Page 110 of Tyrant (The Villetti Chronicles)

“I’m supposin’ you want a favour for that.”

I cocked my head to the side.

“No favours. Just know I own you and your gang now. You can continue to run things your way but know I rule this city. You’ll answer to me if I deem it necessary.”

Rising from my seat, I met Colm’s eyes as I tugged at my sleeves to straighten them.

“You see, Russo thought he was smart when he ran this city, but fear only breeds dissent. I’m a fair man, Mr Moran. The only thing I demand is respect. You respect me. I’ll make sure your little problems go away without causing a scene. Keep you in the position you’ve become accustomed to. And if you betray me, I’ll repay the favour in kind. Am I making myself clear?”

He stared at me for a long moment.

“In case you’re struggling with your decision, I know you’ve been angling for membership here for quite some time. Consider it a welcome gift. You can stay for my special club night, see if it lives up to its reputation.”

I flicked a piece of lint off the sleeve of my suit.

“Just know, if you refuse my very generous offer, you might not live to see next week. I won’t kill you, but Robbie… I can’t make any promises there. Choose wisely, Mr Moran.”

Colm’s face went a rather unattractive shade of purple. I knew he would probably mouth off at me if he thought it would do him any good. Watching him try to compose himself amused me. He’d played right into my hand, and it was obvious he hated it.

“Ach, you’ve made yourself very clear, Mr Villetti,” he ground out through his teeth.

I came around the desk and put my hand out to him.

“Do we have a deal?”

For a moment, I thought he would refuse, but Colm stepped forward and shook my hand.

“Pleasure doin’ business with you,” he said with as much fake enthusiasm as he could muster.

“I assure you, the pleasure is all mine.”

I led him away to the door and opened it. Standing outside with a rather bored look on her face was Remi. She plastered a smile on it the moment she saw us.

“Now, Remi here will show you around.” I pushed him towards her. “Just a word of warning though, she is not on the menu. If you touch her, I will remove the offending body part with my own hands. Have a nice evening, Mr Moran. I’ll be in touch soon.”

I shut the door behind him, but not before I caught him paling at my words. Remi was used to me threatening men to keep their limbs to themselves on her behalf. She might not like me interfering in her life, but her safety was a different matter. No one in the club was touched without their explicit consent. Even the clients with the most fucked up depraved fantasies weren’t allowed to stray outside of the boundaries they’d set with my staff. There were no debates or second chances. Fuck up once, you’re out.

I let out a long sigh and rubbed my face. The past couple of weeks had been rough. Making backroom deals and forcing gangsters and criminals into obeying me wasn’t my idea of fun, but it was necessary. You don’t become king without putting the work in. There was still more to be done, but I’d brought the major players into the fold by manipulation and force. My father had no fucking idea what he’d unleashed the moment he told me to send Arianna back to Bennett. Told her she wasn’t worthy. Myqueenwas more than worthy of her crown.

There was a light knock at my door. I smiled when it opened, revealing my Tinkerbell. She walked in and stood before me. Neither of us spoke for a long minute. We took each other in after two long fucking weeks apart.

“Do you like it?” she asked, running her hands over her very short, blood-red dress.

“I think whoever picked it has excellent taste.”

The way her chestnut eyes twinkled had me licking my lip.

“Then I should thank him.”

“You should.”

She reached out, taking my hand in hers and pressed her lips to the centre of my palm before releasing it. Her way of thanking me for the dress I’d sent with Arlo. He’d left two hours ago to give her ample time to get ready to be my date for the special club night. I couldn’t go another minute without her. My father was still watching me, but I didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t going to keep me from her any longer.

“You changed your hair.”

It was braided, and those small braids had been piled on top of her head in a sleek bun.

The shy smile on her face made me want to tug her against me and devour that pretty mouth until she was a panting mess.

---