"Let's be clear," I replied. "You're asking me to drop the charges against your son, right? Recant my statement to the police, refuse to testify, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That's what all the eye contact, oily words, and fake charm are about, yes?"

Jonah McAllister frowned, taken aback by my blunt tone. His eyes narrowed, and I met his gaze with a level one of my own. Something in my gray eyes must have registered with him, because the smile dropped from his face. Time to change tactics.

"All right," Jonah McAllister said. "You want to be compensated for your trouble. I can certainly understand that."

He reached into his suit and pulled out a slim black checkbook and a matching Mont Blanc fountain pen.

"How much do you want?"

I laughed.

The chuckles rumbled out of my throat like motorcycle exhaust. Low, thick, black. Once more, McAllister's lips tightened into a thin, hard line, even if the rest of his face couldn't follow suit. The attorney didn't appreciate being laughed at. Too bad. Because he'd just tickled my funny bone with his blatant bribery attempt, whether he'd intended to or not.

"Sorry," I murmured. "I didn't actually expect you to bring your checkbook along, much less whip it out. You certainly have a style about you, Mr. McAllister, trying to bribe me in my own restaurant."

"I'm just trying to get this mess taken care of, Ms.

Blanco," McAllister replied in a smooth tone. "It's not the first one I've cleaned up for my son, and I'm sure it won't be the last, no matter how many reformatory schools I've shipped him off to over the years. So why don't you just answer my question, and we can be done with this little charade."

I raised an eyebrow. "And what charade would that be?"

McAllister allowed himself a brief chuckle. Low, thick, black, just like mine had been. "The ludicrous idea you're going to testify against my son in any court of law in Ashland or anywhere else. The absurd notion I'd ever allow such a thing to happen."

"It's not a charade, Mr. McAllister," I said. "I fully intend to testify against your son - and there's nothing you can offer me to get me to change my mind. Certainly not money."

Jonah McAllister leaned forward. His brown eyes burned now, though not with Fire elemental magic. Instead, the lawyer put the full force of his charm into his gaze. "Come, come now, Ms. Blanco. There's no need to play the upstanding citizen with me. I've researched you. You're an orphan, aimless, a drifter who lucked into running this restaurant after the owner, the distant cousin who took you in, was murdered a few months ago. Hell, you can't even decide on a major so you can graduate from the community college you take so many classes from."

Good to know the Gin Blanco cover identity I'd worked so hard to build over the years had passed the thorough inspection of someone like Jonah McAllister.

But that didn't stop the knife of pain that sliced through me. Because his words were truer than he realized. I had been something of a drifter, aimless, until Fletcher's murder.

That brutal event and its aftermath had made me take a hard look at my life - and made me start to change.

I was still a work in progress, but I'd be damned if Jonah McAllister was going to threaten anything that was mine.

McAllister took my silence to mean I was considering his proposal and decided to up the ante. "Besides, I'm certain there's something I have you might find of value or interest."

I shook my head. "You don't have anything I want, McAllister. Not a thing. Now why don't you drop the charade of a concerned father just trying to do what's best for his son? We both know little Jakie is an embarrassment all the way around. Did he tell you he was going to kill two girls just for kicks?"

"Shut up, bitch," Jake growled from his booth. "Or I'll fry your ass."

I stared at him. "You don't scare me, Jakie. I would have thought our encounter the other night would have proven that to you, even if you were high on your own Fire elemental magic at the time."

More sparks of hatred flashed to life in Jake's eyes, and the red, magical rage slowly filled his gaze. Jake opened his mouth, but his father held up a manicured hand. It was as free of wrinkles as his ageless face was.

"If you know who I am, Ms. Blanco, then you know who I work for," Jonah said in a smooth voice. Changing tactics again. Bringing out the big guns.

"Mab Monroe," I replied. "Everyone knows that."

"Then you know the connections I have, the power, the influence. I can make things very difficult for you, if I so choose. You'll find standing up and doing the so-called right thing to be a very trying proposition."

