clearing his throat. "Man, sometimes being around you two is like watching my parents make out."
"Bite your tongue," Dallas retorted, but he released Lex with one last caress. "I'm not that old. And I'm about to prove it."
Lex hummed. "Good luck." She pivoted on one heel and headed off toward the front door.
And Dallas watched her the whole damn way.
When he turned back, his expression was still gentle around the edges. Lex could be cunning when the occasion called for it, but Zan had known Dallas for a long time, and the man had always had his own brand of cunning. What he'd learned from Lex was something else, something that had made him a better—and more dangerous—leader.
Empathy.
"You never answered," he said softly. "I know how far you'll go for the gang. How far will you go for this girl?"
"What's the real question?"
"Would you keep her, if she let you?"
He didn't need to think about that at all. "Yes. But she wouldn't let me," he added. "Tatiana won't be kept. Even if she was exactly where she wanted to be, where she would be—if she thought she was being kept, she would leave."
Dallas rolled his shoulders slowly, his eyes unfocused. "I let them walk away, you know. When Stone's organization fell apart, I almost put his kids on a bus—to the communes or the mountains, just out of the way. I wanted to make them someone else's problem."
Zan barely remembered the aftermath of the showdown with Stone. Still, barely was more than he wanted.
His brother Hunter had always been the strong one. After their parents' deaths, he'd been the one to hold their tiny family together, scraping out a meager living on the streets of Sector Four. He'd protected Zan, and Zan had idolized him. So when Hunter had thrown in behind the upstart bootlegger known as Dallas O'Kane, Zan gladly went along for the ride, because his big brother had never steered him wrong.
Then he died fighting Stone's men, and Zan's world had fallen apart. Every truth he'd ever known, gone in an instant, and the only thing left was O'Kane. The man with the vision. The man Hunter had trusted enough to die for.
"I don't remember much about back then," Zan confessed. "But I know Hunter believed in this, and so do I."
"Your brother was a good friend. A good man." Dallas's gaze swung to Zan. "He understood that a leader who has to abuse his power just to prove he has it isn't a fucking leader at all. That's why we wanted to take down Stone. And that's the kind of power your girl grew up with, the abusive kind. Remember that."
"It's hard to forget." Tatiana reminded him of it every time she looked at him, and it made his chest hurt.
"I know."
Yeah. The trick would be getting Tatiana to recognize the difference between a man who wanted to control her...and one who wanted to protect her.
Chapter Six
Tatiana always closed early one day a week. It gave her time to get ahead on the products that took more time to prepare, the meticulous soaps and carefully packaged lotions that sold in Eden's fancy boutiques.
It had taken her two years to crack Eden, and even then it was through so many middlemen that her profit margins were whittled to nothing. So she worked longer hours, made deals. Free cleaning supplies for any food cart willing to render cooking fat for her. Credit in her shop for anyone who brought in ashes so she could make her own lye water.
It had been hard at first. People had been cold. They remembered Tatiana Stone, her father's doted-upon princess, the girl who wore jewels and fur coats while they shivered and starved. Some of the people most loyal to Dallas had delighted in trying to humiliate her.
Trying to.
After years of her father's rages and those first few terrifying months after his fall, it took more than a little hazing to wound her spirit. She'd risen before dawn, leaving Catalina asleep in bed, and had trudged from shop to shop. She'd gotten on her knees to scrape the ashes from their fireplaces and chimneys while they
"Bite your tongue," Dallas retorted, but he released Lex with one last caress. "I'm not that old. And I'm about to prove it."
Lex hummed. "Good luck." She pivoted on one heel and headed off toward the front door.
And Dallas watched her the whole damn way.
When he turned back, his expression was still gentle around the edges. Lex could be cunning when the occasion called for it, but Zan had known Dallas for a long time, and the man had always had his own brand of cunning. What he'd learned from Lex was something else, something that had made him a better—and more dangerous—leader.
Empathy.
"You never answered," he said softly. "I know how far you'll go for the gang. How far will you go for this girl?"
"What's the real question?"
"Would you keep her, if she let you?"
He didn't need to think about that at all. "Yes. But she wouldn't let me," he added. "Tatiana won't be kept. Even if she was exactly where she wanted to be, where she would be—if she thought she was being kept, she would leave."
Dallas rolled his shoulders slowly, his eyes unfocused. "I let them walk away, you know. When Stone's organization fell apart, I almost put his kids on a bus—to the communes or the mountains, just out of the way. I wanted to make them someone else's problem."
Zan barely remembered the aftermath of the showdown with Stone. Still, barely was more than he wanted.
His brother Hunter had always been the strong one. After their parents' deaths, he'd been the one to hold their tiny family together, scraping out a meager living on the streets of Sector Four. He'd protected Zan, and Zan had idolized him. So when Hunter had thrown in behind the upstart bootlegger known as Dallas O'Kane, Zan gladly went along for the ride, because his big brother had never steered him wrong.
Then he died fighting Stone's men, and Zan's world had fallen apart. Every truth he'd ever known, gone in an instant, and the only thing left was O'Kane. The man with the vision. The man Hunter had trusted enough to die for.
"I don't remember much about back then," Zan confessed. "But I know Hunter believed in this, and so do I."
"Your brother was a good friend. A good man." Dallas's gaze swung to Zan. "He understood that a leader who has to abuse his power just to prove he has it isn't a fucking leader at all. That's why we wanted to take down Stone. And that's the kind of power your girl grew up with, the abusive kind. Remember that."
"It's hard to forget." Tatiana reminded him of it every time she looked at him, and it made his chest hurt.
"I know."
Yeah. The trick would be getting Tatiana to recognize the difference between a man who wanted to control her...and one who wanted to protect her.
Chapter Six
Tatiana always closed early one day a week. It gave her time to get ahead on the products that took more time to prepare, the meticulous soaps and carefully packaged lotions that sold in Eden's fancy boutiques.
It had taken her two years to crack Eden, and even then it was through so many middlemen that her profit margins were whittled to nothing. So she worked longer hours, made deals. Free cleaning supplies for any food cart willing to render cooking fat for her. Credit in her shop for anyone who brought in ashes so she could make her own lye water.
It had been hard at first. People had been cold. They remembered Tatiana Stone, her father's doted-upon princess, the girl who wore jewels and fur coats while they shivered and starved. Some of the people most loyal to Dallas had delighted in trying to humiliate her.
Trying to.
After years of her father's rages and those first few terrifying months after his fall, it took more than a little hazing to wound her spirit. She'd risen before dawn, leaving Catalina asleep in bed, and had trudged from shop to shop. She'd gotten on her knees to scrape the ashes from their fireplaces and chimneys while they
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