"He's no use to us," I tell him and watch as Rico fires once.
The man's head snaps back and his body goes limp.
Blood pools beneath him and spreads across the concrete.
I walk to the truck and open the back.
The crates inside are marked with shipping codes that match legitimate cargo, but I know what's really inside.
I pull out my phone and call Marco because this is too much for me to handle on my own with just these three.
He answers right away, and I speak before he can greet me.
"Get someone down here to move this product to the warehouse. Make sure it's off the books. I want it processed and distributed within forty-eight hours."
"Understood," Marco grunts, and I end the call and look around the port.
Three bodies lie on the ground.
The truck sits idling with its cargo exposed.
This is a message to whoever is moving against me.
This is what happens when you steal from Dante Santonelli.
But it's not enough.
The shipment from Istanbul is still missing.
This was just a small operation trying to capitalize on the chaos.
The real threat is still out there, someone with enough resources and connections to intercept a major shipment and use it as leverage.
Someone who knows about Angelica and Sofia and decided to send them to my door.
Gerard is the most likely suspect.
He has the reach and the motivation.
Six years ago, I took Angelica from him.
I paid her debt and walked out of his club like he was nothing.
He never forgot that.
Men like Antonelli do not forget insults.
They wait for the right moment to strike back.
If he took the shipment and sent Angelica to me, he's playing a longer game than I gave him credit for.
He's trying to destroy my alliance with Kemal while simultaneously exposing my weakness.
And he wants me to know nothing stays a secret for long.
He's probably pushing to make the Turks talk so my entire empire turns against me.
The problem is that it's working.
