Beyond Control

chapter Fourteen



Dusk was a perfect time to survey his new empire.

Standing atop the tallest building left in Three, Dallas watched the twisted maze of alleys and broken-down streets come to life as the sun dipped behind the distant hills. Eden was already alight, of course, its looming walls dominating the skyline, a constant reminder of the avalanche of power waiting to descend upon them.

Not that Three needed a reminder. Entire city blocks were nothing but rubble-filled ruins here, silent testament to what happened when councilmen felt threatened. The first man to claim Three had moved too fast, consolidating profit and power with blind greed. He'd thought possession of the largest surviving electronics factory made him immune to reprisals.

And it had--for as long as it took Jim Jernigan to bring a competing factory online in Eight. The next night, Eden blew a third of Sector Three back to the Dark Ages.

And most of the sector hadn't managed to claw their way out of it yet. Dallas watched fires spring to life in barrels up and down the uneven roads. Here and there, signs of electricity flickered on, a soft glow spilling from windows or the flickering neon of a prized bar sign. But the streetlights remained dark, even in sections that clearly had power.

F*cking figured. Nobody who'd set foot outside after dark in this hellhole would want the streets well lit.

Dallas glanced at the silent man at his side. "Quite a prize I won us, huh?"

Jasper snorted and clapped him on the shoulder. "It's a pile of shit, but now it's your pile of shit. Time to get to work, I guess."

True enough. "Don't worry, Jas. If these guys we're meeting aren't complete idiots, you'll have plenty of time left over to play with your girl."

"Tonight's business. I'm good with that." Jasper surveyed the growing darkness. "Ace got that intel on Gareth Woods from his friend with connections in the city. You won't like it."

"Yeah?" Tension knotted Dallas's shoulders, but he refused to let it bleed into his voice. "So rip the Band-Aid off."

"Looks like he's back in play."

"F*ck." His hands ached, and he realized he'd clenched his fists. All the time he'd spent chasing the ghost Woods had become, and of course he surfaced now, when there was no time. "What's our old friend up to?"

Jasper met his gaze, grave and serious. "The rumor? He's climbing in bed with Fleming over in Five."

It would take all night to untangle the implications--and the enemies. Trent, who'd died trying to kill Dallas. Fleming, who'd always been a knife at Dallas's back. Gareth Woods, who'd tried to settle a score with Noelle's father by framing the man for his own daughter's death.

How the hell were they all connected? Woods and Trent had attacked within a week of each other, but had that been a sign of collusion or merely coincidence? Trent had had a backer, no doubt, someone with access to city resources.

Sighing, he rubbed at the back of his neck. All the good Lex had done with her clever fingers was long gone. "What a f*cking mess."

"Uh-huh." Jasper stretched his neck to one side until it cracked. "First Trent in Three, and now Sector Five. Starts to look like a flanking maneuver. Like Woods wants to choke you out, nice and slow."

"I should have seen this coming." Woods had tried to assassinate Noelle--and had shot Lex instead. From that moment, he'd been marked for death, and Dallas was pretty f*cking sure he knew it, judging by how paranoid he'd gotten about his security. "He probably thinks Noelle's darling daddy and I are plotting against him. If he wasn't in bed with a sector leader before this, I should have figured he'd find one."

Jasper grunted. "He's blown the biggest advantage he had--we can see him coming."

"They always do underestimate us." He nodded to the broken streets spread out beneath them. "Which could very well make this a distraction, if Cerys is in on it."

"Eh, they handed you Three because they have nothing to lose. You take all the risks, do all the work, and they sit back and collect. It's a no-brainer."

"There's your problem, Jas. You're talking lots of sense and only a little bit of greed." Movement below caught his eyes, and he watched a group make its way through the shadows. "Do you know what it takes to run a sector?"

He answered with a low laugh. "If I did, you'd have to watch your back."

"Damn right." Excitement was building in Dallas's gut now, anticipation of the thrill that came with matching wits against an enemy. The men from Three would be here soon, and he'd get to play his favorite game. "We're all f*cking insane, and damn near suicidally obsessed with more. Nothing's ever enough for us."

Jasper leaned against the wall of a small hut that had been built on the rooftop. "So I'm learning."

More than a little chiding in his tone, or maybe Dallas only imagined it. He bared his teeth in a grin. "Is this where I tell you I can quit any time I want?"

"Come on, man. You know it's a lie. You love this too much."

