Chapter 36

*Zane* *Dalton*...*Present*...

“She's coming out now sir.” My second in command, Levi, said as I watched Emma exit her school.

My eyes immediately land on her like it always does when I come to see her. She was beautiful and she was meant to be mine. Her father had ruined every opportunity to bring her to me and now I had to watch her from afar. I was going to get her soon enough but after finding out that she knew Asher Romano my plans were halted.

I had been strategically making moves to bring down Devaro’s entire pathetic organization. These things take finesse though and it wasn’t time to create waves. I wanted Emma more than anything but if Devaro Ramano ever found out what she means to me he could use her against me and I wouldn’t put it past him to kill her. So I had to stand by and watch her smile up at those three thugs. I had to watch them touch her, and kiss her. I remembered every touch they stole because when I ruled this town I would come back to collect from them everything they stole from me. At least I had one thing that was mine, her first time.

I knew that she was scared that night, and I did my best to treat her well. She probably had no idea how much I cared for her and I knew she would resent me for a long time. I hoped that one day I could explain everything to her and she would forgive me. What she didn’t know was that I wasn’t the only one her father offered her up to. To her, it probably looked like I was one of those creeps her father would bring around, but that was far from the truth.

I saw her and immediately fell in love with her deep sad eyes. I could see the way she held herself like she was trying so hard to pretend she wasn’t hurting. When we shared that night together I saw the scars and the bruises and my blood boiled. I wanted to take her away that night, but her father wanted me to wait. For some reason he wanted her to graduate high school even though he didn't plan to let her live a productive life after she graduated. I kept an eye on her long after that night though, biding my time.

In the meantime, I moved forward with my plans to create a kingdom as a gift to her. My company was in constant competition with Devaro’s crew. I, however, had a much classier and more professional arrangement with my clients. I provided clean and pure drugs, nothing but the best. My girls were clean and well taken care of, unlike the girls Devaro sent out to the bastards who were too greedy to pay good money for a girl who wasn’t strung out. People were getting wise though, especially after his recent batch of drugs had two dozen people rushed to the hospital.

Maybe it was a dirty trick to pay someone to tamper with his stash, but this was war and I never lose.

I watched Emma smile up at one of Asher’s crew and my blood boiled. She looked at them with such affection that I was so tempted to walk up and shoot them all and take her away. I found myself clenching my gun on more than one occasion on my weekly visits. The sound of Levi's phone pulled me from my murderous thoughts just in time.

“Talk....okay hang on.” Levi placed the call on speakerphone and demanded an update on our latest project.

“We are in place at the location sir.” One of our men said on the other side of the call.

Levi looked at me and I gave him a simple nod.

“Light it up,” Levi said, and we remained on the call.

I could hear sudden shouts and shots ringing out on the other end. Our men had breached and were taking out as many guys as they could.

“Building secure. Let’s light her up boys!” The guy yelled and I couldn’t help but smirk.

These guys took way too much pleasure in destruction, but I guess we all have our vices. I preferred to keep my hands clean but I carried a gun for a reason. I wasn’t afraid to kill if I needed to, it just wasn't my favorite way of getting things done. I preferred methods that barely left a mark but sent a clear message. A loud explosion echoed through the call with sounds of whooping and cheers from the men on our crew threaded through it.

“It’s done, sir.”

“Good. Clean up the scene and get out of there. It won’t take long for them to find out what happened.” Levi instructed before hanging up the call.

I turned my attention out the window again catching Emma climbing into one of those kids' ridiculous sports cars. Only a dumb kid would buy such a thing, which was why Emma would choose me over them when the time came.

Yep, in time I would have everything and I would kill anyone who stood in my way. Because I would make Emma the queen of this city and I would lay a crown on her head, and it will be drenched in blood. Blood of everyone who stood in my way...

“Let's go, Levi, I need to stop by the office,” I say letting the fantasy of my plans melt away.

“Yes sir.” He says pulling away from the curb across the street from Emma’s school.

“You still have a trace on them right?” I ask him as we make our way toward the main city.

“Yes sir. Everything is still in place. The guys have been alternating trips to Devaro’s main office, but Miss Grace doesn’t seem to accompany them. I assume they keep her away from that part of things.” I had to respect them for that at least.

The last thing I would want to do is plan an attack on Devaro and have Emma caught in the middle.

“Keep an eye on things, this is going to make Devaro want to retaliate. We need to be ready.” I remind Levi.

“We are ready sir.” He assures me.

He was my second in command for a reason. He was obedient but ruthless as hell. He didn't mind getting blood on his hands, which was a valuable quality in a war like this.

“Did you contact the estate lawyer? I would like to schedule a meeting with him before Emma meets with him.” I add glancing at the schedule on my phone.

“Yes, he plans on meeting her in two days. It seems like the revisions had already been made before the accident. It was probably the only time anything has gone right in that deal.” Levi let slip.

He always tried to keep his comments professional, but once in a while a little statement would get through that I always found highly entertaining.

“Indeed. That man was insufferable. I have no idea how he made his fortune with his ability to mess up every deal he made." I say shaking my head.

“From what I could see from his finances, his business had been going bankrupt. He had several random deposits that seemed to cover most of his losses but the business was still bleeding money from bad investments." Levi had been keeping track of everything involving the deal for Emma.

In truth, I wanted to be sure her father wasn’t so desperate enough to sabotage our deal to get a higher payday. Thankfully the others he spoke to were as stupid and greedy as he was, and we were able to buy them off easily. The one smart thing he did was ensure that the man who married Emma would get a sizable dowry. She, however, wouldn't see a penny of it. Even in death, he wanted to make sure Emma got nothing.

I didn’t need the money, but it wouldn’t hurt to have it either. Taking down Devaro was becoming a very expensive pastime. He was like a cockroach, extremely hard to kill. There was no way I would back down though, I had a kingdom to grow and I wanted every piece of it to be branded with my name. My girl’s and mine, forever.