"Then...."
"But I'm more of those things," Dimitri cut him off. "I have more territory. More resources. Better people. And most importantly, I understood something about this world that you apparently still don't grasp: sometimes being equal in strength isn't enough. Sometimes you have to understand that the other man is simply more powerful, and you have to accept that."
"I accept nothing," Dante said, his voice dropping to something lethal. "I accept that my brother is dead because you deemed it convenient. I accept that you waltz through my city like you own it. I accept that people bow to you because you've built the appearance of inevitability."
He leaned back in his chair, studying Dimitri with an intensity that suggested he was making a calculation.
"But I also accept this," Dante continued. "That you came here alone. That you walked into my warehouse with no backup, no contingencies. That you felt so confident in your superiority that you didn't even bring a gun."
