I put the flat of my sole against the crate and I shoved it backward. The guys had made it look easy, and it wasn’t, but I didn’t stop until the fucker was paying for what he did to us.
As they swung in place, the noises that escaped them heinous, the sounds of their deaths gruesome and all the more fascinating for it, Cade, Lucas, Jamie, and Mickey unfastened the ropes that held the rebar in place.
A moment later, the crane moved higher, higher. Fifteen feet, twenty, twenty-five… It stopped there, not allowing a single man to hide from what their fate would be if they betrayed Aidan.
A point that was rammed home as the others swung in place, their necks breaking cleanly, whereas Hal wriggled and writhed, his face turning puce as he was slowly strangled to death by his own body weight, his bound hands trying to loosen the rope around his throat.
I tilted my head back to watch them swaying, struggling,dying,then I sucked in a sharp breath as relief and delight and vengeance swirled around inside me.
That was when I retreated to Aidan’s side—when he’d fulfilled his part of the deal, and those bastards who’d have forced their way into my body, who’d have used and abused me for information, who’d have tortured him, gotten him hooked on heroin, ransomed him, who’d have killed us, swung above me.
As he held out his hand, I entangled my fingers with his.
Without looking at me, he gave them a quick squeeze. "I can give mercy or I can repay your treachery in kind.
"You'remymen. You'remyfamily. Butweare the Five Fucking Points!"
I didn’t expect his words to make the hairs at my nape stand on end, but they did. Bewildering tingles hit various parts of my body as if he were pressing kisses to my flesh.
I wasn’t alone in reacting to Aidan’s call—a cheer surged among the men.
It was bizarre and obscene but a hauntingly powerful moment, nonetheless, as the Five Points accepted him as their leader.
I should have known that was when he’d strike again.
Having lulled them into a false sense of security, what better moment was there to hit them where it hurt?
He let go of my hand and stepped in front of the crowd, moving away from me to stand beneath the swinging bodies. This was clearly organized because the crane lowered the rebar and he climbed onto the box beside Hal.
The cheers died abruptly.
A knife was in his hand.
Hal, still struggling, his eyes bulging in a way I knew I’d never forget, his face—
I didn’t focus on that. Couldn’t.
Instead, I watched as Brennan and Declan came to hold him still. Somehow, that made it worse. The noises escaping him were exacerbated before he garbled his pain as Aidan tucked the tip of the blade into his shoulder.
Swallowing as I watched him slice off a piece of flesh, I watched as, once his task was complete, the crane surged high again.
Aidan held up the skin in his hand. "You see this phoenix?"
A stillness overcame the crowd.
"This is a calling card. It means your loyalties aren’t solely to the Five Points where they belong. It means you’re a part of the ECD." He jabbed the knife in front of him. "Each of you is going to take your shirt off. No bullshitting me on this, no arguing. You’re going to strip to the waist, and my men are going to check you for this ink.
"If you have one, you have a choice to make." He jerked the knife at the swaying corpses. "You can end up like them, or you can ally yourself to me."
"How do we do that?" someone called out.
"It starts with keeping your mouths fucking shut," he said easily, lifting the patch of flesh and studying the phoenix as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world. "Not a word. Not to the ECD, not to your families, to no one. Anyone talks about this, I’ll find out who the rat was and I’ll make Hal’s death look pleasant in comparison to what I do to them.
"As for the rest, you’ll have to wait and see what the future brings. Trust is an expensive commodity to lose in our family," he rasped, his gaze reverting to the crowd. "Youcheilesare about to learn just how costly it is."
There was deadly silence, then:
"Is it true what they’re saying, boss?"
Aidan frowned down into the crowd. "Depends on who is saying what, Darragh."
"About Jonesy. That he was behind the First Lady’s assassination."
He hurled the flap of skin into the crowd. "We have the ECD to thank for that plot." His mouth curved into a sneer. "Now, strip. I ain’t got all day and I need to know which of you fuckers believes a phoenix trumps the Five Points."