Beyond Control(50)

That got her back up. "Orchid House rules Two. It always has, and it always will."

"Why?" He pressed his advantage, needling her pride. "If you want me to get Lex on board with this, you're gonna have to sell your product a hell of a lot better. What makes Orchid House so damn special? Why should I give a shit about Lex having it?"

She stood. "Save me some time here. Is it a sales pitch you need, or an excuse?"

"A what?"

"An excuse," she repeated mildly. "Something convenient to tell yourself so you feel better about wanting control of my sector."

Oh, he didn't hate her. Hate was too mild a word for this, for his furious embarrassment at having the ugly truth of him stripped bare. She was the dark mirror of Lex, a woman who saw into his heart just as clearly and never gave him any credit at all--because he didn't f*cking deserve it.

"I have an excuse," he replied in a quiet, deadly voice. "Getting you out is all the excuse I need. But I need a reason."

"Power," she whispered. "Think of everything you could do with it, yes?"

He could think of one thing Two could give him, beyond their well-trained crafters and hearty business in long-distance trade. "How much juice do you have in Eden?"

A mirthless smile twisted her lips. "How many horny, desperate bastards are there in the city?"

His heartbeat sped. "I'm only interested in one of them right now. Gareth Woods."

The tiny wrinkle in her brow smoothed. She approached the table, lifted the whiskey, and began to pour it. "Interested in him, or in his painful demise?"

"In causing it, mostly." He settled back into his chair and watched her. "What do you really want, Cerys? You'll never be satisfied sitting on a porch swing and counting your money. For once in your life, speak truth to a man. Maybe the results will shock you."

She drained a shot and poured a second before answering. "Do you have any idea how exhausting it is, catering to men? I don't promise to take up knitting or raise cats in my old age, but believe me, Mr. O'Kane. I wouldn't mind being able to tell a few of you f*ckers exactly what I think of you."

Dallas laughed as he picked up his own glass. "Now that? Is a motivation I believe. So maybe we can find common ground without giving up hating each other."

"I like the sound of that," Cerys said with a smirk. "I think Lex will, too."

"Why don't we try a deal without Lex first? We both have something the other wants, don't we? Let's start with an alliance of neighbors."

She clicked her shot glass against his. "Agreed."

How to phrase it? No outlandish lies, promising things she'd know he'd never deliver. Just the right amount of opportunity and reluctance. "I'll bring your proposal to my woman. I'll even do my best to see she considers it. But I want a show of good faith in return."

"What you want is Gareth Woods on a silver platter. I understand."

"Access to him." He studied her over the edge of his glass. "He knows I'm hunting him. He's played a good game at staying out of my way, but I only need to find him once."

"I can make that happen," she assured him.

"How soon?"

She considered it as she finished her second drink. "It'll take a little time. Be patient."

Be patient. Words he hated, but they'd be worth it if he could put a bullet in the head of the man who'd been responsible for Lex's near death. Oh, he'd have to let Jasper come along, since the assassin had been gunning for Noelle. But that kill, that retribution--it would balance the scales. It would be the ultimate proof that no one crossed the O'Kanes and lived. Not a scummy sector leader like Wilson Trent, not a councilman straight out of Eden.

Hell, if he played his cards right, Lex might not ever have to know. Not about the kill, and not how he'd agreed to pay for it. He just had to snatch the bait out of Cerys's trap without letting himself get snared by the promise of power.

"All right," he agreed. "I assume you have a contingency if I can't talk Lex around?"

"She's not my only possibility." Cerys set down her glass and retrieved her fur. "Merely my first choice."

She didn't seem worried about going out on a limb without a guaranteed return, which could mean anything. That it wasn't a limb. That she wanted Gareth Woods dead for her own reasons. Or that she really did believe he had Lex under his thumb.

Or that she was planning to betray him. Dallas had to figure that possibility into his plans. "How far in advance can you send me a location and time?"

"Far enough that you'll be able to get your men into place."

But not so far that he could betray her. He screwed the top back on to the whiskey bottle and held it out to her with a grin. "Why don't you take it with you? That stuff you call liquor in Two could use some bite."

Cerys threw back her head with a laugh. "Thank you, but no. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd like to be able to deny I was ever here."

That made two of them.





Chapter Nineteen



For the ruthless kingpin of a bootleg liquor operation, Dallas O'Kane lied for shit.

He was even worse at hiding things, though Lex had to admit that might just be her. She'd spent so many years getting to know him, working with him--and yes, frankly, infatuated with him--that she'd memorized his moods. She recognized the tiny shifts in his expression, the way his eyes seemed to change color depending on his moods.

Right now, his mood was foul. Dark. Lex laid down her fork and studied him over the rim of her beer. "You've been quiet."

Dallas didn't lift his gaze from his steak. "Have I?"

Evasion--yet another sign something was wrong. "You have, and I'm starting to think it's about me."

That goaded him into addressing her, but his too-charming Dallas O'Kane grin seemed hollow. "You make me a lot of things, love. Quiet ain't one of them."

"Uh-huh. Gonna tell me what's on your mind?"

"I wasn't planning on it." Sighing, he let his fork clatter to his plate. "Which probably makes me a damn fool, thinking I could pull this off."

She forced herself to relax her fingers and set down her beer bottle. "You're starting to scare me, Dallas, and I don't like it."

"It's not--" He swore and shoved back from the table. "I didn't want you to have to think about it. You've got enough to deal with, helping with the recruiting efforts."

Or he just didn't want to tell her. "What is it?"

Dallas met her eyes, and she knew from the tension in his gaze that the words would be bad. She just didn't realize how bad. "Cerys came to see me a few days ago."

Lex crossed her arms over her chest. "What the hell did she want?" Even as she spoke, she suspected she already knew.

"What did she want, or what did she say she wanted?"

Cut the shit. Lex bit back the words and shivered. "She did it, didn't she? She brought it to you."

He frowned. "If you mean she offered us her sector on a silver platter...yeah. But shit, Lex. I wasn't gonna fall for it. Nothing in life is that easy."

"That's where you're wrong." She shivered again, her chill subsiding into a strange sort of numbness. "What if it was that simple?"

"What, if we could just take over Two and own all of it?" He snorted. "Sure. In that world where puppies shit rainbows, I'd be stupid not to take it. I'd know all the dirty secrets about every bastard in Eden, and you'd have the resources to rescue people from dawn 'til dusk. At least until the other sector leaders wiped me off the map for thinking I could own three territories."

And they'd be right about one thing--he'd be thinking he owned it, not Lex.

She blinked at him, struggling to work through his offhand words and her own raging thoughts. "You say we, but you don't mean it. You'd take over, you'd own three territories. You."

Frustration twisted his features as he pushed himself to his feet. "Fuck, quit nitpicking my words. You're taking my ink. What I own, you own."

"Horseshit." Lex lashed out, knocking her beer bottle over to crash into his plate. "What I own, you own, and you can't turn that around on me. I'm not willing to sell your soul for some damn power."

"Back the hell on up, woman." Ignoring the beer spilling over the edge of the table and onto the floor, Dallas clenched both hands around the back of his chair. Wood creaked, and his knuckles stood out stark and white. "I didn't trade your soul. I didn't even put it on the table."

"Only because you don't think you could get away with it." She stood and held his gaze challengingly. "But you would if you could. You said it yourself--you'd be stupid not to."