CHAPTER 1
Alexander Prince
Today had been a shitty day on top of a shitty week.
One of our warehouses just outside the city had been hit, product stolen. Fortunately, my men had taken out five of the six assholes who’d dared infiltrate our security. As required, they’d also managed to capture and cage one of the thieves, yet even the act of slitting his throat after a long interrogation had done nothing to improve my mood.
He’d told me shit even after taking my time snapping one bone after another.
Italian. Russian. Albanian. Hell, even the Mexicans were trying to encroach on our territory. Where once before there’d been enough business to go around, now everyone in the business was hoping for a stronger hold on New Orleans.
While the captive hadn’t disclosed any decent information, the act itself had all the earmarks of the Russo clan.
Without hesitation, I’d retaliated, completely destroying one of their warehouses. What had pissed me off even more was that I’d lost a good man, a highly trained soldier in the process. Now the tension was higher than normal, presenting the possibility of a war.
I was the man capable of preventing that from occurring. In fact, it was my duty, a command issued by my father the Don. He and I differed on tactics, but going against his decision would be considered an act of betrayal.
Regaining peace was important business, which was why dealing with a two-bit traitor did nothing but drive my mood further into the gutter.
Fucking monster.
I’d been called one myself over the years, something I’d never admitted to mainly because there’d been no need. I’d never shied away from the fact I was the devil in disguise. Wasn’t that exactly what my critics had stated in various magazine articles and statements tailor-made for the press?
Wearing expensive tailored suits certainly couldn’t hide the fact that I had voracious bloodlust, rarely tempered and often fueled by the stupidity of others.
Tonight was one of those occasions.
One of my men, a soldier I’d recently promoted from little more than an errand boy to a made man and he’d managed such an atrocity on his second night?
My fist found his face for the fifth time, bloodying my knuckles and splattering my crisp white shirt.
Something else to piss me off.
The sound of bones crunching did little to soothe the beast within.
“You fucked up, Randy.”
I raked my hand through my hair, shaking off the brutal punch. There would be others.
The man’s head lolled toward the floor, the slight blubbering sound he managed doing little more than keeping the raging fire ignited. I issued another savage punch, but any enjoyment in his punishment was long gone.
“Tell me something, Jarvis. What do I hate more than liars?”
“That’s an easy one, boss. Thieves.” His tight hold on the man didn’t stop his look of amusement. He knew how I was, the anger simmering until I had no self-control. How many times had he cautioned me against my blind rage turning into a massacre?
My Capo was correct. Not that there’d ever been any doubt. I wasn’t considered forgiving or even decent, but I was fair.
And when a crime involved the theft of my hard-earned product, any sale to kids, or the murder of women, I needed to draw the line.
Granted, his heist was a mere pittance of what the Russos had walked away with a few nights before. Unfortunately for him and given my nasty mood, he would face a harsher punishment.
Everything else was fair game in the war on illegal drugs, something the Prince family had excelled in for generations. However, one misstep like the idiocy from this shit-for-brains man could put an end to both the family’s reputation and our freedom. That couldn’t be allowed. Nor could a single offense be left unpunished.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Prince.”
Crime often attracted lowlifes such as Randy, thinking the sale of illegal drugs was a quick route to fame and fortune.
Assholes like this were nothing more than an annoyance. I didn’t give a shit he’d taken a dime bag for his own use, partying with his brother and the kid’s classmates. That was beside the point. He’d ignored the rules, acting as if his position afforded him special treatment. Maybe sending a warning to my men was long overdue.
