[Madison Sullivan’s POV]

  Roxbury numbers are slipping again. I frown at the spreadsheet, the neat columns of data telling me what I already know, we're losing ground there. I sigh and make a note in the Excel file, adding it to the growing list of problems that need my attention.

  I lean back in my leather chair, rubbing my temples. Two years running New Engnd's criminal operations, and I still feel like an imposter pying dress-up in a boss's suit. When I was just an underboss, things were simpler. Execute orders, manage my crew, report up. Now? Everything nds on my shoulders. Every decision, every consequence.

  The families in Italy keep saying they trust only me or Lara to run things properly since Cat left, but I'd give anything to go back to the old days.

  I'm deep in these thoughts when my office door swings open without warning. Only one person would dare.

  "Yo, boss!" Lara strides in like she owns the pce, that manic gleam dancing in her blue eyes. Her red hair cascades down her back, moving with her predatory swagger.

  "You're supposed to knock, Lara," I say, not even bothering to sound annoyed anymore.

  "Nah." She flops into the chair across from my desk, propping her feet up on the polished wood.

  I sigh and close my ptop. "What's up?"

  "One of our whores down stairs is having a bit of a situation."

  "Lara, why are you even talking to the escorts?" I ask, unable to hide my irritation. "Your time is far more valuable than that."

  She grins, unfazed by my tone. "It doesn't get in the way, boss. Come on."

  I exhale slowly, knowing Lara well enough to understand she's not bringing this to me without reason. "Alright, fine. What's the problem?"

  "Stephanie Bckwood has her eyes on one," she says, twirling a strand of red hair around her finger.

  "And?" I shrug, not seeing the issue. Rich clients obsess over our escorts all the time.

  "This escort is part of our more legit front," Lara expins, her pyful demeanor slipping just slightly.

  Still, what do we care? Caterina would've just figured out a way to sell her the guy."

  Something fshes in Lara's eyes then, a rare moment of genuine concern that always catches me off guard.

  "This one's a good guy, Maddy," she says quietly. "He's a single dad with two kids." She pauses before adding, "Plus his sister is my trainer."

  That st bit makes me raise my eyebrows. Lara doesn't have many personal connections outside our organization.

  I stare at Lara, trying to read past the manic energy she's radiating. "Last time you told me someone was a 'good guy,' I watched you circumcise him with a box cutter."

  Lara cackles, throwing her head back. "Oh! No-Skin Johnny? That wasn't the same thing." She waves her hand dismissively. "He said my red hair looked ugly. He stopped being a good guy after that."

  I nod slowly, remembering the screams.

  "Listen," she continues, leaning forward, suddenly serious. "I owe this whore."

  "Owe him what?" I ask, genuinely confused. "You don't even fuck the whores!"

  "For something else, alright?" Lara snaps, a rare fsh of defensiveness crossing her features.

  I rub my temples again, feeling a headache building. "What do you want me to do, Lara? Boderna supplies us with chemicals. I can't blow that up just because you owe a prostitute something." I lock eyes with her. "And you can't fucking kill her, Lara. She's too high-profile."

  Lara sighs, visibly annoyed at having her preferred solution taken off the table. "It'd be so easy," she mutters.

  "I know, but I don't want any fucking cops around that we don't know."

  "Yeah, yeah," Lara says, drumming her fingers on my desk. "Just buy me time."

  "How?"

  "Just call up Bckwood for me and tell her you're negotiating on her behalf or something."

  "What are you going to do in the meantime?" I ask, not loving where this is heading.

  Lara's lips curl into that unsettling smile. "I think I'll try to get her ousted. Don’t we have a girl on the board there?"

  "Two," I correct her, already seeing the fws in this pn. "Look, Stephanie is good at her job. She doesn't ask…"

  "We already prepared to oust her if she said no," Lara cuts me off, impatient as always.

  "I know," I sigh.

  "Maybe I'll merely show her it's possible for me to have her fired," Lara says, her eyes gleaming with that dangerous light that usually precedes bloodshed.

  I take a deep breath. "Fine. But if this blows up, I'll sell the guy and his family myself."

  Lara's grin widens, showing too many teeth. "When did you get so heartless?"

  I look at her ftly, feeling the weight of my position pressing down on my shoulders. "Lara, it's the fucking job."