And I tell him my fantasy as he fingers me to glorious release.
18
NIK
Dominic is cleaninghis handgun as Christopher and Darius give their reports. The two men lead our shipping and receiving operations for liquor and weapons here in Chicago.
“That little psycho’s been intercepting our shipments,” Christopher says, voice tight. Sweat beads on his ruddy, round face, his balding scalp shining under the light. “He roughs up our guys, then skims a few bottles here, a few guns there. Every time.”
Darius, lean and wiry like a street fighter, gives a single nod. “Calls it theCampisi Tax. At first, we thought it was a joke, but it’s happened at least ten times now.”
“And you just…let him?” I ask.
Dom looks up from his task, clearly curious what their answer will be.
“We don’t want to be the start of a war,” Christopher says. “We shoot the Don’s kid, nothing good's gonna come of it.”
“True,” I say. “But doing nothing implies we’re weak. Allowing him to terrorize us makes us look like we’re bowing to kiss the Campisi ring. And I’m not okay with that. You want to sit in front of Lars when he gets here soon, and tell him you just let Campisi come slap us around, let him just walk off with our stuff?”
“I’d be happy to pop a bullet between the guy’s eyes,” Dominic says casually. “Sounds like a menace.”
That’s a nice way of describing a man, I’ve realized, who is probably bat-shit crazy.
And while there’s a lot of crazy in the crime world, reckless crazy is never a good thing. Still, Vincenzo Campisi is not on the kill list; not unless we want to start a war on Lars’s behalf.
“I don’t think so,” I say. “Not yet.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Christopher asks.
“First, double up staff on receiving. Tell them to say no and refuse to open the crates. Tell them to ask Vincenzo if they should call the Don and ask if this is on his order. Make him squirm. And, shit, rough him up a little. Send him home with a black eye that he’ll have to explain to his daddy.”
Dominic chuckles at this.
“In the meantime,” I continue, “I’ve got it on good authority that the Campisi daughter is an unassuming college student here in the city. I haven’t had time for a full briefing, but I understand she’s a strong contender to be his successor. So, I’m thinking that we start with a little pushback if the fucker shows up again, see how that goes. Then, we keep Princess Campisi as a back-pocket option for leverage.”
Dominic makes a face, thinking about this, then nods. “We nab her, and if they want her back, they tell the little shithead to back the fuck off and let us do our business.”
“Yes,” I say. “But also, stop working behind our backs in Russia. We play by their rules here; they need to play by ours over there.”
“We already shipped them one of their women as a message on that front,” Christopher says, leaning back in his chair, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Can’t take a subtle hint, I guess.”
“Which begs the question, boss,” Dom shakes his head, a dangerous grin spreading across his face. If they’re still fucking with us after we literally send them a dead woman in a box of rubies, do we really think roughing up Vincenzo is going to matter?”
I raise an eyebrow. “What are you saying?”
He leans forward, fingers steepled, each word precise like a chess move. “We grab the daughter sooner rather than later. Why wait? If she’s the bargaining chip, we take her at the Commission meeting.”
Darius blinks, and Christopher’s eyes go comically wide, a mix of shock and disbelief.
The Commission meeting is a sacred schedule; interference with it is almost unthinkable. Usually, it’s strictly off-limits for any violent maneuver. Otherwise, the meetings would be nothing but chaos, everyone trying to assert dominance instead of doing actual work.
I lean back, rubbing my temple, letting the silence stretch for a beat while I think it all out. “At the end of the day,” I say slowly, making sure they all follow, “Dom and I have to head out west for a few games. We’ll get back on the red-eye the first night. I’ll be in the first meeting with Lars, and Dom…”
I lock eyes with him. “You coordinate from here. Make sure we have eyes on the Princess, track her movements, and report any anomalies. I don’t want to leave anything to chance.”
Dom nods sharply. “Understood. I’ll have everything mapped, every pattern noted, and any issues flagged immediately.”
I shift my gaze to everybody. “And security. I need Lars, Volya, and Misha to get extra protection. Lars thinks the Campisis may try the same plan with Misha, and I’ll literally slit the throat of anyone who allows that to happen.”
