King took a deep drag off of his cigarette, and exhaled heavily, watching as Abby began to wash herself down with water from the basin on the nearby table.  Watching her drag the wet cloth across her pale skin was almost intoxicating, and for a moment, the man thought to take her again, then and there, without giving her a chance to catch her breath.  Instead, he kept his dark eyes fixed on the woman, and slowly smoked his cigarette in silence.<br/><br/>When she came toward him, her lithe hips and ample bosom swaying with every step, it was all he could do to keep his hands to himself.  She pulled the cigarette from his grasp as she slid into his lap, her free hand rising to caress his own dark locks, and King couldn’t help but smile at the effort she was placing into further seducing him.  Women were often masters at getting what they wanted, at using their feminine wiles to get men to do for them what they couldn’t do for themselves.  But King was a master manipulator, and knew that true power was taking what you wanted, rather than coercing others to do it for you.<br/><br/>“I am now the sole owner of the very dirt beneath this saloon…” he said flatly, his dark gaze holding her own.  “Lola’s is mine, whether its current proprietor wishes to admit it or not.  I could demolish this place and leave everyone in here to fend for themselves.  Or, someone can talk to Lola, get her to see reason, and to barter with me to keep what she’s worked so hard to create.”<br/><br/>He smirked, and winked at Abby briefly before taking back the cigarette from her fingers.  He inhaled deeply, before he stood, sliding her from his lap and moving across to the table.  He poured another glass of whiskey, and slowly sipped it as he moved toward the nearby window.  He stared out into the street below, his dark gaze fixed on the townsfolk that milled about, and he couldn’t help the slow grin that began to form on his face.<br/><br/>“I’ve got bigger plans than just taking this place from Lola…” he admitted.  “This entire city is going to be mine, Abby.  There will be those who will think to stand against me, like that Jackson fool, but they will only be bumps in the road.  In the end, everything in this town will be mine…it’s already begun.”<br/><br/><div align="center">_______________________________________</div><br/>A sudden shriek erupted from the streets below, and it was quickly followed by the heavy footfalls of the townsfolk as they ran to see what was wrong.  There, just off the street that Lola’s resides upon, a limp form hung from a short noose, the end tied to the thick, wooden lamp post on the street corner.  The lifeless form of the local stock feed owner, Bill, hung heavily at the noose’s end, his head turned grotesquely to one side, his lifeless eyes staring at the ground beneath him.<br/><br/>His wife, often reputed to take out her frustrations at the struggles of living in the west on her husband, wailed loudly, her hands tearing out her hair, her face covered in tears.  There were those who tried to comfort her, but she was inconsolable, smacking away any comforting hands that came her way.<br/><br/>Even though none would dare say it to his face, the talk had begun immediately…King was to blame.  It was common knowledge that Bill owned the single largest stock feed in the region, and his claims to the nearby farmland kept any possible competitors from getting a foothold in the area.  But with Bill dead, the land was available for purchase, and it wouldn’t be long before the land was bought up and the townsfolk were none the wiser.<br/>