Page 95 of Lord of Vice

“Maybe so but I clean up well. Unlike you. What can you tell me about your alliance with Emiliano Cabrera?”

While most leaders of crime syndicates were damn good at hiding their feelings, Sylvester was a piss-poor actor.

“That fucking slime bag used us.”

I was honestly surprised at this outburst. “Let me guess. Gray Death.”

He acted as if he wasn’t going to tell me shit. That prompted me to backhand him all over again.

This time, a tooth spewed from his mouth, almost landing on my suit. Fortunately, I backed away in time. “Let’s try that again. Were you dealing in Gray Death?”

He snorted, coughing up blood, glaring at me with more hatred in his eyes. “Yeah. But only once. That shit is deadly. Killed one of my girls.”

For once, he was being sincere.

“What are Emiliano’s plans?”

“How the fuck would I know?”

All I had to do was raise my weapon and he threw his arm out. Just then, my phone rang. Too bad I’d need to ignore it. I had more important business to deal with.

“Fine. Just fucking stop,” he whined. The man truly was a pig.

“Then talk.”

“The fucker didn’t tell me his plans other than wanting to use my club to bring in the party trick, but I knew he was up to something. When I confronted him about my suspicions, he almost killed me. He paid me a hefty price to use my club. Okay? He was well armed and had a fucking army with him.”

What a shame the asshole hadn’t been killed. Only then I wouldn’t have the pleasure. I thought about my conversation with the Santos men and was thankful the shit was finally coming together. Only I wasn’t necessarily in the mood to go hunting.

Yet.

I had other things on my mind, including the beautiful woman I now had every intention of keeping.

“Look, the South American thinks he’s invincible. I do know he wants to eliminate any obstacles. If that shit hits the streets, there will be a lot of dead people. Plus, he’s one psycho son of a bitch. Crazy motherfucker.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. How did you meet him?”

He acted as if he wasn’t going to answer again. This time, I used my forearm, nearly crushing his windpipe when I shoved him against the wall.

“Fucking… auction.”

I pushed a little harder before backing away. “He came to an auction? When?”

He coughed for a few seconds, doubling over given his face was beet red.

My patience was in the toilet.

“Look… Two months ago. Then a couple nights ago as well. That’s when we fought. I was finished with his bullshit and let him know.”

“Did he purchase a girl?”

“No. But he wanted to snag a girl who used to work here. He said she was the only one acceptable, almost beating the shit out of two of my men when I told her she wasn’t accessible.”

A couple of nights before. “Let me guess. Penny Valentine.” My anger was about ready to explode.

At least news hadn’t traveled to his ears about the fact I had her under my protection. I could tell that in his beady eyes. “Yeah,” he huffed, narrowing his eyes in confusion. “How the fuck did you know?”

“Because I know everything that goes on in this town.”