Silently cursing, I scoop out the ever-intrusive piece of shit from my jacket. Flipping it open, I press it to my ear, answering, “Yeah?”
“Well, it looks like you’ve solved the problem of the missing shipments,” my boss states in his all-knowing way.
“I see that my show of brutality has taught these men nothing,” I growl, not liking the fact that I still have men in my ranks not loyal to me.
“Why? Look at it as a show of disloyalty to you? When you could look at it as loyalty to the family as a whole,” he chides, all humor gone from his voice.
“That’s shallow-minded, and the fastest way to get yourself caught and trapped in something you don’t want to. You see, I am loyal to you and the family. The men under me should be loyal to only me. They depend and only speak to me as a way to talk to the family.” I purposely make sure there is no emotion of any kind laced in my voice.
“You remember who put you in the position you’re in, and who can just as easily take it away.” He sounds angry now because we both know that I’m right.
His words stop me mid step. “Do you want to say that to me again?”
I’m giving him the chance to try again with more respect behind his words and the execution of them. This man didn’t play any part in me being where I am. I was the one that sent my father on a permanent vacation because of what I saw he was doing to the family. If it wasn’t for what I did for the family, then they would still be losing money, and their secrets handed over to our enemies. Fuck, the way my father was going, the family would’ve been run out of town in a matter of mere months.
“I’m not one for repeating myself. You have a job, and I expect you to do it.” His tone is beyond dismissive.
My fist clench so tightly you can see my bones beneath the skin. “As I’m not either. So, Understand that if you decide you want to continue on the path that you are currently starting on, things will not go the way you’re thinking they will.”
“Are you threatening me, boy?” he yells, cutting me off.
A bark of laughter escapes my mouth before I can stop it. “Threats are only useful when you are weaker than the man you intend to scare into doing what you want them to do. What I’m saying is a promise that if you cross this line, I’ll be standing there, waiting, and meeting you head on.”
“Find out where my stuff is going and do it fast.” The line goes dead after he spews his demand.
Pulling my phone away from my ear, I shake my head as I slide the damn thing back inside of my jacket pocket. I yank the door to my SUV open, sliding into the leather seat. I see movement out of the corner of my eye, and I'm thankful to see the only person in this world that I would truly consider a friend coming toward me.
“I figured you needed time to cool off after that show in there.” He shrugs like what I did was nothing.
“Yeah. Let’s get the fuck out of this shit hole. I need a stiff fucking drink, and a warm willing body,” I say, over this day, and ready to get my night started.
He puts the car into gear, burning rubber as he whips the SUV out of the parking lot. The sound of screeching tires brings my attention back around, and for the second time tonight, an old, decrepit car that isn’t suitable for being on the road passes by us, the vehicle moving quickly, but not fast enough that I don’t get a look at the driver. Her eyes are haunted, so big that I can see all the way to the darkest corner of her soul. There’s something about that that pulls me in, making me want to find out what lies behind those troubled depths. The fear I see in her eyes calls to the devil that scratches the layer underneath my skin—each and every day.
We just stare at one another, neither of us moving. I reach for the handle on the door, getting ready to grab ahold of her, pull her into me so that I can feast on the anguish and terror that I see reflected back at me.
“Fuck me. People should learn to fucking drive before they get themselves fucking killed.” My friend and driver hisses.
I take her in through the wet, frosted glass, seeing it for the first time, “Death may be exactly what they are asking for.”
A bark of laughter booming through the car from my companion is a shock and catches me off guard. “You aren’t wrong my friend.”
He goes around the car, leaving it behind in the shadows of a part of town that no one visits unless it's for nefarious reasons. I mean, fucking hell, I just destroyed three men’s lives in the same area, and I know that I’ll do it again and again if it gets me to my end goal.
Pulling into the strip club that I own, outside of the family, I throw myself from the SUV, and head for the side door, knocking on it with four sharp knocks, letting the bouncer know who’s on the other side of the door. He pushes it open, greeting me with his ever-present scowl.
“Boss, how are you this evening?” he questions, shaking my hand.
“Good. How have things been going here?” I ask.
“A few scuffles, took a few out back to teach some lessons to. Other than that, it’s business as usual,” he answers.
I don’t roll my eyes even though his words inspire such a reaction. He's a bouncer, he knows what he just described comes with the job itself. I’m tired of everybody whining. “Well, that just means you’ll always have to be keeping an eye on things and doing exactly what you're supposed to, won't it?” I say dismissively as I walk past him, heading for the room that is kept on reserve for me and my associates.
There are two ways into the lavish room. One comes off from the main hallway that leads from the main room for the everyday patron. Then there is the door that leads in from the back hall, allowing some to come in and out without anyone knowing they’re here. Once in the room, the base of the music quiets to a dull thrum. It’s only a mere moment before the main door opens, and in walks one of the waitresses in her signature outfit, leaving nothing to the imagination.
“Oh, Mr. Broz, I wasn’t aware that you were with us this evening." She gives me a practiced, fake innocent smile as she bends forward, showing me exactly what she has to offer.
As I take her in, all I see is the large eyes full of fear and sorrow. They take up every available space in my mind. The need to possess them. To learn what put that look in her eyes and those marks on her soul. What has me most interested is not just the pain and fear, but the strength I saw too. The look of someone that has had it all taken away, and destroyed, and has come out on the other side—if only barely.
