Chapter 23

Zander remainedin bed with Vince and Scotty for as long as he could, indulging in all the ways three bodies could fit together. By the time the heavy pounding came on the locked bedroom door, he was exhausted, body bruised and humming in only the best ways.

He didn’t want to leave.

The way Vince and Scotty stiffened next to him, they didn’t want him to leave either. But they couldn’t remain hidden in the bedroom acting as if the real world and all its problems didn’t exist.

Inhaling deeply, he hugged them close—they’d somehow ended up with Zander in the middle again, with each man on either side of him—pressing his lips to first Vince’s temple, then Scotty’s.

Something in his chest tore at the realization that this was it. He couldn’t see them anymore, wouldn’t be able to touch them, kiss them, ensure they were alright. How was he supposed to do that? How was he supposed to get on with his life as if they didn’t own him?

Scotty clung to him as Zander met Vince’s eyes. There were lots of things they didn’t voice because what was the point? After today, he and Vince would once again be on opposite sides. Vince pressed his lips together and Zander grabbed the back of his neck, leaning over to press their foreheads together.

“I wish things were different,” he murmured. But that was all he could do…wish.

Vince nodded mutely.

“Take care of him,” Zander rasped. “Take care of each other.”

“I will,” Vince choked out, then his hands were on Zander, cupping his jaw, lips on his brow, his nose. “Don’t die.” His hand shook against Zander’s face. “Please.” His voice cracked.

Zander had only had Derri to worry about him and even that had been…a different kind of thing because Derri was hardened by the life they led and the things they’d done. His love for Zander was just as hard and battered, sandpaper rough. Derri had never shown fear for Zander’s life. But now fear stared back at him when he gazed down at the two men in his arms. They worried for him in an entirely different way—soft and pure but somehow still managing to shatter him—and Zander just wanted to gather them close and never leave that bed.

The knock came again: insistent, impatient.

Their time, as short and unexpected as it’d been, was up.

He didn’t linger this time. He pressed a hard kiss to Vince’s lips, murmuring, “I’ll be fine.” Then he turned to Scotty, who made no show of hiding his emotions. His eyes were red, and the tip of his nose was too. Zander kissed him, nuzzled his throat, then yanked himself away, rolling off the bed.

They watched him in silence, curled around each other, as he got dressed. He yanked the door open. Of course Derri stood there, not bothering to hide his scowl.

“The meetings have been set,” he said curtly. “They’re expecting you.”

Zander nodded. “Let’s go.” He stepped outside.

“Wait! Zander!”

He spun around at Scotty’s cry. The younger man got out of bed and ran to him, clad in only his underwear, with bites and scratches on display on his skin. He touched Zander’s face when they stood chest to chest.

“You’ll keep in touch?” he queried softly. “Let us know you’re okay?”

“I will.” Keeping in touch wasn’t a good idea, everybody knew that, but he would find a way. For Scotty. For them. With a gentle pinch to Scotty’s chin, he walked away, closing the door on the temptation to be selfish for once in his life. To forget about loyalties and responsibilities and just be with the men he loved.

The men who loved him.

Because he did. And though they hadn’t exchanged the words, he knew they did too.

He waited until they were back in his room before he told Derri, “I want them taken to wherever they want to go. And keep eyes on them. At all times.” He wasn’t about to play with their safety, not one bit. “Make sure our people know to stay undetectable and not to make contact.

“How could you?”

He stiffened at those shaking words, turning to face Derri.

“You love them, don’t you?”

He released a sigh. “Derri?—”

“No, I want to hear you say you love the fed and the junkie. Because it seems like you’ve forgotten the kind of man you are.”

Cocking his head, Zander asked, “What kind of man am I?”

“Not the good kind.” Derri shook his head with a dark chuckle. “You think because the fed let you fuck him that he loves you? And that junkie would do anything for?—”

Zander rammed his fist into Derri’s jaw, grabbing him by the throat when he stumbled back. “Don’t ever call him that, but yes.” He stared into his ex-lover’s eyes. “I love them, Derri,” he said calmly. With his free hand, he swiped his thumb through the trickle of blood on the other man’s chin. “I love them and I’m walking away from them anyway, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t still deal with anyone who even looks at them sideways.” He allowed a cruel smile to curve his lips. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, but know that if anything were to happen to either of those men, you will be at the top of my suspect list and”—he lowered his head until their noses bumped—“I. Will. Destroy. You.” He released Derri, shoving him away. “Your only job as of this moment is to ensure that nothing happens to them because if it does…” He inhaled deeply before releasing it. “If it does, you and yours will cease to fucking exist. And you know I don’t bluff.”

Hands fisted, Derri shook his head, expression incredulous. “So, this is what it’s come to? This is who we are now? You’re threatening me?”

“Yes, Derri, threats. Because you’re allowing jealousy to cloud your judgment. I would seriously advise against that.” Turning away, Zander headed for the bathroom. “I’m taking a shower. When I come out, I want to hear your plan on how you’ll get Vince and Scotty where they need to go safely.” He didn’t wait for a response.

