Beyond Possession (Beyond #5.5)

The book you're reading is part of the
Beyond
series, stories set in a post-apocalyptic world where the rich and powerful have claimed ownership of the country's only self-sustaining city. Those who live within Eden's walls must abide by a strict moral code or risk exile to the brutal, lawless sectors.

Gangs and petty dictators rule the slums, but not all kings are created equal. Dallas O'Kane and his brotherhood of bootleggers are the only authority in Sector Four. Cross them at your peril. But pledge your loyalty, and you might be invited into their world of passion and power, sex and sin. Just remember: if you're an O'Kane, you're an O'Kane for life.

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#1: Beyond Shame
,
#2: Beyond Control
,
#3: Beyond Pain
,
#3.5: Beyond Temptation
,
#4: Beyond Jealousy
,
#4.5: Beyond Solitude
,
#5: Beyond Addiction
,
#5.5: Beyond Possession
,
#6: Beyond Innocence
,
#7: Beyond Ruin

Tatiana Stone has worked hard to establish herself as one of Sector Four's most skilled crafters. All she wants is peace--but the sins of her father haunt her. He ruled the sector as a petty tyrant before the O'Kane takeover, and plenty of people harbor bitter memories of his cruelty. Especially now that Tatiana's beloved baby sister has fallen in with a man who wants to start a revolution.

Zan failed his boss once, and it won't happen again. So when Dallas O'Kane asks him to defuse the rebellion brewing in the sector, he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done--including seduce Tatiana. It's the perfect opportunity to get closer to the pretty crafter and complete his mission. But what he discovers is a fiery, passionate woman--and an affair that could destroy them both.

The monthly meeting of Sector Four's merchants was going about as well as Tatiana expected, which was a bad sign. Life in the sectors had taught her to lower her expectations bit by bit until her bar for decent behavior ended up in the dirt.

That didn't stop people from digging under it.

Holding the shovel today was Wallace, a morality-impaired smuggler turned trader. He'd been digging himself into holes since he'd claimed Walt Misham's spot in the market and the sheen of respectability that came with it. Stupid, but not unusual. Criminals who climbed too high got greedy, and greedy criminals got dumb. A dangerous problem, but self-correcting. In Sector Four, getting dumb usually got you dead.

Wallace's inevitable demise wouldn't have bothered Tatiana at all if her baby sister hadn't decided to fall cross-eyed in love with him.

"It isn't right," he was saying. "O'Kane gets in some kind of sector war, smashes up half the market district, and who has to clean it up? Not him, that's for damn sure."

A few people muttered agreement. Halfway around the circle of chairs, Pam tilted her head slightly, her gaze picking out each person, probably memorizing the grumbles. The O'Kanes' new office assistant stopped by Pam's coffee cart every morning for cinnamon rolls and gossip, so chances were good that every word they uttered would be repeated to Dallas O'Kane by noon tomorrow.

That was why Tatiana kept her mouth shut. Hell, sometimes she didn't even go to the meetings. But it had been her turn to host the gathering, squeezing as many extra chairs as possible into the front room that served as her storefront, so she hadn't exactly had a choice.

Of course Wallace had picked
tonight
to stir up trouble.

Across the room, Stuart stood and crossed both well-muscled arms across his leather vest. "Yeah, a few stands got damaged. If you lost so much, take it up with whoever comes to collect your payment. O'Kane's reasonable if you deal fairly with him."

Wallace snorted. "Maybe with you, Stuart. You keep him rolling in leather and whips, and he keeps you ass-deep in money and credits. The rest of us aren't so lucky."

"We're all lucky," Stuart responded flatly. "We're lucky because we have it so good, we have the luxury to bitch about
things
. You know how many of us used to die whenever Stone got in a brawl over territory?"

Now the uncomfortable gazes swung Tatiana's way. Some were sympathetic, but others echoed the tense hint of accusation in Stuart's voice. Matthew Stone had died years ago, put into the ground by Dallas O'Kane in the fight that had won him leadership of Sector Four.

Tatiana was still paying for his crimes. For a place hell-bent on rejecting Eden's moral dogma, sometimes Sector Four was damn invested in visiting the sins of the father on his children.

But this time it was worse. Everyone in this room knew that Catalina was living with Wallace. Tatiana could stay silent and be damned by association, or speak up and further damage her fragile bond with her sister. Wallace would make sure of it. He'd twist any words Tatiana spoke against him into weapons and use them as proof that she was trying to drive them apart.

So she chose her words carefully. So very carefully. "The O'Kanes understand business. It's in their best interests to keep us producing the things they want to buy. Dallas has never given any of us reason to believe he won't deal fairly."

Wallace's eyes narrowed. "I see how it is."

It's survival, you fucking idiot.
She bit her tongue to hold back the retort, because Wallace was too stupid to recognize self-preservation when it was staring him in the face. Tatiana would be fucked no matter what she said, so she said nothing.

Stuart had no such misgivings. "What's the matter, Wallace? The good old days not looking so shiny when you can't get the Stone Princess to play along?"

"You're all soft, that's what it is," Wallace spat. "Curled up, nice and cozy, in O'Kane's pocket."

Pam reached for Stuart, but he shook off her hand and took a step forward. Chairs screeched across the floor and people shuffled out of the way as Stuart loomed into Wallace's space. "Take a swing. Find out how soft I am."

