The legitimate business came later. Real estate first, then shipping, then tech. Layer after layer of clean money piled on top of the bloodstained foundation.
I did what needed to be done.
I broke what needed to be broken.
And I never let myself desire anything that could be used against me.
I take another puff. The smoke curls up and disappears into the night sky. Forty years of discipline. Four f*****g decades spent keeping my head down and my hands busy.
And now, this doe-eyed girl is threatening to undo all of it.
The rooftop door groans open behind me. From the darkness, Afon steps out, wiping his hands on a rag. The rag is dark and wet. He tosses it aside.
“It’ll be ash by morning.”
I drop my cigarette butt to the ground and step on it. “Good.”
He comes to stand beside me an
