Page 61 of Prohibited

They stared at each other, seconds ticking away that felt like years.

“You can run, Ryan,” said Alex in a soft voice like a caress. “But you can’t hide.”

And with that, he turned his back on Ryan and went back to Lindsay, where he sat, watching his pale face, a cloud of cigarette smoke rising above his head.

Outrage and a whole jumble of other feelings he did not care to analyze came careening through him. They stole his breath, paralyzed him for only another moment. And then he turned to flee the room.

“All fun and games aside, Ryan, we need to talk,” Alex said over his shoulder. He was all business now, any trace of desire having been scrubbed away from his voice and his look entirely.

“Yeah,” Ryan said, though it came out as a gasp. He turned away and pulled a cigarette out of his pack, lighting it carefully to buy himself time to regain control of the storm raging inside of him.

“Tomorrow we will find out how much damage was done,” Alex said, flatly. “I have no illusions that the candy shop was the only place they hit. I’ve been trying to ring over to the Crystal and I’m not getting any answer.” He took a long drag of his cigarette, still gazing down at Lindsay. “And once we’ve taken inventory, we need to figure out how we’re going to get back at Walter Fucking Stanley.”

Just the name of the bastard raised a black rage inside of Ryan so intense that he had to put a hand on the wall to steady himself. The shock of the situation, and Lindsay’s close call hadn’t yet allowed him to think about the bigger picture of what happened. It hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Evelyn’s out of the picture,” Ryan said, folding his arms.

Alex got up from the bed again, but instead of slinking toward Ryan, he started to pace the floor as he always did when he was scheming. He shook his head, eyes narrowing in disbelief. “This is why some people shouldn’t play with their food.” He made as if to say something else and then stopped himself. Then he turned around and gave Ryan a hard look. “She has been the keystone to this entire enterprise. She is why my little empire has probably been torched to the ground, why Lindsay is on death’s doorstep, and–need I remind you–why Tommy is dead.”

“An honorable act is an honorable act,” Ryan said, ignoring the way his body tightened at the way the cold fire snapped in his eyes. He swallowed and then reached into the pack of cigarettes he was still holding in his hand anddrew one out. Took his time lighting it while Alex watched him impatiently. When he spoke again his voice was tired, sullen. “And Lindsay’s right. Tommy wouldn’t have wanted this.”

A ripple of rage went through Alex’s face, causing him to stop in his tracks, body stiff. “I’m getting very tired of hearing that.”

“Things have gotten complicated,” Ryan said, holding Alex’s hateful gaze.

“You’ve allowed them to get complicated,” Alex shot back. “When you assured me from the beginning that they wouldn’t.”

“I didn’t expect that things would take this turn,” Ryan said, spreading his hands and gesturing toward Lindsay. “She saved his life.”

Alex scoffed and turned away from Ryan, taking a deep draw on his cigarette and subtly shaking his head back and forth.

“Then what the fuck is the point of any of this,” Alex said finally, voice rising.

“I’m not saying just hand her over,” Ryan said, his voice taking an edge. Whether or not he wanted to, he was starting to get riled by Alex’s anger. “I’m saying that we are not going to fucking kill her. That’s not the deal anymore.”

“Well then, Mr. Mastermind,” Alex said, turning his body toward him and crossing his arms over his chest. “Please enlighten me: what would you like the deal to be? Because now Walter Fucking Stanley has added a number of punishable acts to the list of sins he has committed againstus. Namely: arson and attempted murder. And god knows what else or who else has suffered as a casualty.”

“What the fuck did you think was going to happen?” Ryan said, his voice starting to rise. “There was always a chance he was going to find out.”

“Yes, and then I could have slit her throat and still had the satisfaction of knowing that no matter what he did, there was nothing he could do to undo it,” Alex said, voice dropping to a deadly low.

“It won’t bring him back,” Ryan said, heavily. Even as he said it, the reality of this really hit him.

“I’m not a fucking fool,” Alex snapped. “I’m well aware of that.”

“There are other ways to make Walter Stanley suffer,” Ryan said.

“By all means,” Alex waved his hands theatrically through the air. “Please share. I’m all ears, Mr. Lockwood.”

“He just torched all of our places,” Ryan said. “So we’ll torch his. We’ll dismantle his little fucking empire brick by brick. And then we’ll deal with him personally.”

“Death isn’t good enough for him,” Alex said, voice barely a whisper.

“No,” Ryan said, feeling the monster inside of him open its jaws and roar. “No, it isn’t.”

Chapter twenty-two

Lindsay