A Dirty Business (Kings of New York #1)(88)

I relaxed once I saw Jess was listening to them. Kelly’s head was buried into Jess’s neck, her arms wrapped around her.

Justin started snarling as soon as his cousins were gone and as soon as Jess had his woman out of earshot. “What the hell? What the hell was that?”

Ashton smirked before snorting. “It’s called organized crime. Sometimes we have turf wars. You should google it before you end up dead, Worthing.”

He strode off, looking as if he was whistling.

We were getting attention, but Justin turned my way this time.

“You threatened my family’s lives.”

Yeah. Okay. I stepped closer so he could hear me clearly. “Jess chose tonight. I chose tonight. I think if you don’t choose, you’ll end up dead, and let me be very clear: it won’t be by our hands.” I let that sink in before adding, “You have a night. You have a connection to my woman that I can’t ignore. If you choose their side, you better leave fucking town. Are you getting me?”

He swallowed and raised his chin up. “You are putting me in an impossible situation.”

“Tough. That’s this business. Choose or die. If you don’t choose, you will die, and I will not let you be the swinging door where my woman could get hurt.”

“She’s a cop.”

I’d started to leave but turned back. “No one is invincible.”



Ashton was waiting for me in the back hallway. He fell in step with me. “The first team is waiting for you. The second team is waiting for Worthing to hurry his ass up. They’ll take him and his woman home, and if you want them to stick around and sit on their place, they’ll do that too.”

“What about Easter?”

“She’s with team three, who already took her home.”

I gave him a look. “She’s pretty far removed from this whole situation. She should be safe.”

“It doesn’t matter. My family owns her father, so she’s my problem.”

“And Jess?”

“She’s waiting in your car because she’s with team one.”

She was . . . I let that sink in, and I couldn’t deny that her waiting in my vehicle, with my guys, was making me feel a certain way. “Where are you going after this?”

“I need to check on a few things, but I’ll head to my uncles’. Worthings were here. They’re escalating, and we will need to make a move sooner than later.”

Which meant that he and I needed to make our own decisions because even though a certain news article had come out saying we were the new heads, it wasn’t the case. We’d been dancing over the line ourselves. Choosing this life had a whole sense of finality, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to choose that finality. Not yet, but soon. Neither of us could push it off much longer.

My phone began ringing.

Ashton had started to leave but halted.

Unknown calling.

I showed him the screen, then moved farther down so we had privacy. He followed as I answered.

“Who is this?”

“This is Tristian West, nephew of Stephano West? Son of Dominic West? I presume I’m conversing with that person?”

“Who are you?”

“This is Nicolai Worthing. I’ve just been informed that you met my cousins Crispin and Penn.”

Ashton raised an eyebrow and stuffed his hands in his pockets, getting comfortable.

“Interesting names in your family.”

Nicolai barked out a laugh. “Yeah, well, I can say Tristian and Stephano probably follow in the same family tradition. You’re Greek? Am I getting that correct?”

“What do you want, Nicolai Worthing?”

“Hmm. Yes. Straight to business. I have heard you are not like your uncle. That’s a refreshing surprise. Your uncle, he could tell stories for hours before getting to the point.”

“And your point for this phone call is . . . ? I am still waiting.”

“I feel I may have a surprising proposition for you.”

Ashton snorted, not caring if he was heard or not.

“Am I to presume that is Ashton Walden in the background? His grandmother is from Argentina?”

Ashton’s eyes cooled. He leaned forward as I extended the phone toward him, and he spoke into it. “My family lineage is none of your business. How about that?”

“On the contrary, I feel that those of us who are in this business are in it because of our grandparents or the grandparents of our grandparents. Everything has history and lineage.”

I pulled the phone back to me. “And your family does not have the history that ours does.”

“No. You’re correct. We’re relatively new, but I have a great respect for those—”

“What’s your point, Worthing? You’re making me regret letting your cousins return to you, alive and intact.”

“Yes. See. That’s why I’m reaching out to you for this proposition. I’ve learned that you and Ashton both have your own businesses. Legal businesses. You are both thriving in your own fields. I’ve seen his records myself, and your uncle is dying. He has brain cancer, and if my sources are correct, he was first told about the possibility the very day he first told you he was having medical problems. Now, I’m sure there’s a reason he has waffled back and forth. Denial. Negotiation. Anger. These are all common stages for grief when given the sentence that he was given. Am I correct in what has been reported to me?”