“Ten years,” Lucian said.

“I treated you like a brother, Victor.”

“I let you stand guard at my sister’s grave.”

“Lucian, listen to me,” Victor wheezed.

“The girl is lying.”

“The dog is out of control.”

Lucian did not look at Victor.

He looked at me, then at the notebook in my hand.

“Is that the ledger?” he asked.

“It is,” I said.

“It has the names of the people who helped him.”

“Your syndicate is infected from the inside, Lucian.”

“The docks, the transport lines, even the staff at the Black Orchid.”

Lucian nodded slowly.

He reached down and gently patted Bishop’s head.

The dog did not snap at him.

He knew Lucian was not a threat to me.

“Let him up,” Lucian said to me.

“Bishop, back,” I said.

The gray dog immediately released Victor’s arm and stepped back.

He took up a position right by my side, his shoulder brushing my leg.

Victor scrambled backward against the wall, cradling his bleeding, bruised wrist.

Two of Lucian’s personal guards stepped out of the shadows at the top of the stairs.