Page 124 of Ruthless Creatures
I can see it in my head, like a scene from a movie. A long table surrounded by dangerous-looking men wearing black overcoats andsmoking cigars, everyone staring with suspicion at each other with narrowed eyes, weapons cocked under the table.
“Anyway, things got hairy, and the Irish pulled out their guns. From what I could overhear, it sounded pretty bloody.”
I slump into my chair, feeling sick. “Was this meeting Christmas Eve?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because Kage showed up on my doorstep in the middle of the night with a bullet wound.”
Sloane’s eyes widen. “Oh, shit. Is he okay?”
“He’s fine. I stitched him up.”
She blinks. “You did what, now?”
I wave a hand in the air dismissively. “It’s easier than it sounds. Back to the meeting. What else happened?”
“So apparently the Russians have been top dogs on the East Coast for decades now. Even with their leader, Maxim, in prison for the past few years, they’ve got the most powerful operation. All the other families have made agreements with them to get their goods through the ports—”
“Goods?”
“Contraband. Weapons. Drugs. Anyway, the Irish blamed the Russians for the massacre at La Cantina. I guess no one has shot each other for years. It violated some kind of truce agreement. Plus, one of the Irish guys who was killed was a nephew of somebody important. So they wanted some kind of compensation. And their demands didn’t go over well. By the time that meeting ended, bodies littered the place.”
She takes another sip of her wine. “So now it’s war.”
“And this upcoming meeting in New York? Who organized that?”
“Your man.” Her smile is soft. “It was supposed to be sooner, but he said it had to wait.”
I close my eyes and press a hand over my throbbing heart.
Kage held off a war-planning meeting so he could spend the holidays with me.
Sloane huffs out a disgusted breath. “I know. It’s sickeningly romantic. Anyway, that’s all I know. Let’s get drunk.”
I jolt from my chair and start to pace in front of the table.
Pouring herself another glass of wine, Sloane eyes me. “You look exactly like Stavros right now.”
“How can you be so calm? They’re going to war!”
“I feel for you, babe, because of Kage and all, but it’s over between me and Stavros.”
I pull up short and stare at her. “What happened?”
She peers at me over the rim of her wineglass. “Did you miss the part where I said he bored me to tears? I broke it off. Being with a man twenty-four hours a day is exhausting.”
She shrugs again, takes another sip. “Tell me more about what happened when the police showed up here. Get me all caught up to date.”
I take a moment to admire her poise.
In less than two weeks, she’s been involved in a public shooting, seen four men die, flown to Rome, sailed the Mediterranean, eavesdropped on a bunch of murderous gangsters to get information, and broken up with her billionaire boyfriend, all without a chip in her manicure or the smallest scratch in her aplomb.
She’s so cool, James Dean would be jealous.
I sit back down and start at the beginning, since we last saw each other. When I’m done, she shakes her head.
“So Chris is still holding a torch for you. That’s a problem.”
