“No…” I cut her off. “She’s okay. Well… she’s alive. A lot of pain. She’s at the hospital with Milli right now.” I sighed. “Her brothers came by to see her and made sure to threaten me on their way in and their way out.”
“How did she get shot?”
“I have my suspicions, but at the current moment I’m not sure. It happened in my office yesterday. It’s possible the shot was meant for me, but like I said, we’re looking into it.”
Kelly’s voice got a little quieter. “No… Avion got shot… I don’t know, he’s telling me now.” Then her voice got close and clear again. “Sorry, so… What does that mean for us?”
“For now, staff need to work from home. I’m going to reroute some of my underlings to keep an eye on their homes, but I need you and Punk to do the same. These are innocents. I don’t need their blood shed over this.” My staff all knew they worked for Gio Raines, the son of infamous mobster Merrick Raines, but very few of them knew I was actually a boss in my own right. They assumed a certain amount of risk when they accepted their jobs, I’d made sure to put it in every employee contract, but that didn’t mean I wanted anyone dying for this, apart from the people responsible.
“Yeah, of course,” Kelly replied. “Want me to send the email?”
“Yes, please. They won’t be happy, but I need everyone to punch in and punch out as well. Just to make sure everyone is well and accounted for. Make sure to tell them ifanyonehas time off coming up, that it needs to be sent to me in a separate email with you copied.”
“Got it. Anything else?”
“I’m taking the emergency exit out of the office, and everything else is boarded up. Until further notice, please drive by a few times a day and make sure there are no break-in attempts or anything. Apex is on it as well, but I only trust you and Punk.”
“Okay. Keep us posted on Avion, yeah?”
“I will, thanks. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I let out a sigh and twisted my head from side to side to crack my neck. That was at least one thing sorted, the next thing was my home, and that was a much easier problem to solve, albeit a much larger one to clean up. After sending texts to a handful of my underlings to have all of my estate’s staff cleared off the property permanently and to meet me outside the gate, I used the elevator with access that went only from the lobby to my office to get up to the top floor. I climbed off at the top and immediately locked all of the elevators from operating via the L.E.D. panel on the wall. I walked over to my desk and grabbed my work laptop, my recent contracts, and shoved them into a work bag. Most of what was in there was encoded and safely locked up, but those things had to come with me.
Throwing the bag over my head, I did a final scan around the room and then walked over to the door that led into my private kitchenette. What appeared to be just a flat wall with shelves for food, was actually a hidden passage. I unlocked it using a retina scan, then slipped inside of it and closed and locked it behind me. There was a thin, spiraling staircase that spun all the way down to the parking garage, and was hidden behind a similar fake shelf on that floor. After walking out and locking it behind me as well, I loaded my bag into my car, and then climbed in and left for my estate.
On the drive out, I called a close friend of my family’s, a real-estate agent who dealt specifically in getting notorious people, whether celebrities, politicians, law enforcement, or criminals, homes that are off the radar.
“Giovanni!” she said with clear delight in her voice. “It’s been too long.”
“Hey, Holly,” I responded.
“Is this a social call?” she asked hopefully. “I’m working, but I can be at your place in an hour.”
She had also been a sub of mine at one point.
“No,” I responded. “I actually need your help.”
“Oh. What’s going on?” She sounded disappointed and her tone became more professional. “In the market?”
“Yes, on an emergency basis. My home has been compromised and I need a new one, preferably within the hour.”
She sputtered out a laugh. “Is that a joke? A property as large as yours, especially with all the additional buildings you had built on your acres. I’m gonna need more than an hour to find something suitable.”
“I don’t need all of that for the time being,” I replied. “Just one building, large enough to house about 25 people max, and I’d like it if it was somewhere surrounded mostly by water. I want there to be only one easy way to access the property, ideally from the front.”
“Well that’s alittleeasier. Let’s see…” I could hear typing on her computer. “I’ve got a place. It just got built out on Long Island. It’s actually on one of the islands past Greenport, built half on land, half over the water. It’s four floors, one of which is a finished basement. Ten official bedrooms, but four rooms that could also be used as bedrooms if needed. Kitchens on the main and top floors, seven bathrooms scattered throughout and a pool overlooking the ocean. Tons of other amenities, but I’m getting the sense you aren’t looking for something in a rush for the private gym?”
“How much?” I asked.
“A hundred and sixteen million is the going price, but you’ll probably need to go for a solid one-twenty to get it off the market today.”
“That’s not a problem,” I said. “I need it, so do whatever you have to do. Make an offer and send me the bill.”
“Yes sir,” she said in a dark, seductive voice, but I ignored it. “I’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“Thank you. Goodbye.”
