I was floating on fucking air, my cock practically dripping from Emma’s wet pussy. I took a deep breath as I pulled my clothes on, trying to calm myself down as I checked the time.

I had to get moving to make this meeting with Gian. I didn’t know what he wanted, and part of me thought Louisa might be leading me right into a trap. But if she wanted to hurt me, she’d had plenty of much easier opportunities already.

“Heading out?”

I looked over at Emma and couldn’t help but feel a thrill run through my body. “Yeah,” I said. “Got to get to this meeting.”

“Okay. Good luck.”

I smirked at her. “I have your tight little pussy waiting for me back here. That’s all the motivation I need.”

She laughed and turned to walk away. She was wearing nothing but a bra and a little black thong. I watched her walk back into the bathroom and wanted to follow her, press her up against the wall, and fuck her damn brains out.

Instead, I got my shit and forced myself to leave the bedroom. I needed a fresh pair of clothes, but at least I’d got a shower in, so I wasn’t completely disgusting.

I left the room, my knife tucked comfortably into my pants, just in case. I moved through the hallways, heading back toward where all the offices were. I wasn’t sure which one was Gian’s, but it’d be pretty easy to ask.

Just as I got into the stairwell, someone stepped out of the shadows. Instantly I fell into a fighting stance, ready to defend myself, my hand down on my knife.

“Calm down,” Louisa said.

I slowly relaxed. “Shouldn’t sneak up on me.”

“Can’t help it. We need to talk.”

“Get talking then. I need to get to Gian’s office.”

“About that. I need to know what you’re going to say about Emma.”

I shrugged. “She’s my new girl.”

“What’s her name?”

“Lucy.”

She sighed. “No. Her name is Ashley Marks. You met her in a bar, thought she had nice tits. Got it?”

I grinned at her. “She does have nice tits. And fine, Ashley Marks.”

“Good. Also, you killed Emma. That’s your story.”

“Is he going to ask?”

“I don’t know. I think he is, though.”

“Fine. I killed her.”

“How?”

“Slit her throat after I drugged her and wrapped her in plastic. Dragged the body out to the quarry and dropped it in weighted down with cement blocks.” I grinned at her. “Any more questions?”

She eyed me. “Done that before?”

“To a few men,” I said pointedly.

“Good luck, Brooks.” She walked off without another word.

I watched her go, shaking my head. What a strange fucking woman, that Louisa Barone. She was playing some game, some big game that I couldn’t quite see. I didn’t believe her little story about giving power to the powerless. It just seemed too good to be true that she was fighting for justice and trying to save helpless women.

No, Louisa was playing a bigger game than that. I was sure of it. Maybe she was using the women as an excuse to consolidate power, but she was going for something much larger. She was too smart to play superhero in this fucked-up city. She was too close to power not to understand how it really worked.

Saving lives didn’t give you power. Taking them, or at least the ability to take them, that gave you power.

I shook my head and moved on, heading down toward the offices.

It wasn’t too hard to find Gian. I had to ask one of the staff members, but he pointed me in the right direction. I got a glimpse of his pistol as he did so.

Gian’s office was in a short dead-end hallway, the last door on the right. It was a big wooden door with his name on the front on a little bronze plate. I knocked and waited.

“Come in.”

I pushed open the door and stepped inside. “Boss,” I said.

“Brooks, good. You made it.” Gian stood up and smiled at me.

He was a couple of years older than me and about my height, handsome, or at least women fucking thought so. He was a dangerous man, good at fighting, skilled with a gun. He’d helped bring me up and was something like a brother to me.

“Sit down,” he said.

I sat in one of the big overstuffed chairs in front of his desk. He sat back down.

“Whisky?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He got a bottle and two glasses from his desk and poured. “Benefits of having a desk,” he said. “Easy place to store this shit.” He handed me a glass and held his up. I grabbed my glass and held mine to match him.

“Salut,” he said. “To you.”

“To the Barone family,” I added.

We clinked glasses and drank.

The whisky felt fucking good going down my throat. I hadn’t had a drink in what felt like fucking years.

“Another?” he asked.

“Always.”

He loaded us up with two doubles and then leaned back in his chair. I sipped mine, savoring the smoky flavor.

“So, Brooks,” he said, “know why I wanted you here?”

“Not sure, if I’m honest,” I said.

“Okay then. Let’s cut the bullshit. Is the girl dead?”

