Chapter 14
Fourteen
THE SYNDICATE’S REACH
THAL
The steady hum of the monitors filled the otherwise silent room. Before me, an array of intelligence reports lay spread out, their pages illuminated by the faint glow of the screen.
My brain was a minefield of what-ifs and ledger entries. The scotch was a blunt instrument meant to numb the jagged edges of the transfer pending stamp seared into my retinas.
I rose, shaking my head to clear the fog clouding my mind. I craved clarity and wanted to dull the nagging ache in my nerves. That was why I'd overindulged a little. Still, I was determined not to give in to exhaustion just yet.
Even when I lay in the private suite connected to my operations center, sleep wouldn't come. My mind was already racing, tangled in a web of frustrations and fears. An ominous feeling of impending doom haunted me, with dark clouds gathering overhead and refusing to clear.
And just then, my informants provided unsettling evidence that intensified the weight pressing on my chest.
The reach of the syndicates had extended farther than we initially thought, deeply infiltrating Vegas’s power structures.
To make matters worse, we had evidence that they were trying to continue their infiltration by gathering intelligence on some of the key figures in my operation, as well as Zeno’s and Aidon’s.
The three of us had methodically built the foundations of our operations on men we could trust without doubt. If the syndicates managed to reach these men, blackmail them, and turn them against us, it would ruin all the alliances we depended on to survive.
My phone buzzed with a notification, and I checked it. It was a message from one of my main informants. At first, I didn’t grasp its meaning.
The owl collects what the crow signed away. The debt is due at the gala. Don’t let your prize get too comfortable, Thalassios.
My blood turned to liquid lead. Rhea wasn't playing for territory anymore. She was coming for the woman who still carried the scent of my skin in her hair. She knew I’d seen the ledger and that I held the only asset she needed to balance her books. I didn't tremble.
I gripped the scotch glass until my knuckles turned white, the amber liquid as still as a frozen lake.
“Fuck,” I whispered, the word a dark vow. “She’s not striking at my business. She’s striking at what is mine. She’s trying to collect on a soul I’ve already claimed.”
I picked up the phone and called Daphne, feeling grateful when she answered on the first ring.
I worried about her every moment she was out of my view.
However, she insisted on staying home tonight, and I chose not to argue, despite my desire to.
There was a delicate balance between protecting her and controlling her.
Therefore, I respected her choice and ensured one of my men were stationed outside her door.
“Hey,” she answered.
“I’m sending you some documents to review,” I said. “And please double-check that all your doors and windows are locked.”
“I live on the thirtieth floor, Thal,” she said. “Nobody’s getting into my windows.”
“Lock the doors, Daphne. I don’t care if you live in the clouds.
Rhea has monsters who can scale glass if the price is right, and right now?
You’re the most expensive thing in Vegas.
You aren't Zeno’s ward anymore. You're a target for the city, but you’re my responsibility.
If I find out a single person has breathed the same air as you without my permission, I’ll burn the building down with them inside. Do you understand?”
“Then we need to prepare.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “But before anything, I need to know you’re safe.”
“I appreciate that, Thal, but I assure you, I’m fine.”
Her voice carried a tone of annoyance, and I didn’t blame her. Clearly, she was safe and sound at home, but why did I have this persistent feeling I couldn’t shake? Maybe I was overthinking, but I didn’t mind.
“I’m going to order extra protection for all our properties, including the warehouses that store our weapons and other resources. If Rhea strikes, I believe she’d hit there first.”
Honestly, I expected her to hit where it would hurt the most. That might have been my tactic in the past, but now that Daphne was part of my life, it was clearly hers.
Maybe that was why I was so on edge. I could always buy more weapons. Anything in the world could be replaced.
Except Daphne.
Anger surged through my veins. “I’m not fucking around, Daphne.
You need to understand that. My mission has always been to reshape Vegas into a different place than the one I arrived in.
I’ve been working tirelessly to wipe out the syndicates that have held this city for too long. I won’t rest until they’re gone.”