My eyes narrowed, but I didn't respond.

"Have you wondered why you haven't had any customers the past two days?" Jonah said in a soft voice.

"No," I replied. "I figured it was you, telling people to steer clear of the Pork Pit. Just how long do you think you can do that?"

"As long as it takes for you to realize you can't win," he replied. "I'll keep people away every day until you go out of business, if I have to. I have the money, time, resources, and motivation to pull it off. Maybe you should think about that, before you so cavalierly throw away my generous offer. I'm trying to be civil about things. Trust me when I say you wouldn't like the alternative."

The bastard was actually trying to bully me. Trying to squeeze me the way he had so many other people over the years. It might have worked, if I'd still been thirteen, living on the streets, and mourning the loss of my family.

It might have worked, if I'd still been Genevieve Snow.

But no matter how much I changed, no matter how I tried to be different and leave my past profession behind, part of me would always be the Spider, the assassin as sharp as the silverstone knives she carried. I hadn't been small, weak, or frightened in a long time. And I certainly wasn't now.

"Keep it up as long as you like," I said. "Do whatever you want to keep people away from the Pork Pit. I'll still be here every single day, doors wide open, food hot and ready. I'd rather give my food to the rats in the streets than shut down for one fucking hour because of a slimeball like you. Is that clear enough?"

The charm oozed out of Jonah McAllister's eyes, like syrup slopping over a pancake. "Crystal clear. Too bad, Ms. Blanco. Too bad for you."

"I told you we should have just killed the bitch," Jake snapped. "Come on, Dad. Let me do her, right here, right now. That dwarven bitch behind the counter too."

Cold rage filled me at his words. It was one thing to come into my restaurant, Fletcher's restaurant, and threaten me. I'd expected nothing less from the father-and-son duo. I knew I'd brought it on myself by having Jake McAllister arrested in the first place. But I'd be damned if the Fire elemental punk was going to talk trash about my family - or threaten them in any way. And Sophia Deveraux was family. So were Jo-Jo and Finn.

Fletcher Lane had been murdered five feet from where we were sitting. Been horribly, brutally tortured by a sadistic Air elemental. Nothing like that was ever going to happen to my family again. Not as long as I was still breathing. Especially not in here.

It was time to let Jake McAllister know I wasn't afraid of him and his petty threats - and exactly what I was capable of if push came to shove.

"You weren't man enough to take me out by yourself, Jakie," I snapped. "So what? Now, you're going to get Daddy and his guards to help you? Pathetic."

Evidently, Jake McAllister couldn't take a little criticism because he surged to his feet. Fire flashed in his eyes, and orange-red flames spurted out between his clenched fists. He charged at me.

For a second, I sat there and considered my options, something I probably should have done before I opened my smart mouth and started antagonizing the McAllisters.

But somebody needed to wipe that bullying sneer off Jake McAllister's face, and I'd wanted to be the one to do it. I'd succeeded too, because now, hot anger filled Jake's eyes. If I let him put his hands on me, I was going to be in for a painful beat-down. One that might not stop until I was dead, especially with Jonah's giant bodyguards in the restaurant. Only one thing to do now. Fight back and make Jake think twice before he messed with me again. It was the only thing I knew how to do anyway.

Just before Jake hit me, I got to my feet, grabbed my plate off the table, stepped forward, and slammed the whole thing into his face as hard as I could.

Food splattered into Jake's eyes, and the cumin, red pepper, and other spices in the barbecue sauce caused him to scream. He stumbled back, flipped over a chair, and landed on his ass - hard. Jake cursed and tried to claw the mess off his face. He was too busy doing that to hold on to his magic, and the flames dancing on his fists snuffed out.

I turned back to Jonah McAllister and the two giant guards. Waiting.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sophia come out from around the counter. The dwarf held a metal spoon in her hand. With her strength, it might as well have been a baseball bat. Sophia would back me up just like she had the other night. That's what family did.

