.” I meet his eyes, seeing the same stubborn loyalty that made him follow my father for years. “This is protecting you. All of you.”

“We don’t need protection,” someone shouts from somewhere in the crowd. “We need to fight back. Together.”

I shake my head. “Ambrose won’t stop. He’s made this personal. He’ll keep coming after everyone connected to me until there’s nothing left.” Marcos’s death flashes through my mind—another body with its face carved into a grotesque smile. “I won’t have any more deaths on my conscience.”

“So we just walk away?” Damon asks. “We let him win?”

“You walk away to survive.” I scan the faces around me, memorizing them one last time. “Anyone who stays associated with me is going to have a target on their back. I won’t risk that.”

Cabby steps closer, lowering his voice. “Your father wouldn’t want?—”

“My father is dead.” The words come out sharper than I intend, but fuck it. No sense in dancing around the truth. “And I won’t watch the rest of you die too.”

Cabby’s face falls, and I realize how big of a shock this must be to him—to all of them. Hell, it’s shocking to me, and I’m the one who made the call. This isn’t what any of us want, but I’ll be damned if I have to live out the rest of my days with more needless deaths on my conscience.

“Listen,” I continue, softening my tone just a little. Only because I’m talking to the people who are practically family now. “Ambrose isn’t like other enemies we’ve faced. He doesn’t want territory or money. He wants revenge. He won’t stop until everyone I care about is dead or broken.”

“Then let us help you take him out,” Damon insists. “We’re stronger together.”

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