Salvatore glances at Thane and Zagreus. “You two were both in on this?”
“Strife sticks together,” Zagreus tells him.
“Sure you do,” he sneers. “How’s Lasher these days?”
Zagreus gives him the finger.
Lorenzo pulls out a gun and points it at Acid’s head. “Any last words?”
Salvatore turns the barrel of the assault rifle on Thane.
Acid shrugs, nonchalant as always, but his eyes burn with anger. “Dunno. Go fuck yourself?”
I remember how Acid’s body looked riddled with bullets, and how Lorenzo pulled them all out and stitched him up. My blood runs in his veins. This is how Acid repays the people who saved his life.
I step forward and put my hand on Lorenzo’s arm. “Don’t kill him.”
“What they did is unforgivable,” Lorenzo says tightly.
“I know. I don’t want you to forgive them.” But if Lorenzo kills the Strife men, this place will be overrun by enemy gangs in no time and soon they’ll be on Lorenzo’s doorstep. The four of them have the Black Orchid Killer, my father, and the rest of Coldlake to contend with. It’s Strife’s job to hold back the gangs.
Salvatore tilts his head and quirks a brow at me. “Oh? What do you have in mind, baby?”
I look from Acid to Thane to Zagreus. “They’re so keen to have Strife all to themselves. Let’s give it to them.”
“Princess—” Lorenzo growls through his teeth.
“Not officially. This is your territory and it’s staying that way. What I mean is that the next time the Geaks or the Blood Pack attack, these three can fend them off without Lorenzo’s help.” I look at Acid. “The gangs want Lorenzo dead and I’m sick with worry every time he comes down here to save your ungrateful asses.”
There’s a bandage around Lorenzo’s shoulder beneath his clothes. He was shot the night I killed Jax, the leader of the Geaks. The Geaks tried to torch Strife in revenge for the killing. Lorenzo was right here at Acid’s side, fighting them off, and all the while they were waiting for their chance to double-cross the syndicate.
I step in front of Lorenzo and Salvatore’s weapons and face the three Strife men. “Lorenzo takes bullets for you all, and this is how you repay him. I’d like to see more gratitude from you, Acid. Until then, you’re on your own.”
“Please,” Acid sneers. “Your precious Lorenzo was barely clipped while I was shot to pieces making money for your boyfriends.” He lifts his shirt, showing the scars on his muscled chest and stomach.
My eyes narrow at the way he sneers boyfriends.
Go on, call me a slut.
I dare you.
“Watch the way you speak to me, Acid, or I’ll step aside and you’ll look worse than that jukebox in three seconds flat. You were making money for yourself while the syndicate was taking its rightful cut. Lorenzo’s put his life on the line for you again and again. He doesn’t interfere with how you run this place. I know that because he’s too busy holding the rest of Coldlake together, along with Salvatore, Vinicius, and Cassius. Grow the hell up and realize that you already have everything that you need. If you don’t like it, go and team up with the Geaks, and I’ll personally come after you and put a bullet in your head. Just like I did Jax.”
“Are you finished?” Acid asks tightly, his eyes shooting sparks.
I glance at Thane, who hasn’t said a word this entire time but is following the conversation with cold, narrowed eyes. Zagreus is watching me with tightly folded arms. “No, I’m not finished. You fucked up tonight, and now you owe me. All three of you. Whatever I want in the future, you’re going to do it for me. You three go on breathing thanks to the Princess of Coldlake, and don’t you ever forget it.”
Salvatore hefts his assault rifle onto his shoulder. “Yeah. What she said.”
As I meet Salvatore’s eyes, he smiles and winks at me. I remember what Lorenzo said a few weeks ago when I told him that Salvatore and Cassius only want me to do as I’m told.
They’re old-fashioned, but they’ll come around soon enough. Show ’em what you’re made of, and their dicks will be so hard they’ll forget about everything else.
Lorenzo isn’t lowering his weapon. His fingers are flexing on the gun grip like murder is the only thing that will make him feel better.
I touch his arm and say softly, “Let them be for now, for the sake of your sisters. We need to focus on their killer.”
Finally, Lorenzo drops his arm. “If you ever put Chiara in danger again, I won’t hesitate. She could beg for your worthless fucking life and I won’t hear it.”
We turn to go, but Acid can’t resist having the last word. “Off you go, your highness. Next time you need saving, I’ll be there.”
I glance over my shoulder. “Other way around, Acid. Of the two of us, you’re the one who always needs saving.” I look meaningfully at his tank top that conceals the bullet wounds that Lorenzo stitched closed. The flesh that would be riddled with bullets right this second if it weren’t for me.
He slaps his hand to his chest as if he’s been shot. “Ah, you got me.” Then he smiles broadly, green eyes glittering.
And I thought my men had the biggest egos in Coldlake.
Outside, the moon has set and there’s no one about except for a few distant cars and a stray cat slinking through the bushes. Or is it a rat? Probably a rat. The Strife men are fiendishly possessive of this corner of Coldlake, rats and all.
Lorenzo holsters his gun, his expression bitter as we walk toward his car. “You were right to say what you said, princess, and you put those fuckers in their place. Unfortunately, if the gangs attack Strife—when the gangs attack Strife—I’ll be down here fighting alongside Acid. I can’t afford to lose this territory to the southwest.”
“But you were a millisecond away from shooting them all.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t need them, the ungrateful fucks.”
A sour taste fills my mouth as we approach Lorenzo’s Mercedes 4WD. “It gets on my nerves how they take your help for granted. There are three of them and their security staff, and they’re all armed. It’s been nine years since you took over this part of Coldlake from Salvatore’s father. When are they going to accept you’re in charge?”
Lorenzo gives me a hard grin. “Maybe in another nine years.”
Salvatore throws his assault rifle in the back of Lorenzo’s car. He braces his hands on the roof of the vehicle, bows his head, and growls, “Jesus fucking Christ. Jesus fucking Christ.”
I put my hand on his back. “Salvatore?”
He turns suddenly and sweeps me into his arms, and to my surprise, he yanks Lorenzo to him as well and the two of us are clenched savagely against his chest. His breathing is rough and panicked. “That was too close. Too fucking close.”
“With Acid?” I ask.
“No. What happened earlier. Lorenzo—”