I could hear the concern in the long beat of silence on the other end of the line, in the way her breath hitched, a soft, jagged sound that made my chest tighten. I closed my eyes, picturing the exact way her brow would furrow in the dim light of her suite.
“That’s a heavy burden for you to bear alone, Thal,” she whispered, her voice vibrating through the receiver and straight into my marrow.
“I’m not looking for a better Vegas, Daphne.
I’m looking for a total purge. I’m tearing out the syndicates because they think they can own people.
They think they can own you. I’m going to build a kingdom from the wreckage, and I’m going to make sure it’s a place where no one ever dares look at you as debt again.
I’m not looking for pride. I’m looking for total, undisputed control. ”
Her voice softened. "I’m right here. I’ve already told you I’ll do whatever you need.”
I knew I was asking a lot. Working with me meant danger, a potentially deadly risk. It wasn’t a responsibility I took lightly.
Each decision and action felt like walking on a razor’s edge, aware that Daphne and I were always in the line of fire.
God, it tore me apart that it had to be this way. I closed my eyes, picturing her beautiful eyes, and a sharp ache pierced through me, as if my heart was being torn apart.
I had to protect my empire. I had to defend this town and everyone in it. I couldn’t do it alone, but I carried the weight of not messing it up, of not turning away when the stakes were this high.
Ignoring the problem wasn’t an option. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I knew what I had to do. It was time to take action, no matter what the cost.
Unfortunately, that came with a lot of danger.
But I didn’t see any other way to do this, and that fact alone was heart-wrenching. I had to do it, but I also had to do it while protecting Daphne.
My mission had been ingrained in me long before I ever crossed paths with Daphne. I had accepted the inherent dangers as just part of my way of life, a normal aspect of doing business.
But everything changed the moment she became mine.
Suddenly, this mission, along with the risks it involved, transformed from a simple duty into something much more personal and emotionally intense.
It was as if the stakes had shifted from vague danger to a powerful connection that threatened to reshape my every thought and action.
I was consumed by her. Love was too soft a word for the jagged, terrifying addiction that had taken root in my chest. Somewhere between the Aruba surf and the blood-stained concrete of that warehouse, she’d become the only thing I was willing to commit genocide for.
She wasn’t good anymore, and that was why I worshipped her. Good was for girls who stayed in gilded cages and let men decide their value.
She was lethal. She was the Ghost of Olympus, and she was the only woman in this godforsaken city dark enough to wear my crown.
I would burn Vegas to ash and sift through the cinders before I let Rhea or Zeno put a leash on her again.
My skin rippled with fear. If anything happened to her, I would never forgive myself.
“I know. thank you,” I replied, running a hand through my hair in frustration. “Just lock up, okay? I’m going to talk to my security head and send a few more men your way. You won’t even know they’re there.”
"Alright, Thal,” she said. I let out a sigh of relief, glad she wouldn’t argue. “Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Daph.”
I ended the call, but a heavy, unsettling feeling lingered in my chest. The thought of the long, restless hours ahead cast a shadow over my mind, each minute feeling like it was stretching on forever.
I was tense and alert, like a coiled snake ready to strike at any moment.
The elusive target seemed just out of reach, tempting me with its distance.
Fury burned inside me, fists clenched as I paced my suite, my eyes flickering between the surveillance feeds on my monitors. Every part of me was filled with anger and determination. I was unwavering in my resolve.
Rhea would be destroyed.
But I knew this victory wouldn’t be the end. I expected that someone else, stronger and more ruthless, would rise to take her place. The flow of power-hungry contenders would never stop.
Yet, amid the chaos, my resolve stayed firm. I would protect my empire at all costs, ready to face anyone who dared challenge me.
And I would die before I let anyone hurt Daphne.
“They think they can take my city? Let them try. But if they think they can take her? I’ll make sure their final moments are spent realizing they’ve invited the devil to their door.
” I looked at the surveillance feeds, my face a mask of cold, unyielding stone.
“Rhea is about to learn that some debts aren't paid in money. They’re paid in graves.”