Dallas: MM Mafia Romance by N. N. Britt

Author:N. N. Britt [Britt, N. N.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

STRANGER

The lounge is a study in muted elegance, whispers conspiring in the corners where the light dares not to intrude. Two men, both with graying hair, occupy a booth in an alcove, away from the prying eyes and foot traffic. They are seated in leather chairs that have witnessed deals darker than the rich mahogany of the surrounding walls. The slightly older man's fingers trace the rim of his whiskey glass with a deliberation that belies the urgency in his voice.

"Time's running out," he murmurs, the ice cubes clinking like distant warning bells when he lifts the glass. "We need to eliminate Solovey and Thoreau. Now."

Wagner sits across from him, a man caught in the crosshairs of consequence. Years on the job made him hard as steel, made his mind a tool rather than a collection of memories. His gaze never wavers when he looks at the man giving him orders. Yet inside, turmoil brews.

He was once a paragon of law and order, but life has since etched cracks into his existence.

"I understand," Jeffrey's reply comes, clipped and devoid of the emotion roiling beneath. There’s nothing he can do.

Sudden flashes of the past tear their way through his consciousness—days when he stood unyielding against the crime, a shield of justice in an unjust world. But those days shattered like fragile glass the moment his child came into the world. That child—his sweet baby girl—is a priority. Even if that means he has to bend that same law he once protected so viciously.

Darkness clouds his vision, not from the dimly lit room, but from the bleak vista of his thoughts.

"Isaac," the older man's lips curl around the name. "He's a cancer, one we let slip through our fingers. He shouldn’t have been released from the ATF’s custody."

"We needed to act fast. Decisions were made on the spot," Jeffrey concedes. Yes, he sold out, but he can still protect his own. "Thoreau’s aiding our efforts to catch Solovey."

"Isaac aids no one but himself." The older man's laugh is a dry rustle. "He has to go."

Leather creaks as Jeffrey shifts in his seat. He’s uncomfortable in the man’s presence although the man is a crowd favorite. The collective clink of ice against glasses inside the lounge only punctuates the silence that has fallen between the two.

"Do you grasp the gravity of what I'm saying?" the older man asks, his tone somewhat impatient, eyes fixed on the amber liquid that swirls in his glass.

Jeffrey's jaw tightens. His mind spins. Images of his daughter—her struggles—crash over him like a tidal wave. He knows that every second counts, each moment a precious currency in the economy of a life measured by medical interventions and silent prayers.

He draws in a breath, the air on his tongue tasting of old wood and secrets. "I'll handle it. Both Solovey and Thoreau."

"Make sure Thoreau is taken care of first," the older man dictates. "Back to prison or buried six feet under, I don't care which," he adds, voice flat, eyes cold as the grave.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.