"I'm going to ask nicely one more time." Walking in slow circles around the chair, I eye the tied-up man in question. He's slumped over with his chin touching his chest, blood dripping onto the cement floor. "Who killed Lyonel?"

After Delano called me with an insider tip that Joe, the man in the unfortunate position at the moment, was related to the murder of my employee, I didn't waste time paying him a visit at his esteemed laundromat.

Although it may seem as if the worn-down building is used for washing purposes, the basement is where Joe's real business takes place. He's been one of Rafino's dealers for years. I'd say it's a shame it had to come to this today, but then I'd be lying. This piece of scum has played a part in countless atrocities. I'm upset I didn't get to him sooner.

"Traitorous filth." The man spits blood on the ground next to my shoe before his lifeless eyes meet mine. "I'm not going to tell you shit."

Joe is referring to my father, who turned his back on Rafino once he realized what the hell he had gotten roped into. I'm sure this man was told a twisted version of the story—one that makes my father seem like the traitorous one. The only asshole in this story is Rafino. He had my father drive trucks filled with boxes of cocaine, claiming they were filled with printers instead. When my father realized what he'd actually been delivering for years, he took the entire lot for himself to build his own empire for protection, which in turn cost Rafino millions of dollars. Rafino hasn't forgiven him ever since. The feud started over something as simple as my father discovering he'd been fooled with nowhere to go. If he had gone to the police, his family would have become Rafino's number one target. My father did what he needed to do.

"Very well." I bend down to become eye level with him, flashing a wicked smile. "I suppose I'll have to get this out of you the hard way, hm? Whoever killed Lyonel couldn't have hung his body up by themselves, and from what I've recently come to learn is that you were that extra lending hand. Right or wrong?"

His gaze is filled with determination and hatred. It's the stare of a man who doesn't plan on giving anything away, despite how much I try to bribe him or the pain I'll inflict. His loyalty might be worth admiring if he wasn't involved in supplying drugs to addicts like himself and, from what I've heard, offering women who are addicts a hit for other services, even if the desire isn't reciprocated both ways.

With a labored sigh, I remove the knife from my pocket and flip it open. "Have it your way, then."

***

Two hours later, Joe still hadn't budged.

My knuckles were split open, raw and throbbing as I left the laundromat through the secret exit into an alley. The shrill of my ringtone cut through the honking and sirens from the city, drawing me from my thoughts.

"Do you need help with the cleanup?" Delano asks before I can say hello. "I got your text a few minutes ago. You..."

"It's done," I reply, my tone clipped. "No help necessary."

An eye for an eye. That's what I told myself after I left Joe's lifeless body in the basement for Rafino or another one of his associates to discover. Rafino was responsible for killing Lyonel, so it was only fair I took a man from him, too, but instead, all I feel is shame. Joe may have been nothing but scum, but did he have a family who loved him? Children who were waiting for him to reach the light and get clean? Taking his life did nothing but fuel the rage I had felt ever since I left The Harbor last night.

Joe, the same man who dared lay his hand on Hadari's body seemed like a fucking present in my lap when he seemed to be connected to Lyonel's murder. With each cut into his skin and every finger removed, Hadari's terrified expression flashed in my memory. She has no idea who I truly am, but at the first glimpse of it, she ran.

Can I blame her?

It's the reason I've kept everyone at arm's length in the first place. Becoming attached to anyone is practically forbidden, and for obvious reasons.

When Joe spotted Hadari and me in the club, he put two and two together. I've never entertained a woman there, so he knew Hadari had caught my eye for reasons aside from her beauty. If that knowledge reached Rafino, she'd be the number one target for him to take out to get to me. And yet I had stopped to tell her I would explain myself, and what good would that have done? Not even my mother knows about this operation. Still, from that horrified expression on Hadari's face, a woman I know hardly anything about, I had come seconds from trying to get her to understand something I swore to keep under lock and key until my time in the grave approached.

It would have made her shoot right to the top of Rafino's murder list.

Maybe that's why I killed Joe, or maybe I'm trying to convince myself I took his life to protect an innocent person so I can feel better about myself. Time and time again I try to rationalize that I'm nothing like Rafino, but on days like today, the line between him and me becomes thinner.

"Alright. I'll see you back here, then. There's some pertinent information I gathered that would be best told in...person."

"It'll have to wait. I won't be returning until tomorrow." My security driving an SUV pulls up to the curb, and I quickly slide into the vehicle to avoid being seen. The sun is setting ahead of us when he pulls onto the freeway, casting the Bronx into a red-and-orange glow.

"You're staying in the city again?" He tries not to sound shocked but fails. "Are there more leads you've gathered about Lyonel?"

"No," I admit. Delano may be my closest confidant, but we aren't that close. He doesn't need to be involved with my plans tonight, regardless of how stupid and reckless they might be.

***

Returning to The Harbor was the last thing I should have done.

After being discovered together last night, Joe more than likely told Rafino as soon as he left. Leaving Hadari alone would be the smartest option, but knowing she could potentially be in danger has been on my mind since she walked away from me last night.

Hadari, though she doesn't seem naive, doesn't understand the first thing about this lifestyle and what even the slightest rumors can cause someone to do. If Joe told Rafino about her, I have no doubt he already has eyes on her, and I won't let her get harmed because of my inability to stay away.

I keep a low profile as soon as the elevator doors to the club open, sticking to the shadows and picking a lone booth in the back that overlooks the space. Low lighting and sultry music fill the room, dancers giving lap dances to members who desire them.

Only one woman captures my attention, and she just so happens to be on stage. Thankfully, she hasn't noticed me, nor do I wish for her to. I'm here solely to scope out the members in attendance tonight, analyzing whether their eyes stray for too long or seem suspicious.

That's why I try to convince myself as I watch her body work the stage, unable to look away from the sheer radiance that seems to beam off of her. I'm fixated on her thighs and the way they grip the pole, wondering how they'd feel clenched against either side of my head.

Hadari is a force to be reckoned with. I knew that the moment she didn't suck up to me or back away from my challenge to dance for me. Others here scurry away in fear, but Hadari... She treated me as if I were normal. Like I'm just another horny guy who sauntered in here to get their rocks off. It was refreshing.

And maybe she was right to assume I'm like the rest. Hell, my cock is hard when she bends over to showcase that toned backside of hers, a pink thin garment leaving little to the imagination. I'm no better than Joe or Buck. I'm taking my fill of her without a lick of remorse.

But it's not just the way she looks that has me interested. It goes beyond that. Never once have I entertained someone beyond business simply because my lifestyle doesn't allow it, but with Hadari? The second my hands landed on her skin, the very instant she climbed on my lap, it felt like the first time in my life that I wasn't sinning.

We would never be able to see each other outside of this club, so it was the right thing to do to end things, but that doesn't mean I can't ensure she's safe behind the scenes. I have the means to do so, and I refuse to let someone else who is good become ruined by Rafino and his goons.

For now, nobody here seems out of place. There aren't any threats for the time being, so I become like the rest of the bastards in here and sink deeper into my shame, gazing upon the star of the show on center stage.