Wallace laughed and turned away. For a moment, Tatiana thought he would walk. Then he spun around with a blow directed at Stuart's midsection.

Shouts erupted. Pam's husband hauled her out of the way as one of the food vendors jostled into Tatiana, nearly knocking her down. She scrambled to her feet in time to watch Stuart take the punch—just
take
it—and then swing a massive fist back at Wallace.

Panic made her sick. They were going to destroy her store, and she couldn't stop them. She was half their size, and the only kind of fighting she'd ever learned to do was the kind that ended fights permanently. She couldn't exactly stab one of them.

Though sinking a knife into Wallace would solve so many problems...

Something slammed, a loud crack that rose above the rest of the noise, but Tatiana couldn't see what it was—until silence rippled through the room and the crowd of people parted.

Jasper McCray stood at the open front door, surveying the mess. "What's going on here?"

Stuart swiped blood from his nose and turned his back on Wallace in a sign of either reckless arrogance or suicidal trust. Or maybe it was neither—Wallace wasn't likely to take another swing with Dallas O'Kane's second-in-command standing there, glowering at all of them. "Just working out a difference of opinion, Jas."

He glared past Stuart at Wallace, who tried to return his stare before breaking and lowering his gaze.

As the host of this month's meeting, Tatiana should have been the one to step into the awkward silence. But rules and customs had a way of bending when an O'Kane entered a room. Gravity readjusted itself. The hardscrabble pecking order twisted, warped. People with strong ties to the O'Kanes stood taller.

People like Tatiana tried to disappear.

So it was Stuart who righted a fallen chair and raised his voice, a new strength and confidence giving his words the whip-snap edge of command. "I'd say that brings the meeting to a close. Next month we're meeting at Big Sal's."

With Jasper McCray standing there like a bearded mountain, no one argued. Wallace went first, striding past Jasper without looking back. Others followed quickly behind. A few turned sideways, edging between him and her shelves of soaps and lotions with wary respect in their eyes, but there was none of the usual jostling for position or catty comments. Just a sea of silent, nervous people spilling out the door into the sector streets.

They probably wanted to escape any association with Tatiana and Wallace, which only made her fingers itch for the hilt of the knife tucked into her boot. There was no association, but no one would believe it after tonight. Stabbing him seemed more and more tempting.

Stuart was the last to head toward the door, and he paused next to Jasper. No words, no question. Just a soldier, silently waiting for his command.

But no command came, and Jasper's words were delivered with a crooked smile. "If you keep settling differences of opinion with your face, Stu, you won't be nearly so pretty."

Stuart grinned and slapped him on the arm. "A busted face hasn't slowed you down. Come by tomorrow, eh? I have something special for your lady."

"You bet. Have a good night."

Stuart left, and Jasper studied a shelf that had been jarred during the fight. He straightened the bottles carefully, then turned to face her. "If they broke anything, let me know. Dallas'll pay for it."

The floor was littered with discarded paper cups and crumpled pieces of paper, but other than a few upended chairs and a display of soaps that had spilled to the floor, the damage was minimal. "It's all right. You stopped them before things got too out of hand. But thank you."

"No problem. Tempers run hot. It happens."

Jasper probably knew exactly the sort of shit Wallace was saying. By tomorrow, Pam would have provided him with the precise, damning details. The O'Kanes had always treated Tatiana well, but she was under no illusions. They watched her, too.

Other people could prove they were loyal. Everyone was waiting for her to prove she wasn't.

She turned and reached behind the counter for a garbage bag. "Some of the vendors are worried about the damage from the fight. Stuart told them to bring it up when someone comes to collect their payments. I think most will listen to him."

"They should. Dallas has been putting out the word that he'll make it right."

And some of them would never believe Dallas, because they wouldn't do the same in his position. "Maybe if your men bring it up first?" She dumped a handful of trash into the bag before looking up to meet Jasper's dark, serious eyes. "My father had a knack for discouraging demands, and some habits die hard."

He nodded. "Is everything else cool?"

She gripped the bag more tightly and forced her voice to remain curious, casual, as if the answer didn't matter much. "Is Zan doing better? I'm running out of jasmine oil, and he's never told me how he gets hold of it."

Jasper's severe expression softened a bit. "I'll let him know."

Nothing about his condition or his recovery, because she'd played her cards too cautiously. If she had expressed concern for the man instead of what he could do for her, maybe Jasper would have given her some news and soothed this nagging distress she couldn't shake.

She'd have to add it to all the other worries sitting heavy on her shoulders. "Could you also tell Rachel that her order will be ready to pick up tomorrow? I just need to bottle it."

He looked around the shop, but his reply had nothing to do with her orders. "Were they giving you a hard time?"

You didn't lie to an O'Kane, especially not to one as powerful as Jasper. But she didn't have the luxury of whining, either. "No worse than usual."

"Is that why Stuart was about to pound that little creep into a greasy stain on your floor?"

Stuart had been defending Dallas, not her. Not the Stone Princess. The O'Kanes might treat her kindly, but too many of their most devoted followers had suffered pain and tragedy at her family's hands. They tolerated her, but they would never love her. "It's okay, Jasper, I promise. As long as Dallas and Lex believe that I'm loyal, the rest doesn't matter to me."

"Maybe it matters to us." He paused and searched her face. "Wallace, right? That's the guy making trouble. He shouldn't have a beef with you."