continuing. "Wilson Trent made a stupid move out of greed. Dallas was well within reason to put him down for it, but it leaves us with a mess to clean up."
A pretty little speech, but not without a chiding edge. Or maybe Dallas was still irritated with Mad's cousin. He couldn't forget the moment between Gideon and Lex the previous night, that awkward, halting conversation that had implied the two shared secrets.
Secrets were intimacy, and God knew he was jealous as fuck of Lex's intimacy. It lent his voice unreasonable bite as he drawled his response. "If I'd set about cleaning up that mess, you'd all assume I was aiming to expand operations."
"Someone will have to," Cerys observed. "Leaving a power void in that sector could hurt all of us."
"You most of all, eh, Cerys?" Fleming noted idly. "After all the effort you and the other ladies have gone to, buffing and shining Two until it's as pristine as Eden itself. You've got leaderless barbarians on your doorstep now."
"And I don't like it. I like order, just as you do."
Scott barked out a laugh. "Fleming likes money, not order."
"Money comes from order," Colby intoned piously, unable to pass up the chance to land a jab on his enemy, even a ridiculous one. Dallas had seen Colby's sector, and Seven was damn near as chaotic as Three.
Scott opened his mouth to retort, and Dallas cut them off before they could start another fight. "We all like money, and we all like not having our sectors firebombed. Or have you two forgotten how Three got so damned fucked up to start with? The asshole before Trent let his ego get ahead of him, and Eden blew up all his pretty factories."
"Which is why I'll gladly let someone else take on the risk of developing Three." Jernigan leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "The place is a pit. It's not worth losing my manufacturing capabilities over."
Dallas studied Jernigan, trying to see past the man's businesslike façade. All the people around the table were dangerous to one degree or another--even Gideon--but none of them were as tough to read as Jim Jernigan. He was the only original sector leader left, one of the first who'd helped carve out the eight territories and set down the rules for survival. A dangerous man, to have held on to his sector while his contemporaries lost their places to internal struggle, one after another.
He had a poker face that'd make Lex weep with envy.
"Dallas."
He started at his name, and for a moment thought he'd missed part of the conversation. But everyone else was peering at Gideon in confusion, too. Fleming frowned and leaned forward. "Dallas, what?"
"Dallas can do it without attracting attention." Gideon rolled a cigarette between his fingers without lighting it. "It's not just about location. It's about style, and keeping things running without too many changes, so no one in Eden decides they need to poke their noses in. Three and Four have always been similar."
Scott's face drew into a disbelieving grimace. "You want to just give O'Kane a fucking sector?"
"No," Colby corrected in a withering tone. "Gideon obviously wants to give it to his cousin. Maddox. O'Kane even brought him to the damn summit."
Holding back a sigh, Dallas flashed Gideon a dark look and received an enigmatic expression in return. Gideon was playing a game all right, but Dallas would bet his boots and his balls that Mad wasn't in on it. If he didn't trust in Mad's unconditional loyalty, the man wouldn't be guarding Lex right now.
Fleming scoffed. "If we're offering up our subordinates, my second-in-command could work wonders with the sector."
Cerys smiled. "Let's be clear what we're talking about here. A seven-share split of whatever profits come out of Three, less a small percentage. We'll call it a management fee."
"Profits meaning income after expenses," Dallas cut in. Gideon had started the ball rolling, but Dallas could feel excitement prickling along his skin now. The promise of power in the air, if he worked it just right. "How many of you have been to Three? There are some decent crafters in there, but the sector's a damn mess. Most of the roads were wiped out when they torched the factories. Travel is a nightmare, which makes business a pain in the fucking ass."
"You and Cerys are the only ones close enough to make it practical." Jernigan's gaze roved over Dallas, assessing and cold. "And Cerys--God love her, but her skills run