Page 96 of Sweet Ruin

I take my time to weigh an answer. Niko waits patiently.

The block is the block. It’s the exact sort of thing that a man like me is supposed to want. Land, money, power. The last white square colored in.

The block is also my mother’s block. It’s my roots, her memory, our legacy. I swore I’d get it all for her.

But what if that’s not the whole picture anymore? What would that mean?

If I say it’s the baker, then what am I? A man who spent two decades assembling the most valuable square mile in Brooklyn and then handed the last piece back because I felt bad for this beaten-down woman who deserved a better man in her life. A few black X’s on a hand-me-down calendar were enough to sway me off of a decade of planning? Of blood, sweat, and tears?

My father would have laughed himself sick, if he could see me now.

He’d have set down his glass and looked at the men around the table and muttered something out of the side of his mouth about how his boy went soft.

He’d have thrown me away just like he did my mother. Another son wouldn’t be so sympathetic, such a fucking pussy.

That thought grates.

But not as much as the one I keep coming back to.

A thumb stroking spilled sugar off of a velvet-soft cheek. Sweet lips and snowflakes in her hair. Is trading away my empire worth it if I get that instead?

I don’t know.

But I don’t have any plans to explain myself to fucking anybody.

I pick the vodka back up off the map instead.

“Eat your food, Nik. I’m done with this conversation.”

He eyes me with more questions on the tip of his tongue. But in the end, he makes the smartest choice he’s ever made:

He picks up his plate and steps out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Not alone for long, though.

Because, a few minutes later, Anton comes to the dining room door.

“There’s a woman at the front for you, sir.”

I look up.

“She says her name is Delilah Dorsey, and that she has an answer to your offer.”

I get to my feet, set the bottle down, and stride toward my office.

“Send her in,” I tell my soldier. “I’ll be waiting.”

19

DELILAH

CALL DETAIL RECORD — INBOUND

LINE: (718) 536-XXXX [redacted] — V HAVEN HOLDINGS, LLC (listed)

ORIGINATING NUMBER: (917) 206-2064 — DORSEY, D. (mobile)

DATE: THU 31 DEC 2026