Silver Chains

Chapter Four

Draco

"But why do you even care?"

The words clang through me, wedging themselves into every tiny fracture that can be found in the ice I wrap myself in. How I manage not to reach out and grab her as she walks past, just to make her turn and face the look of hurt etched onto Theo's face, is beyond me. But I manage and turn my head to watch her as she scrambles down the hallway, slamming the door to the guest room behind her. Theo sniffles, drawing my attention back to him. If he wasn't my best friend, I'd give him shit for being such a sap, but as it is I actually appreciate the fact that at least one of us in this family still has a heart.

I sure as hell don't have one.

Slapping a hand against his shoulder, I squeeze lightly, bringing him back to the present, "We have some business in the warehouse district, I don't trust that Blaise won't shoot the place up. Do you want to come or not?" He shrugs, reaching over to grab a piece of bacon before unceremoniously shoving it into his mouth. "There he is. Grab a jacket, let's go."

Waiting until he disappears to the floor below us, I turn to Astoria, "I swear to God if she fucking hurts him-"

"Drop it, Draco. She's hurting. Have you even bothered to ask him why he actually brought her here?"

I groan, flopping into the chair at the head of the table and stretching my long legs onto the table, "He gave me his reasons."

"They're not the actual reason, you git. Just ask your brother," she hisses before standing and grabbing the dishes.

Theo saves me from any more berating as he runs up the stairs, ever the golden retriever of the family. "Can I drive?"

Twenty minutes later, the R8 comes to a stop outside a dilapidated building with cracked windows and boarded up doors. According to the intel Astoria had gathered weeks ago, this is the warehouse our unfortunate den guest confirmed during his interrogation. Sam stops the SUV behind us, flashing the lights once to let us know to wait in the car as the guys sweep the perimeter quickly.

Today isn't about bloodshed, it's about making sure the men inside know what family they're up against if they continue to deal in flesh and ignore our previous attempts at ridding this city of the disgusting business. It's a last chance meeting, and if they don't fall in step, they're going to regret it.

A few minutes later, Sam raps on my window and I nod to Theo, both of us exiting the car. I button my suit jacket and straighten the lapels, making sure to check that my holster vest is in place as I do so. I've forgone a kevlar vest, much to the dismay of Sam.

While Daphne and Blaise are the grim reapers of the operation, I'm the face. I have appearances to uphold and that doesn't include wearing a fucking vest to a meeting that I'm in charge at, whether the idiots inside know it or not.

Theo walks behind me, keeping a close but respectable enough distance to make it appear that he's nothing more than one of my guards.

What the other families in London don't know is that this isn't an autocracy. Our family is all on even ground, we each hold equal power. So while Theo is behind me to look like the real threat, the manpower behind my designer suit and pretty face? I'm actually just as deadly as him, if not more so.

I just don't flaunt it.

Our rivals think I'm nothing more than a man with hired guns and daddy's money.

But what they don't know is I'm a fucking snake, readying to strike at every moment. And I'll strike with my own guns, whether my family is behind me or not. And daddy's money? It wasn't given out of love, it was earned because I killed the bastard years ago.