He had to be back in Jersey later that evening to meet with allies and enemies alike. It would be a fucking miracle if he survived that. He didn’t need to be worrying about where Derri’s head was on top of everything else. As it was, he struggled to separate himself from the man he’d been while lying in bed with his men and the person he was now. Sliding back into the skin of boss, killer, and leader was difficult. Voluntarily embracing dark and cold when he’d just been wrapped up in light and warmth?

It was an impossible task.

Derri was waiting for him when he got out of the bathroom with a towel around his neck and jeans on. He quickly tugged a t-shirt over his head as he listened to Derri talk. They would never be the same, he and Derri. That was a loss Zander mourned as well, knowing it didn’t have to be that way. On some level, he even understood where Derri was coming from but he refused to allow his ex to get away with anything. Their history would not protect Derri.

“Handle it,” he ordered when Derri was done talking. “Once they’re gone, we’ll head out.”

He stayed in his room while Derri was gone. He didn’t want to risk seeing Vince and Scotty. Risk staring into their eyes and switching up all his plans. They hadn’t asked it of him, but he didn’t know if he’d be able to deny them if they did. Love was a scary thing, wasn’t it? This kind of love, at least, because he couldn’t ever recall being this way, feeling this way, with Derri.

While he waited, he made a call.

“Yeah.”

“Toro. It’s Kian.”

His friend grunted in his ear. “I don’t hear from you for practically forever and now I’m hearing from you back to back? What’s up?” he asked, mild curiosity in his voice.

“Thanks for the help.” He’d known he could count on Toro to handle his mess. He’d sent one of his guys around by the shop to check it out and he’d reported that the place was immaculate. Zander did have to send one of his guys to get rid of Vince’s car, though, because he didn’t want anyone knowing the marshal had been there. “I appreciate it.”

“You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Wasn’t much he could share over the phone even though he was using a burner. “There’s been a change in management.”

Toro snorted. “No shit. I saw your work.”

“I could use some help.”

“What do you need and where do you wanna meet?” Toro didn’t hesitate. He never did.

Zander needed all the leverage he could get with what he was about to walk into, and Toro and his uncle were the perfect people to give him what he needed. “Meet tomorrow? Usual place.”

“Got it. Later.”

The call ended and he stared down at the phone in his hand for a moment. He didn’t have a lot of people he could count on, but having a direct line to a Mexican cartel was a weapon in itself. One he’d never had to wield until now. He hadn’t even shared that bit with Derri.

“They’re gone.” Derri walked through the door, delivering the news that sliced through Zander like a blade. “They’re headed to?—”

“No.” Zander held up a suddenly shaking hand. “I don’t want to know where they are.” He got to his feet. “Thank you.”

Derri nodded.

“Now let’s go home.”

Time for it to all begin.

Or end.

There wasno fanfare when Zander returned to the place he’d left so long ago. He went straight to work with Derri at his side, calling a meeting in the basement of one of the casinos his uncle once owned.

All of Murray’s empire belonged to Zander now.

As did the men standing around, muttering to themselves as they waited for him to make his appearance. With a final nod to Derri, Zander pushed through the swinging double doors and entered the room, standing on the raised dais as he eyed the group. These were the men who’d held significant power under his uncle. One of Zander’s roles over the coming days was to decide who got to keep that power.

Arms crossed over his chest, he waited as a hush fell over the room. Well over fifty men stared at him, some with mere curiosity, some with distrust, and others with downright hate and outrage in their eyes. That made his lips curl into a smirk.

“You know who I am.” He didn’t raise his voice. There was no need for it. “But as a matter of record, allow me to update you on a few things… My uncle is dead. By my hand. I’m the one in charge now and I?—”

“You think you can just come up in here and run shit?” That was Joey Blue, face red and full of bluster. He’d been Murray’s closest friend and most loyal soldier. They were of the same mind, Joey and Zander’s uncle. And he’d just given Zander what he needed to ensure Joey didn’t take another breath. “We don’t know where you came from after all this time, but we don’t trust you.” Joey glanced around and a few of the men around him muttered their agreement.

Zander didn’t look at them; Derri and the handful of men he trusted who stood on the periphery of the room knew what to do. No, Zander kept his gaze on Joey. His hair was white and thinning at the top, face long and narrow, and he glared up at Zander from behind his wire-rimmed glasses. Joey was a tall and painfully skinny motherfucker, giving the appearance that he’d never seen food in his life. As Murray’s best friend, he’d been there from the beginning. Zander remembered him coming around to see his parents when he’d been a kid.

Joey had to have been in on Murray’s massacre of Zander’s family.

“Your uncle, God rest his soul”—Joey quickly made the sign of the cross—“is rolling over in his grave. You know why?” Zander didn’t have words for him. He just held Joey’s gaze as the old man kept on. “He didn’t want you anywhere near his business. He wanted me to take over.” He pounded his chest and glanced around for support. He got some from the same old fuckers from his and Murray’s era, but not as much as he’d hoped for, Zander suspected.

