Damien glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and winced.
"Oh, shit. But—" he paused, looking at Asher. "Well, I know my people can deal with things in my absence."
"Uh-uh." Tristan nodded. "Doesn't excuse your disappearance. You agreed to take responsibility when you agreed to work under me."
Damien frowned. His eyes flicked to Asher, and Tristan could read the thoughts going through his head on Damien's face.
The man knew that he was in trouble and was going to be punished. In gangs, punishments were often cruel and violent, because gangsters rarely feared anything less than that—not with their lives. And harming family members to punish the offender was a very common practice.
Damien stepped between Asher and Tristan.
"Well, I can leave now. Visiting hours are almost done, anyway, aren't they? And you can forget about what you've seen, Mr. Hayes."
