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CHAPTER TWO; many names
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THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KAZ AND ACE WAS SIMPLE: Ace was a thief, a criminal, an outright felon, and Kaz Brekker was the criminal prodigy of Ketterdam, a businessman.
Where Ace's name was scrawled all over Ketterdam, Kaz's was whispered in fear. Where her head was worth a hundred thousand kruge, Kaz had made sure that even if he was caught no one would be able to hold him for more than a few hours, should they want their reputations to stay the same. If Ace was caught, she'd simply have to escape, Kaz would walk out of the prison.
Kaz's influence went far beyond the realm of thievery and illegal activities. He was a shrewd businessman who had built a vast network of contacts and informants and had his fingers wrapped around every string in Ketterdam's bustling economy. His reputation was not just based on his cunning and skill as a criminal, but on his ability to navigate the complex web of power and politics that governed the city—which was why she was extremely proud, she'd managed to stay off his radar for so long.
Ace couldn't care less about the economy and politics, and what people did with their free time. Should she come across a piece of information that might've helped her in the future she'd store it for later; she observed people and took in their weaknesses, their strengths, but she didn't have much use of that information. Ace cared only for the thrill of the jobs and the profit that they brought her. Should the economy collapse in Ketterdam, she would survive fairly well.
So yes, Ace was the thief of Ketterdam. But Dirtyhands was the criminal prodigy, the one with power in the city. And as Ace walked through the doors of the Crow Club, finding it surprisingly empty, except for the security guards that merely glanced at her, she felt a pang of jealousy towards the Bastard of the Barrel.
She might not like politics and economics, and the technical parts that came with his job, but it was irrefutable that Kaz held power in Ketterdam, that he was someone people feared. Ace was just a thief, a legendary one, but still a mere thief. She scowled at herself and headed for the bar, dropping her large overcoat on a stool, and leaving herself in only a satin slip—which was daring and outright scandalous, but laws didn't exactly apply to Ace and she could wear whatever she felt like.
Jumping up, she sat at the counter, leaning back to snatch a bottle of Kaelish Whiskey, and pouring herself a glass. She crossed her legs, letting the satin of her black dress slide to the side, revealing the skin of her thigh through the mid-thigh slit. She saw the way the security men, two bulky fellows eyed her leg, and she rose a challenging brow their way, her lips tilting up menacingly as she tapped the pistol strapped to her thigh and they both went red in the face, and turned around.
Kaz Brekker had stolen her favorite gun, so now Ace was stuck with a smaller one, black in color with a spade carved into it, courtesy of her father—her very first gun, one she learned how to use when she was around eight, because, a good thief must know how to use weapons.
