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“You asshole!” Iris shouted.

I lifted my gaze in supplication. “Not now, harpy.”

“How dare you assault my vocal instructor!” she seethed.

This conversation was done. With a feint to the left, I snatched her wrist, forced it to the ceiling. A shot fired, loud and angry. Corkboard and insulation rained down on us.

But in three seconds, I disarmed her.

“I wasn’t in the mood to be trifled with this morning, and that hasn’t changed,” I growled. “How dareyoucome here and threaten to shoot me?”

Iris tried to attack. She was a damn good fighter. Her hand-to-hand technique was solid. But I studied the same combat book she did. My strength and height was enough to send her sprawling back into my office.

“You bastard!” she screamed in frustration.

“You’re good, harpy, I’ll grant you that.” I tucked her pistol in my waistband. “But you’ll never be as powerful as the rest of us.”

The insult to her size was cruel.

Her shriek of fury rang through the corridor. Iris flew at me, fists raised. I deflected, dodged, and retreated.

“Next time, just shoot me. It’s what a real gangster would do,” I said, knowing the words rubbed salt in the wound.

But she’d attacked me. There was no remorse for what I said.

I jogged down the backstairs, the incensed mite of a woman hot on my heels. Angry words chased me to my jeep, but I didn’t stop. Didn’t look back as I climbed inside and started the engine.

“Run and tattle to big brother,” I mocked.

Iris pulled a knife and stabbed my tire. “No man fights my battles!”

Fucking hell....

Air swished from the deflating rubber. It wasn’t easy to puncture that thick material.

Cursing, I launched from the jeep. Anger rolled through me, a deep, unsettling wave of black.

Iris backed up, sensing the line she’d crossed but unable to keep the smile from her face.

“You threaten one of my friends again, and I’ll stab your manhood,” she promised.

Darting away, the mite vaulted into her convertible and sped away as I lunged for her.

Fists at my sides, my lungs worked as great bellows. Not only had she made it impossible to go back inside and return to work, but Iris kept me from going to see the object of my obsession. Sanity fought the cloud of wrath, and when it finally gained the upper hand, I retreated to the back of the jeep and unlocked the toolbox.

Only to discover it’d been broken into. The jack was gone.Iris, you little menace.

***

It was early evening before I finally managed to return home. Once I managed to obtain the right tools and change the tire, Anatole showed up to go over the club’s numbers with Ajax and me. The weekly meeting was unavoidable.

I raced through the rush hour traffic, daring the cops to catch me. The SunPass tolls were a lifesaver, but exiting the beltway and creeping down the main roads was torture.

Pulling into the condo parking lot, I cracked my neck before looking up to the landing where the condo door was. This placehad never been home until Serena moved in, but right now, I knew I wasn’t in a good headspace to go inside. I would desecrate the space with the black energy simmering in my veins.

Pushing hard from the jeep, I walked under the building to the opposite side. A good jog down the shore would be just the thing to clear my head.

As I stepped from the shadows, a forlorn strain of music—so soft that the waves crashing against the beach nearly muted the sound—caught me. The sound was a spell. The melody plucked at my very soul. I stopped dead in my tracks. Not a muscle moved in my body. I held my breath as the music consumed me.