Black Collar Queen (Black Collar Syndicate Book 2) by An Latro Read Free Book Online

of the table, next to a
neat stack of files that he eyes briefly before focusing on Emma.  
    She's nervous, her
fingers twisting before she forces herself to take a breath. Rama finally
breaks a smile.  
    “Relax, Emma. I want
this as much as you.” She makes a little face and he laughs.
      “Sit down,” she says, just short of annoyed as
she eases into her seat.  
    The problem, she realizes,
staring at him, is that she can’t hide behind protocol and court. He is an
ally, but he’s also a friend—her lifeline to the city and syndicate while she
and Seth were in seclusion.  
    “Thank you,” she says,
abruptly. Rama’s eyebrows go up, startled and questioning, and she shrugs. “For
being there, for Seth and me. You made being gone easier.”
    Surprise flickers on his
face for a moment. He leans forward, and Emma shifts, sliding him a thin
folder.  
    “This is what I would
like to do,” she says.  
    Rama’s lips thin, but he
doesn’t press—he is a foreign ally in a formal situation, even if he has seen
the young queen naked and writhing in his sheets. Keeping the two separate is
important.  
    He flicks it open and
Emma watches him as he scans the proposal. When he glances at her in surprise,
she manages a small smile.   “I found some
of Caleb’s plans—and I knew him well enough to put some of it together. We’re
looking at high-end sex, Rama. We provide the best resort in the state for our
clientele to go to, as well as parties in the city twice a month that can move
through our hotels. You provide the girls. The blow will come from Seth’s Cuban
alliance.”  
    “And it brings what to
me?” Rama asks, a challenge in his tone.  
    “Aside from the
percentage of profits your family will receive—in addition to the cut you take
from the girls,” she adds, and Rama grins, a surprisingly boyish expression,
“You will do what you came to New York to do. Ally with the Morgans formally.
It takes your syndicate from a small nuisance in clubs and restaurants to a
legitimate force on the East Coast, which is what you want, right? A foothold
here.”  
    He goes quiet and still,
staring at her for long enough that a flush rises in her cheeks. Then he looks
back at the proposal. She is guessing on so much—hoping that she has it right
based on the little she found in Caleb’s apartment and what she knows about her
cousin, but there is the very real fear that Rama will hate the plan.  
    “This is a large
investment, mali.”  
    Emma’s spine snaps
straight and her expression hardens. Rama smiles, quickly hidden as her temper
slips, despite her careful control.
    “The investment is
commensurate of the profits you stand to make. And the risk is largely falling
on my people.” She snaps.
    She slides another folder
to him. He glances at it briefly, seeing the numbers, but doesn’t bother
looking at them in depth. Doesn’t seem to care—she isn’t sure if it’s because
he trusts her accounting or because he doesn’t care.  
    “How are you planning on
keeping this off the radar?” he asks.  
    Emma nibbles at her lip
and reaches for her wine. Their lunch of seared salmon, rice and roasted baby
carrots, prepared by a five star chef, sits ignored.  
    “We’re buying two
resorts. The profits will be absorbed by the legitimate side of both, and we’ll
run operations from there.” She offers him a tight smile. “We’re hiding this in
plain sight, which is risky but the only way we can make it work. And until the
resorts have been remodeled and reopened, we’ll be able to generate profits with
the traveling parties.”
    “And Seth has agreed to
this?” he challenges.  
    Her eyes go stormy and
she sits back, her expression icy.   “Are
you pushing because it’s expected or because you’re offended I’m the one here
instead of him?”
    “I’m pushing because
this is my family I’m risking, and I’ve been courted and ignored by your people
before.”  
    It’s said