He picked up the translucent paper, carefully folding it and slipping it into his inside breast pocket.

“With this,” Aries said, “I don’t just defend myself. I destroy them.”

“How?” I asked.

“The council meeting is tomorrow night,” Aries said. “The Marcones think they have the majority vote to strip me of my territory.”

“And now?”

“Now, they will find themselves facing a unified front,” Aries said. “If I present this to the elder bosses, the Marcones will be declared rogue.”

He turned his gaze down to Killian.

“As for you,” Aries said.

“Aries, please,” Killian said. “I’ve been with you for ten years.”

“Which makes your betrayal ten times worse,” Aries said.

He stepped toward Killian, pulling a heavy set of keys from Killian’s belt.

“You will stay here until the council votes,” Aries said. “If I survive the night, we will discuss your future.”

He grabbed Killian by the shoulders and dragged him toward a small, windowless storage room at the back of the office.

He pushed him inside, closed the heavy steel door, and turned the key in the lock.