Did Valentine or even the Syndicate have this type of loyalty? To protect a woman even if that meant using your own body to shield her from any oncoming attacks? I doubted it.
He shows her to the door, me following close behind as we slip in. Ryker will already be here somewhere, and Griffin should be arriving in a little over an hour.
We head through the lower section of the club, weaving through the figureheads letting off steam where no watchful eyes can judge their actions.
“This city is truly corrupt,” Wren comments when we step into the elevator that’ll take us to the balcony. It’s been repaired since the attack, the glass now reinforced incase that kind of incident were to happen again. It appeared the Syndicate didn’t care whether or not this war was kept private, they are not directly linked and therefore cannot be accused. They sit in their comfy chairs in their offices, watching the mess they’ve created.
They believe themselves to be Gods.
We’ll prove just how wrong they are.
“There’s a little darkness in everyone,” I say as the doors slide closed.
“Do you not feel guilty for this?” She asks with a frown.
“If it isn’t us, then it’ll be someone else,” I tell her honestly, “we’ve controlled this city and the underground for hundreds of years, long before either of us were even born. The Silver’s keep the streets clean.”
She laughs without humor, “Hardly clean, Lex, you traffic drugs, guns, money.”
“We do,” I confirm, “butIpersonally don’t do that, I just control those who do. If it weren’t me then the drugs on our streets would be worse and dirty, the gun violence ten times worse than it already is. Gangs and pimps and dealers would rule here, we ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“You personally don’t do that, but you’ll kill someone.”
“To those who deserve it, yes.”
“And Valentine?”
“Valentine is a parasite, little bird, a small fish swimming with sharks. He believes he’s capable of taking this city.”
“So it’s just a power trip?”
“No, he killed my mother. You were my vengeance until…”
“I became your pawn.” She finishes.
“You’re more than that now.”
She sighs heavily, “You’ll kill him?”
“Eventually but right now, I have bigger problems to deal with.”
“Like?”
“The Syndicate.”
She shakes her head, “It’s all very political.”
I laugh, “Yes.”
“And what happens if I don’t want any part of this?” She questions after a short silence, “will you let me go?”
“No,” my answer is quick and snappy. “You’re mine little bird, you’ll realize that soon enough.”
She doesn’t say anymore on the matter as we step onto the balcony. Music thumps through the speakers and the dance floor is filled with bodies gyrating and pulsing to the music. The incident from a few weeks ago forgotten.
The stench of alcohol saturates the air around us but there’s a tinge of something else in the air. Something metallic and stifling though I can’t place it.
Ryker is lounging on the couch, a scotch in a small tumbler held between his fingers and resting on his knee. He’s pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezed shut.