I nodded. “Yes. Got rid of her myself.”

“When?”

“Two nights ago. Something like that.”

He frowned. “You kept her around for a while.”

“She was useful.”

“And this new girl?”

“Just a new girl.”

“Your next victim?”

I grinned at him. “Maybe. If she plays her cards right.”

He laughed and took a drink. “You know why I’m asking you, right?”

“I know the rules, boss.”

“You’ve been a good worker for me, Brooks, a damn good killer. I’ve heard complaints that you don’t like hurting women, but, shit, a man has to have a code, right? I can overlook that sort of thing.”

“That’s good to hear,” I said. I wasn’t sure where this was going, but I had my suspicions. Just like Louisa had guessed, he’d started with asking me about Emma. She knew something more than she was saying, but that didn’t matter now. At least she had warned me.

“Dante has been talking a lot,” Gian said. “Thinks you’re trying to save the girl’s life. Thinks you’re breaking rules, that you’ve gone soft.” He paused, eyeing me. “Did you go soft, Brooks?”

“Dante is a fucking cunt,” I said. “I didn’t go soft.”

“Dante can be a cunt,” he agreed. “Frankly, we haven’t been happy with Dante for a long time. He hasn’t exactly been able to handle our little problem with the Spiders, as you saw firsthand.”

“That was a cluster fucker,” I said.

“Thanks to you, we managed to keep some of the girls.”

And you managed to murder a bunch more, I wanted to say, but I bit my tongue.

“Only did as ordered.”

“You got the cars out because you think about shit. You did what had to be done because you’re not a coward. That’s why I sent you, Brooks. Dante is a fucking coward, even though he’s got a lot of experience.”

“Dante is who he is,” I said.

“Yeah. That’s fucking right.” Gian knocked his drink back and so did I. “Listen, Brooks. I want to promote you.”

That came as a surprise. I genuinely didn’t think that was what this was about, though I’d had my suspicions. “Why now?” I asked.

“Because you’ve proven yourself time and again. This shit with the girl, who fucking cares? You say she’s dead, so she’s dead. That’s all that matters to me.”

“I appreciate the trust.”

“Like I said, you fucking earned it. And Dante, well, he’s been spouting off at the fucking mouth for too long. He’s not as useful as he once was.”

“So what do you want me to do, take over Dante’s territory?”

“That’s exactly right.” Gian leaned back in his chair, grinning hugely at me. “Interested?”

It was a very, very tempting offer. Dante’s territory was rich and important to the Barone family, and I knew that if I become the local boss, I would definitely elevate my fucking life.

But I wasn’t sure I wanted to elevate my life. I was happy where I was, content with what I did. If I became the boss, that meant I wouldn’t be a killer anymore, wouldn’t be a hit man. I’d be a fucking boss.

Then there was Emma. Gian seemed to be suggesting that he didn’t care if Emma was alive or dead, that he could just ignore it. If I told him that Emma was really this new girl, whatever the name was, he’d probably believe me, mostly because he didn’t care. We could be free, and I could make a lot more money.

But would she want that? I couldn’t imagine she’d want me working for the mafia, not after what she’d seen.

“Can I think about it?” I asked him.

He laughed. “You fucking serious? Any other guy would be freaking out for this chance, but not you. Shit, Brooks, I definitely have the right guy for this.” He shook his head and laughed again. “Sure, fucking think about it. Two days. How’s that?”

“That’s generous. Thanks, Gian.”

“One last thing. If you accept, you have to kill Dante. Take him out, and the territory is yours.”

I nodded. I’d expected that. “Fine.”

“Good. Think about it. Let me know.”

I stood up. “Anything else, boss?”

“That’s all. Go fucking enjoy this place, yeah?”

“I can handle that.”

He nodded and I turned and left.

He wanted to make me a boss, and all I had to do was kill a man I already strongly disliked. It should have been an easy choice.

But it wasn’t, not at all, not with Emma in my life, whatever she meant to me. She wasn’t going to be okay with this. I couldn’t imagine she’d want to stick around.

As I walked slowly back to the apartment, I dreaded telling her. I didn’t know how I felt about it or what I wanted from it, but I knew she’d be upset. I wasn’t going to lie to her though. I wasn’t going to hold this back. We’d come too far together, gone through too much shit to start lying like that.

Maybe I’d be a boss, or maybe not. For now, I was going back to the room to think and to see her, maybe figure this shit out.