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It was around ten in thewhen Trez headed over to Sal&039;s Restuarant The trip from the apart establish, only tenspots in the lot when he got there

Then again, the place didn&039;t open, even to the kitchen staff for prep, until one in the afternoon

As he walked over to the entrance, his boots crunching in the snow, he half expected the code that unlocked things from the outside not to work: iA those cocksuckers at the s&039;Hisbe hadn&039;t taken the guy for collateral, there was only one place his brother could be: After two pots of coffee and a lot of checking his watch, Trez knew that if he wanted to make peace, he had to head across town

Cool The coed

Yet

Inside, the place was old-school Rat Pack done right, a modern interpretation of the era that had spawned the likes of Peter Lawford and the Chairman of the Board: An entryith black-and-red flocked wallpaper took you to the receiving area, where the coat check, retro hostess stand and cashier&039;s desk were To the left, and to the right, there were tworooms, both done in black and red velvet and leather, but they weren&039;t where the localout The sweet spot was the bar up ahead, a wood-paneled rooainst the walls and, during regular hours, a tuxedoed bartender behind a thirty-foot oak stretch serving nothing but the best

Striding into the bar&039;s dim expanse, Trez headed around the far end of the five-tiered display of bottles and hit the flap door As he pushed his way into the kitchen, the scent of basil and onion, oregano and red wine, told hiuy was facing off at the sixteen-burner stove on the far wall, five huge pots si in front of his in the stoves, too Meanwhile, wooden cutting boards were lined up on the stainless-steel counters, the dead heads of various kinds of peppers lolling around next to the very sharp knives that had been used

Ten bucks to guess who the guy had been thinking of when he&039;d been chopping stuff

"You going to talk to me at all?" Trez said to his brother&039;s back

iA its lid with a white dishcloth, a big slotted spoon going in and stirring slowly

Trez leaned to the side and pulled over a stainless-steel stool Taking a seat, he rubbed his thighs up and down

"Hello?"

iAm went to the next pot And then the next Each had a separate spoon for flavor flagellation, and his brother was careful not to cross-contaminate

"Look, I&039;ht" Every evening, iAm headed over to the Iron Mask for a check-in after Sal&039;s closed "I had some business to take care of"

Shit, yeah, he did Baby girl with the bouncer BF had taken forever to get out of his car when he&039;d gotten her to her house - eventually he&039;d walked her to the door, opened the way in, and all but toastered her through the jaas like he&039;d planted a bomb in the walk-up, and as he&039;d steamed over to the Iron Mask, all he&039;d heard in his head was iA this

iA his arainst the stove His biceps were big to begin with, but cranked like that, they strained the bounds of the black T-shirt he earing

His almond-shaped eyes were half-lidded "You actually think I&039;ot to the club? Really It&039;s not because you left me to deal with AnsLai or some shit"

Annnnnnnnd they were off to the races

"I can&039;t see any of them face-to-face, you know that" Trez lifted his hands, all what-ao back with theht? I&039;d end up killing the son of a bitch, and then where would I be?"

iAht now, it appears as if they&039;re taking a diplomatic approach At least withback?"

"I don&039;t know - and that&039;s what makes me nervous"

Trez stiffened The idea that his cool-as-a-cucumber brother was anxious made hiain, he ell aware of exactly how dangerous his people could be The s&039;Hisbe was largely a peaceable nation, content to stay out of the battles with the Lessening Society and away froent, and spiritual, they were, on the whole, a pretty nice group of people Provided you weren&039;t on their shit list

Trez looked at those pots and wondered what theoff the debt to Rehv," he pointed out "So that obligation has to come first"

"Not to the s&039;Hisbe any, &039;It&039;s ti back there" Heto happen"

iAnated spoon "I know That&039;s why I&039;ve been cooking I&039; to think of a way out of this"

God, he loved his brother Even pissed off, the guy was trying to help "I&039;host and made you deal with this I really am That wasn&039;t fair - I justyeah, I really didn&039;t think it was safe to be in the sauy I&039;m very sorry"

iAm&039;s thick chest rose and fell "I know you are"

"I could just disappear That would solve the probleh,was, if he went on the lam from the s&039;Hisbe, he could never have any contact with the o," iAood neas that the s&039;Hisbe didn&039;t like to have any contact with UKs No doubt even showing up at his and iAh priest had just de directly with hu around them? AnsLai&039;s head would explode

"So as your business?" iAm asked

Great Onto an equally happy subject

"I went to see that warehouse property," he hedged But co up the chick and her boyfriend?

"At one am?"

"I made an offer"

"Howprice is two and a half et it The place has been vacant for years, and it shows" Althougheven as he said that, he had to adain, uess is that they&039;ll come back at two, I&039;ll throw out one six, and we&039;ll come to terms at one seven"

"Are you sure you want to tackle that project right now? Unless you show up at the territory with yourtackle ready to be used, the issue with the s&039;Hisbe is only going to escalate"

"If things come to a head, I&039;ll deal with it then"

"When," iAm corrected "That would be &039;when&039; And I knohat happened in the back parking lot, Trez With the guy and that woman"

Oooooof course he did "You see the tapes or so

"Yes"

"I handled it"

"Just like you&039;re handling the s&039;Hisbe Perfect"

Te, Trez leaned in "You want to be in my shoes, brother mine? I&039;d like to see hoell you&039;d deal with this bullshit"

"I wouldn&039;t be out fucking whores, I&039;ll tell you that ent a female?"

"Fuck you, iAm For real"

Trez shot off the stool and h problems, FFS - he didn&039;t need Mr Superior with the Julia Child skills ar with twelve kinds of potshot co this off," iA to bury it in between the legs of countless women"

Trez stopped, but kept his eyes on the exit

"You just can&039;t," his brother stated baldly

Trez pivoted around iA next to hiht, dark, bright, dark Every time the illumination made an appearance, it looked like his brother had a halo around his whole body

Trez cursed "I just need them to leave me alone"

"I know" iAm rubbed his head "And I honestly don&039;t knohat the fuck to do about it I can&039;t io back there, either I&039;h"

"Those womenyou know, the ones I" Trez hesitated "Don&039;t you think they&039;d get me off?"

"If they aren&039;t," iA with them"

Trez had to smile a little "No, I in as you can get at this point" Although at least he hadn&039;t sunk to farm animal level "And what&039;s worse? They&039;ve all been UKs - mostly hu about the queen&039;s daughter"

As iAm frowned like he hadn&039;t fully considered the idea, Trez felt a ray of hope

"I don&039;t know," came the response "Maybe that would work - but you&039;ve still cheated Her Majesty out of what she wants and needs If they consider you coht just decide to kill you as a punish hiression, Trez dipped his chin and glared out from beneath his brows "If that&039;s the case, they&039;ll have to fight o well for them"