“You faked your death and left the business years ago.” Joey was really getting into his speech now, face bright red, sweat beading on his forehead and glistening on his nose. “The business has changed and you have no loyalty to family. To blood.”

Those words, more than any of the others, sent waves of angry heat washing over Zander’s nape, but he didn’t allow it to show on his face. He ensured his mask remained in place as he gave Joey more rope to hang himself.

“Murray and I built this business together. I considered him my brother and I will run things the way I know he would want.”

Zander flicked his gaze to Derri, who gave him a small nod and then signaled to the rest of Zander’s trusted crew. He tuned out Joey’s words as the fucker kept yapping, unaware that behind him, Derri and the rest were herding the men, pushing the crowd back to the wall until only eight men, plus Joey, remained upfront. Those eight men went to their knees, helped along by the guns Derri and the others pressed to their heads.

“You’re just a fucking kid who thinks he can just come in and take my spot. Are you out of?—”

The first gunshot startled Joey, cutting off his words as he gaped up at Zander.

The second gunshot made Joey spin around and his mouth opened fishlike as he watched the rest of his group—all of those who’d planned to kill Zander and take over the business—be executed.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Joey found his voice again when the last of his co-conspirators was face down on the carpet, a bullet in the back of his head. “You?—”

“Joey.” Zander spoke for the first time since Joey first opened his mouth. “Let’s talk loyalty.”

Joey froze, then turned around slowly. “You’re sick.” His eyes were bloodshot and even from where he stood, Zander made out the rapid beating of the pulse at his temple. “You sick fuck.” Spittle flew out of Joey’s mouth.

Zander smiled. “I am all of those things, Joey. I am also the one in charge.” He left the dais and made his way down to where Joey stood trying to act as if he wasn’t scared out of his mind. Zander was way too familiar with fear to ever miss it, to ever not recognize it. When he stood directly in front of Joey, Zander pulled his own gun from his waistband and held it out to the older man. “Here. You were all talk the past few days about what you were gonna do when you saw me.” He smiled. “I’m gonna need you to back all that talk up with some action.”

Joey paled.

Zander’s smile only got wider. He inhaled deeply, realizing that he’d missed this. All the time he’d remained hidden away, waiting, he’d missed this: The stench of fear and terror that enveloped his prey when they really understood what having Zander in their orbit meant. Watching acceptance creep into their wide eyes as they finally got it.

Joey made no move to take the gun, so Zander tucked it back into his waistband with a smirk. The loudest motherfuckers were always true cowards at heart.

“I put someone in your inner circle,” he told Joey. “Because old motherfuckers like you know nothing about true loyalty. And you and these idiots…” He nodded at the bodies on the floor. “You don’t seem to get that loyalty is never inherited; you gotta earn that shit.”

Joey had suddenly turned mute.

Zander didn’t mind; it was his time to talk. “I know Murray killed my family. And as his best friend, something tells me you know all the details about that, don’t you?” Joey went from pale to translucent. That was confession enough. “Edgar.” He gestured for the man he’d tasked with infiltrating Joey’s crew to step forward.

Edgar pushed from where he leaned against the wall with the rest of the men, just watching. He was a tower of a man, bald with tan skin and piercing green eyes that might’ve been unsettling if Zander wasn’t already intimately familiar with darkness and the monsters that resided there. When Edgar stood in front of him, Zander told him, “You now control all of what used to belong to him. Everything.”

Joey operated the biggest slice of the business: car washes, laundromats, restaurants, and strip clubs. All of that fell under Joey’s purview and Zander was stripping it all away. He was one of Murray’s biggest earners, but Zander already knew from only a preliminary glance at Joey’s books that he hadn’t been producing what he should have.

Edgar dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I won’t let you down.”

He wouldn’t. Edgar was a few years older than Zander, but he’d been around even when Zander had still been there. He’d come in off the streets and worked his way up. Derri had given Zander updates throughout the time he’d been gone on who they could trust, who they couldn’t, and who could be persuaded. Edgar had been someone they could trust because he had a code.

They were all bad men, but you had to have a code. Otherwise, what separated you from the animals out in the wild? Joey and Murray didn’t live by codes, only by entitlement and their greed for power. Now, they got to die by that too.

“You can’t—” Joey stepped forward and Zander grabbed him by the throat, squeezing.

“Get on your knees,” Zander rasped. Joey struggled in his grasp, trying to pry Zander’s grip from his neck. “Knees.” There was no need to shout, so Zander regulated his tone, keeping low but firm. “Now.”

Joey sank to his knees and proceeded to beg. “Please. Zander. Boss. You don’t have to do this. I-I know I messed up, but let me?—”

Ignoring his whining, Zander lifted his gaze to the rest of the men who’d been silent and watchful thus far. “You get one chance to fuck up with me. That’s it. If you want out, if you don’t want to take orders from me?” He pointed to the door. “Then get the fuck out. Otherwise, we’re not in school here. You know what your job is, so do that shit. I am not my uncle.” He paused, pulling his gun from his waistband and pointing it at a shaking Joey’s head. “I am worse.” Then he pulled the trigger.