Jonah McAllister saw her too and realized the odds had slipped to four on two. He looked through the storefront windows. People moved back and forth on the street outside, going out to lunch and back to work. More than one glanced inside the Pork Pit as they passed. A few slowed down long enough to get a good long gawk.

I could see the wheels turning in the lawyer's mind, as he considered the benefits of ordering his giant bodyguards to kill us now versus the possibility of folks witnessing it and more people potentially causing problems for him. His boss, Mab Monroe, might run Ashland, but I imagined she liked her flunkies to take care of their own business without involving her or being implicated in something unseemly themselves.

Jake threw aside a glop of coleslaw and scrambled to his feet. But before the Fire elemental could charge me again, Jonah McAllister shook his head. One of the giants stepped forward and put a restraining hand on Jake's shoulder, holding him in place. His neck almost snapped from the abrupt stop. The skin around his eyes was red and irritated from the spicy food, but it didn't compare to the sparks of hot magic that flickered in his hate-filled gaze.

"C'mon, Dad," Jake said, looking around the giant's arm and pleading with his father. "Let's do the bitch. She's not going to play ball with us."

Jonah McAllister looked at his son, then at me. He got to his feet and buttoned his suit jacket. "What have I told you about ruining people, Jake?"

"That it's more fun to do it slowly," Jake muttered.

Jonah nodded. "That's right. We'll see how Ms. Blanco feels in a few more days when she hasn't gotten any customers, and she has bills to pay. Until then, Ms. Blanco."

So Jonah McAllister had decided to stick to his specialty - squeezing people through somewhat legal means.

"Until then, Mr. McAllister." My eyes cut to Jake. "Just because you've gotten your daddy involved doesn't negate my threat. You come near me or my restaurant again, and I'll break more than just your wrist. You understand me?"

Jake surged against the giant. "You're dead, bitch! Dead! Do you hear me? Do you hear me? Dead!"

Jonah gave his son a disgusted look and swept out of the Pork Pit. The giants flanked the still-struggling Jake, picked him up by his arms, and hauled him outside.

His hoarse screams reverberated all the way down the street - and so did his threats. The other night, I'd just insulted Jake by getting the upper hand. Now, I'd humiliated him in front of his father. The Fire elemental couldn't allow that to slide. Not if he wanted the old man to at least pretend to respect him.

Daddy's orders or not, Jake McAllister was going to come for me, sooner rather than later, with all his Fire elemental-fueled rage.

And when he did, I'd gut the bastard - once and for all. No matter how many problems it might cause me.

Chapter Fourteen

Once Jake McAllister's screams faded away, I glanced over my shoulder at Sophia. "Was it good for you too?"

"Hmph." The dwarf gave me her usual grunt and headed toward the mop and bucket in the far corner.

"Leave the food where it is," I said. "It's my mess. I'll clean it up later. Besides, we're not going to have any more customers today. Go home, Sophia. Get some rest. You've earned it."

Sophia's black eyes met mine. She grunted again and got the mop anyway. I sighed. Brick was more talkative and responsive than the Goth dwarf. So I got on my knees and picked up the broken dish and smashed bits of food. I'd just thrown everything away and washed my hands in the sink when the bell over the front door chimed again. I turned, a silverstone knife already sliding into my hand.

But this time it was just Finn.

His green eyes went to Sophia and the mess she was mopping up. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Jake McAllister just dropped by -  and he had his daddy with him."

Finn blinked. "Jonah McAllister came to the restaurant? What did he want? What did he say?"

I shrugged. "Drop the charges against his son or else. It went downhill from there. Attempted bribery, threats of violence, the promise of my own murder. The Ashland special."

Finn sighed. "And let me guess; you told the McAllisters exactly what they could do with their threats."

I grinned. "You know me."

Finn shook his head. "Gin, do you really want to start a family feud with the McAllisters? I thought you wanted to enjoy your retirement, live a nice, clean, simple life."