The lounge was dim, lit only by the fire and the soft glow of golden sconces. Smoke curled into the air, whiskey burned in their glasses, and the silence between them was heavy—until her name was spoken.
Kaylee.
It was Kadeem who broke first, sprawled across the leather couch, one leg bouncing, restless energy in his smirk.
"Fuck, I can't get her out of my head. That mouth of hers… the way she bites back when you corner her. I wanna make her choke on every smart word she's ever said." He dragged a finger across his throat and grinned. "I want her on her knees, crying, begging me to stop—but deep down? Wanting more."
He licked his lips, half-crazed with the thought.
Kaden, the smiler, chuckled low, swirling his glass. His grin cut through the smoke like a knife.
"You're too impatient. I don't want her broken in one night. No, no…" He leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "I want to strip her fire slowly. I want to hear her scream, watch her writhe, see that moment she realizes she isn't free anymore. Every day, a little piece of her pride gone—until the only thing she can do is moan for us."
Kadeem snorted. "Sadist."
Kaden's grin sharpened. "Truth."
Kadin, calmer but no less dangerous, spoke evenly, almost like a judge passing sentence.
"She won't just be another girl. She'll be the one who belongs to us—completely. Her lips, her body, her heart, even her damn thoughts—we'll own them all. She won't have a choice. And when she finally stops fighting, when she finally surrenders—" he smirked faintly, "—that's when she'll be perfect."
For a moment, the fire popped, the only sound in the room.
And then—Kayden spoke.
His voice was low, rough, and absolute.
"Her mouth," he muttered, eyes fixed on the flames. "It'll be put to better use."
The room fell still. Even Kadeem, who never shut up, leaned back with wide eyes. Kayden rarely spoke—but when he did, it wasn't a suggestion. It was a sentence.
He turned his head slightly, smoke curling from his lips.
"She'll fight."
Kadeem grinned. "Yeah, she will."
Kayden smirked darkly, a shadow of amusement in his hard eyes.
"Good. I like when they fight. Makes it sweeter when they break."
Kadeem leaned forward again, restless, his grin feral.
"I want her screaming my name when I fuck her against the wall. Scratch marks down my back, tears in her eyes, begging for a break—but I won't give it."
Kaden tilted his glass, still smiling.
"Not until she begs to stay in my bed. And when she does? I'll remind her she's not just mine. She's all of ours."
Kadin's voice was steady, final.
"She's ours. And if anyone touches her—" his gaze flicked toward Kayden, who didn't need to finish the thought.
Kayden's lips curled around one last word.
"Dead."
The silence stretched again until Kaden broke it with a sly grin.
"Remind me, Kay… how old are you again?"
Kayden's eyes slid toward him, sharp. "Old enough to know you talk too much."
Kadin groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kaden, must you make it obvious every damn time that you're senseless?"
Kaden smirked, leaning back. "Better senseless than heartless, Judge. You've got the charm of a corpse."
Kadin's brow arched. "At least corpses shut up. You? You're noise with legs."
"Noise that gets results," Kaden shot back. "Unlike you—Mr. 'Let's Overthink Until Everyone's Dead of Boredom.'"
Kadin's eyes narrowed. "Better bored than brainless."
"Better brainless than boring."
The words cracked sharp across the room like sparring blades.
Kadeem finally lost it, doubling over, wheezing laughter. "God, you two sound like toddlers fighting over toys."
Even Kayden—stone-faced, firelit—let out a faint huff that could almost be called a laugh. His smirk was quick, gone in a blink, but it was there.
For a moment, the room wasn't so heavy. They were brothers, not executioners.
Kadeem slapped the table, still grinning. "Alright, alright. Enough. Before you two start pulling each other's hair, let's play."
He tossed a deck of cards onto the table, the snap of paper loud in the smoke-filled quiet.
"High hand makes the call on Tomas," Kadeem said, shuffling with restless flair. "Loser fetches the next bottle."
Kaden leaned forward, eyes glinting. "I don't lose."
"Neither do I," Kadin shot back.
"Then tonight will be fun."
Kayden's voice cut in, low but less cold than before. "Play. But the loser's not fetching bottles."
Three pairs of eyes turned toward him.
Kayden smirked faintly. "The loser handles Arlo."
Kadeem's grin widened. "Oh, I like this game already."
The cards slapped down, whiskey burned, laughter broke through the smoke again. But beneath it all—the vow still lived, heavy and unshakable.
Kaylee McPherson would be theirs.
The city would be theirs.
And anyone in their way would fall.
The whiskey burned down their throats, and for a moment silence filled the lounge, thick with smoke and oath.
Then Kadeem slammed his empty glass on the table, restless grin back in place.
"Now enough about dreams. Let's talk about tonight."
Kaden smirked, always the one to turn cruelty into strategy. "Dreams? You mean goals. And tonight we set the first domino. Tomas thinks he can move weight through the docks without us taking a cut. Cute, right?"
"Cute until he wakes up broke," Kadeem replied. "I say we torch one of his warehouses. Nothing too loud. Just enough smoke to make him sweat."
Kadin shook his head, ever the colder judge. "Fire invites attention. Better to bleed him quiet. A few late shipments, a few suppliers pulled, and his boys start doubting him. We make him choke on silence."
Kayden spoke at last, his voice final. "Both. A whisper in the right ear, a fire in the wrong place. Let him feel hunted from both sides."
The others nodded. Kayden rarely wasted words. When he did, they carried weight.
Kadeem laughed, tossing a poker chip he'd pulled from his pocket. "And Arlo? The loudmouth? I want to humiliate that bastard. Strip his pride in public. Take the deals he brags about and make him watch them crumble."
"Reputation is currency," Kaden said. "We bankrupt him in front of his friends."
"Mills is trickier," Kadin mused. "No headlines. No fires. Just… vanish his contacts one by one. A bad meeting here, a forgotten favor there. He won't even know he's falling until he's already at the bottom."
"Ghosts don't fight back," Kaden said.
"No leaks," Kadin said. "One crew, one task. Nobody knows the whole picture."
Kayden rose, coat already on, eyes cold. "Tomas tonight. Arlo soon. Mills slowly. Anyone else who thinks they can test us—" he paused, and the others didn't need him to finish.
"Dead," Kadeem said for him, grinning wide.
They raised their glasses again, the word ringing like steel.
"The Knights."