Page 14

Levi whistles softly, a wicked grin tugging at his lips. "Damn, someone’s thirsty. Hold your horses, I'll go pour you another one."

I lower my frame into the leather seat beside Malachi, resting my elbows on my knees. "So what are we going to do? If the twins, Brendan and Lachlan, are back in the Quarter, it means Nolan is planning something big."

Malachi leans back, a cold, ruthless sneer settling on his features. "Of course, he’s planning something. You think he was just going to sit back and take it? Nolan lost men, smuggling routes, millions in revenue, three key warehouses, and his entire Moretti alliance after I married Jade."

Levi appears back beside my chair, pressing a freshly filled glass into my hand, then flashes a teasing smirk right at Malachi.

"Well," Levi drawls softly, "you're the one who took his woman."

The entire room goes dead quiet.

The rest of us hold our breath, bracing for the explosive reaction we all know is coming. Levi is a relentless, fucking instigator who knows the exact pressure points to prod in every single one of us to get a reaction. And for Malachi, that button is Jade.

Malachi's eyes flash with a sudden, murderous light. He slams his fist down onto the polished wood of the desk that rattles every glass in the room.

"Jade is my woman," Malachi growls, rising half out of his chair, his voice a lethal threat. "She was never his. I will fucking break your face, Levi. I’m not fucking kidding."

Levi and Eli just snicker, completely unbothered by the giant threatening to tear the room apart.

Nolan Devlin was originally supposed to marry Jade to secure a powerful, game-changing alliance that would have squeezed us out of the Quarter. Instead, Malachi stepped in, utterly ruined the engagement, and took Jade for himself.

Nolan was left humiliated and bloodied. Jade ended up falling in love with Malachi—and while it was supposed to be a strategic business move, Malachi fell even harder.

Zeke raises a single, commanding hand from behind the desk, his deep voice slicing through the thick tension.

"Enough," Zeke commands, shutting down the room instantly. "We have far more important things to discuss tonight. Levi? Behave."

Levi purses his lips, throwing his hands up in mock defense, but keeps his mouth shut.

"Nolan’s humiliation damaged his standing among the families," Zeke continues, his gaze cutting across the room. "Bringing the twins back into the fold means the Devlins are rallying what’s left. They're rebuilding."

Elijah grumbles, taking a bitter swallow of his drink. "It’s high time we just put a bullet in Nolan and his brothers. I don't see why those fuckers won't just stay down."

"Nolan is still trying to avenge his father," Levi sighs, shaking his head. "As if we didn't have every damn reason to take the old bastard out in the first place."

I lean back into the leather chair, my knuckles throbbing as memory pulls me under.

Some time back, Eden started rotting from the inside out. Staff quit without warning, high-earning girls vanished into thin air, and the family bled millions of dollars in revenue while trying to plug the leaks.

It didn't take long to trace the rot straight back to Ronan Devlin—Nolan’s ruthless father. He’d managed to plant spies deep inside our operation, methodically sabotaging us from within.

But ruining Eden wasn't even Ronan's worst sin.

We’d long suspected the old bastard was the shadow behind our own father’s death—and the mastermind who plotted Malachi’s capture and bloody torture a year later.

When Zeke finally cornered Ronan, he took out the old man without a second thought.

Looking back now, Zeke should’ve put a bullet in Nolan, too.

Malachi leans forward. "What do we do, Zeke? What’s the next step?"

"I know where they're staying," I drop into the room, my voice low, flat, and devoid of emotion. "Give me the word, and I'll kill them all tonight."

"No," Zeke commands, his voice cutting through the air like an iron blade. He points a firm finger across the desk at me. "You do not touch Nolan. Not yet."

I narrow my eyes, but Zeke doesn't back down.

"I want to know exactly what Brendan and Lachlan were brought back to New Orleans to execute before we spark another open war in these streets," Zeke orders. "We gather intel first. Then we tear them apart."