I stared at him and wanted to push him away, but his words sank in. I knew he was right. I’d met men like Jarvis in my time with my father, men that were abrasive and dangerous and no matter what would always get in trouble. My father pushed men like that out, got them away from the core of the family, and they tended to end up arrested or dead.
Jarvis had to go, one way or the other. I knew it was true, but I still couldn’t be part of it. “I won’t stop you.”
“Good.” He kissed my neck. I let out a soft sigh.
But he pulled away before he could do more. I didn’t know if I wanted him to come back and touch me or if I wanted to curl up in my bed and pretend like the world didn’t exist.
“What now?” I asked.
“Now you go to sleep. The guys will get back to me soon and I’ll figure out where to go from there.”
I hesitated, finished my wine, then turned and left the kitchen. I knew if I didn’t get out of there fast, I’d get sucked back into all this—despite wanting to run as far away as I possibly could.
Upstairs in my room, I undressed and sat on the bed. Reid’s lips came back, running through my mind, and I wondered if it was all made men that I hated, or just the particular men I grew up with.
I wondered if I could be married to a man like him and still retain my identity.
15
Reid
I stood outside of an old, boarded-up building, hiding in the shadows across the street with Enrico and Aldrik. A red plastic cannister sat at our feet and the smell of gasoline wafted into the air.
The building was one-story with a wide concrete lot out front. It used to be a gas station at some point in its existence, but based on the weeds growing up between the cracks in the pavement and the way the walls looked like they were half-rotten and crumbling, I guessed it’d been a long time since anyone used it for anything but drugs and murder.
Enrico leaned back against the shop to our backs. It was a dry cleaner’s, but it was closed, the metal grates pulled down over its door and windows. “We saw him go in a half hour ago,” he said. “Aldrik’s been watching the back.”
“He hasn’t come out,” Aldrik said. “He’s in there right now, boss.”
“How sure are you?”
“Completely sure.” Enrico looked at his fingernails then down at the gas can. “What are you thinking here?”
“I’m thinking I want to go in there and murder him,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “But maybe there’s a better way. Maybe we can kill him without the city thinking it was us.”
Aldrik grunted. “Don’t know why that matters.”
“That’s why you’re not the one in charge,” I said, and took a breath to calm myself as I watched the building.
Cora’s story ran through my mind. I went through violence when I was younger, saw my fair share of blood and wounds, knew men that died in terrible ways—but her story still resonated. Her friend seemed like a good enough person, not the typical scumbag street bastard like me, and he probably didn’t deserve to get caught out in the fire like that. I couldn’t blame her for hating the mafioso after losing her only friend that way.
But I couldn’t let her past stop me from protecting her future. Jarvis was dangerous, and I had to make sure that he couldn’t do anything to hurt her again.
The tenuous peace in the city still played through my mind. Hedeon didn’t want trouble, didn’t want violence, because he knew that more violence would only weaken his position. I was supposed to be playing politician, not running around in the street killing my enemies.
That was why I didn’t go to him for permission.
Normally, a crew boss had a lot of leeway—but when it came to killings, Hedeon had to be informed where possible. In theory, I should go to him for permission, or at least to let him know this was about to go down.
The less he knew, the better. If he could plausibly deny having anything to do with it, then he might walk away from this with clean hands, and the family could avoid any blowback.
Even better if I could make it look like an accident.
“Come on,” I said, hefting the gas can.
Enrico gave me a look. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re going to burn that fucking place to the ground.”
Aldrik barked a laugh. “Are you crazy? That’s dangerous as hell.”
“It’s a standalone building, nothing attached, and it rained recently so shit’s all wet. The fire won’t spread.”
Enrico shook his head. “There are houses nearby, boss. Even if they’re still damp, you don’t know it won’t spread.”
“Fire department will get out here.” I began toward the gas station. “Stay if you want.”
I heard them follow behind me. I crouched low and moved as fast and as quietly as I could, sticking to the shadows, taking the long way around. I came at the building from the side, and gestured toward Aldrik to watch the back. He pulled his gun and moved, disappearing from sight.
I approached the building, took off the cap, and began tossing gasoline on the walls, on the boards over the windows and doors—on any surface I could find. When the can was nearly empty, I tipped it over in front of the door, letting the gas pour in beneath the crack, then pulled it back and made a long line of it on the pavement.
Enrico stared at me from nearby, and I knew what he was thinking.
This was reckless. A lot could go wrong.
If it went right though, Jarvis would burn to ashes and die in that rat nest, and nobody would need to know it was me.
I took a lighter from my pocket, flipped the top, turned the igniter, and stared at the flame before dropping it down into the gasoline.
It ignited instantly in a blue-red whoosh. The line of gas flew away from me and slammed against the building. It lit up faster than I expected, and the heat was intense as the flames engulfed the door and windows, setting the wood ablaze before moving against the walls.
I heard shouts from inside.
“He’s not alone.” Enrico’s voice sounded on the verge of panic. The flames grew bigger and we were forced back away from the building. More shouts from inside and the door rattled, but the boards were burning rapidly, the flames getting bigger and bigger—nobody was getting out that way.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Reid—”
I turned to him and grabbed the front of his shirt. “You going to fucking pussy out now? You want to run in there and save all their lives, huh, hero?”
He opened his mouth then shut it. “No, boss.”
“Good.” I let him go. “If anyone gets loose, kill them.”
He nodded, his eyes hard. I couldn’t blame him for having a moment. The yells from inside were panicked and terrified, and burning people alive wasn’t how this shit normally went. Enrico had killed before, and he’d killed again, but he always did it fast and with bullets—there was never time for his victims to feel too much pain.
We backed away from the building. Doors opened around us, people coming out of their homes. I saw fear, anger, confusion, and more than one person called the fire department.
Enrico put his gun away. “We should go.”