Richer Than God - Amelia Wilde Page 0,32
of people at desks. I get a lot of wide-eyed looks. It’s like they’ve never seen a quality suit before. Judging by their uniforms, they haven’t.
Xavier Morris wants me to see him behind his desk, so he stays seated for far longer than is polite. For the moment, we’re on relatively even footing. He could make my life difficult, if he wanted. He’s in his forties and graying, though he’s managed to avoid the paunch so many of his fellow officers seem to attract. He’s miscalculated, however, because staying in his chair means I get to loom over him. Which I do. Mine is the harder grip when we shake hands. I’m still taller, even sitting, and he hates it.
“Zeus.” Morris puffs up his chest, folding his hands on the desk. “I hope you’re here with an invitation.”
I pat my pockets and come up with a neatly folded stack of bills. “Is this the one you were looking for?”
“Ah, yes.” He sweeps his hand over the money and stuffs it in a pocket. The man is corrupt as fuck. It’s why it was so easy to walk out of here when Hades decided to lose his mind and why it’s so difficult to shake them completely. “Does my invitation cover extras?”
“A few,” I warn him. “I can’t have law enforcement overrunning the party. There are deals to be made.”
He levels his gaze at me. “I would think the most important one is our deal.”
“Of course it is, Xavier.” He also hates when I call him by his first name. “I would never prioritize anyone above you.”
He taps his temple. “I’m still watching you, after that incident at your place. I’m expecting the party to make up for my troubles.”
His troubles involved falsifying some reports to the Feds and accepting bribes. That doesn’t mean he can run roughshod over my establishment. “You’ll enjoy yourself plenty at the party.” I plant an elbow on the arm of the chair. “But the rules remain the rules.”
Morris pouts. “The rules are the antithesis of a good party.” He’s proud of that one. “It puts a damper on a man’s evening when you let the girls pick and choose.”
“If you want me to change my policies, then you shouldn’t be so fucking brutal.” And they are—the police are the worst clients, the ones who only the most desperate girls want to take on. They’re particularly nasty when they’ve had an uneventful day. The things I’ve prevented are beyond the pale, even for a man like me. “It’s not good for business when your men damage the merchandise.”
He puts an offended hand to his chest then thinks better of it. “Most of them will be on shift. The city’s hot.”
Morris doesn’t mean the weather. There’s a feeling in the streets that’s like a lightning storm about to crack through the sky. The men who guard the outside of Olympus have been telling me about fights on the corners and brawls at bars. Shadowy house fires on targeted streets. The tiff I had with Hades has had ripple effects. Shut down the train for a few days, and everything falls to pieces. I’m at the top of the ecosystem here, but the bottom is crumbling. Each fistfight is a bubble in a pot about to boil.
“I’m sure you’ll have it under control.”
He looks away, letting out a short sigh. “Your brother is running the trains again.”
“I’m running the trains.”
“And Poseidon is back outside city limits?”
I let out a conspiratorial laugh. “Do you think I keep the man in my pocket? He does what he will.”
“There’s a tipping point,” says Morris, eyes searching mine. “You know that.”
“Poseidon isn’t going to bother anyone.” This is as empty a promise as I’ve ever made. Nobody can control him, least of all me. It was a stroke of dumb luck that Hades got him to move against me. They must have bartered. I’ll never know. “Things will settle down.”
“Better happen soon.” He fiddles with a pen on his desk. Morris’s cracks are showing. He prefers regular, run-of-the-mill crime—crime he can extort bribes from without anyone being the wiser. Something more is happening out in the city. I make a mental note to send some people looking for what it is. “My men are overextended. They need a break.”
“We’ll do our best to supply it.”
“Your best?”
“Want to be wined and dined, Xavier? It can be arranged.” This is several steps down from what men like Xavier Morris want out of Olympus, but