It was true, but that wasn't the whole reason. "And I can't stomach the idea of taking orders from anyone dumb enough to want my job."

Jasper grinned. "We all like you well enough, raging insanity and all."

"Gee, thanks. I love you, too."

He raised both eyebrows and pulled his cigarette case out of his vest pocket. "Don't let Lex hear that. She'll get jealous."

Somehow, Dallas doubted it. "Man, she'd sell tickets. And since she's probably going down on your woman right now, I think you and I are f*cking well stuck with each other."

"So that's that. You and Lex." Jasper struck his lighter and touched the flame to the end of his cigarette. "You gonna go ahead and mark her? Enough with this collar bullshit?"

"When she's ready." Which wasn't the same thing as willing. Sometimes he thought he might be able to talk her into wearing ink now, but one thing held him back.

Do you trust me?

As much as I trust anyone.

He'd get a yes out of her. And then he'd claim her.

"She'll get there." Jasper offered the lit cigarette to Dallas and pulled another from the case. "Even when she's not with you, she's thinking about you."

Words to make any man smug. "She damn well better be."

Jas blew out a sharp breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "A*shole."

Grinning, Dallas slapped his second on the shoulder. "Whatever. Tell me you wouldn't say the same thing."

"I'd only say that about a chick if I couldn't get her the hell out of my head, either."

Lex had been carving out a permanent place in his subconscious since the day he'd caught her trying to steal from him. So f*cking young, so unrepentantly brazen. He'd told her she'd be the death of him, and she'd blithely agreed.

They'd both meant it. He hadn't changed his mind.

And he still wanted to be back in that bathtub with her, danger be damned. "She's not just in my head. She's in my blood."

Both of Jasper's eyebrows shot up at that. "Christ, you're serious, aren't you?"

Ignoring the wide-eyed incredulity, Dallas took a long drag from his cigarette and blew smoke up toward the night sky. "I was talking marks. Damn right I'm serious. You of all people should know."

"Guess I never thought I'd see it." Jasper rubbed his chest through his shirt, right over the spot where Noelle's name had been inked into his skin. "You've collared other women, but you never really wanted to, did you?"

"Sure I did. I wanted sex, and I needed it to be simple." Not quite a lie. Once Lex had pushed him to start accepting women into the gang, he'd had to draw a line to keep applicants off his dick. Nothing killed his hard-on faster than a woman counting the ceiling tiles--or mentally counting the money she hoped to get.

"Simple," Jasper echoed in agreement. "Yeah, that's the last damn word I'd use to describe Lex."

"Guess I got tired of it." He snuffed out the cigarette on the wall and turned to face Jasper. "Gonna have to learn to be flexible again."

"Uh-huh. Your woman doesn't play by anyone else's rules."

She'd play by his, if he was smart enough to keep the game too addictive to quit. And she'd given him a good idea of where to start. "Speaking of playing, I think she misses you and Noelle. Next time we have a night off, we should fix that."

He shrugged. "I'm down for it. Don't think I need to check with Noelle."

"What if it wasn't just the four of us?"

Jasper choked on a lungful of smoke. "You mean, like a party?"

"A little more exclusive than that," Dallas grumbled. Sharing Lex with Noelle was tolerable, and Jas was damn near an extension of her. As for the rest... Well, at least Lex's fantasy included a jealous rampage. That was pretty much a guarantee. "Lex wants something. I wanna give it to her. That's all there is to it."

He nodded slowly. "I'm down," he said again. "Just let us know where and when."

"Soon." The sooner the better. He'd tested plenty of Lex's boundaries, shoving her to the edge of her comfort zone and coaxing her beyond. Time to find out if he could do the same.

A trio of shadows parted from the darkness below, and Dallas put thoughts of Lex and pleasure aside as they approached the building. "At least they're punctual. Now we just have to worry about whether or not they're here to kill us."

"I won't be impressed unless they try."

Grinning, Dallas turned to the propped-open door that led into the abandoned building. They'd already cleared out a room and righted a beat-up old conference table and a few rickety chairs. He'd meet them here, in their territory, and feel out their motivations. If he was lucky, he'd find that same mixture that made Jasper so valuable--greed tempered by sense and a healthy dose of self-preservation.

If he wasn't, he'd stare across that table and see his own suicidal ambition reflected back at him. And he'd grant their death wish.

There was only room for one crazy bastard in his territory.