Christian leaned back against his seat, amusement flickering in his voice.
"Ms. Delgado, you're a general without an army. How exactly do you plan to deal with this rabid dog?"
My fingers crushed the edge of the photograph.
The savage fury I'd been forcing down in my chest was clawing its way loose.
Dennis. You manage to disgust me more every single time.
"Mr. Finley needn't concern himself."
I tore the photographs to pieces, slowly, deliberately, and let the fragments scatter across the cabin.
"When dealing with a rabid dog, you just knock its teeth out."
The main hall of the East District Syndicate was buzzing today.
The heavy mahogany doors stood wide open. Inside, the air was thick with cigarette smoke. Dozens of chapter bosses and elders sat along both sides of the hall, arranged by rank and seniority.
The moment I stepped through the doors, the noise died.
Every pair of eyes in the room locked onto me.
In the seat of power at the head of the hall sat not Dennis.
It was Nellie Fox, draped in a designer Chanel suit, belly swollen and on full display.
Dennis stood faithfully at her side, one hand hovering protectively over her waist.
When he saw me, something flickered in his eyes. Instinct pulled him forward a step.
Then he glanced at Christian behind me and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Margot, you're finally here."
Nellie was the first to break the silence, her voice dripping with syrupy sweetness, so saccharine it could rot teeth.
"Dennis said you weren't feeling well, so he asked me to host today's handover ceremony on your behalf. You won't blame me for overstepping, will you?"
As she spoke, she made a show of stroking her belly. The provocation couldn't have been more blatant.
I didn't spare her a glance. I walked straight to the center of the hall, my gaze cutting across every elder seated along the sides.
These men. Every last one of them used to trail behind me, calling me their queen.
And now they sat here, watching in silence while some bed-climbing nobody perched in my chair and lorded it over them.
"Dennis. Where is my man?"
I ignored Nellie entirely and went straight for him.
Dennis couldn't meet my eyes. He cleared his throat.
"Margot, Tyler didn't know his place. He disrespected Nellie. I just had someone teach him a small lesson."
"A little discipline?"
I let out a cold laugh and closed the distance between us, one step at a time.