Gorya thought it tribute to Marzio’s authority that his sons didn’t interrupt or act impatient. They waited quietly, arms folded across their chests, listening to their father and Gorya carefully.
“Your family will not be asking for territory in Houston? Or a tribute of any kind?”
Gorya shook his head. “We don’t want or need such things. This is your territory, Marzio, not ours. When the Anwars are gone, every ally we have will aid you in taking over all of Anwar’s assets and will back you with the council. We want nothing here. I’ve laid out our terms. We don’t enter into alliances lightly. It’s as much for your protection as for ours.”
“There are advantages on both sides,” Marzio conceded. “And helping our family to acquire what the Anwars leave behind is very generous.”
Gorya didn’t respond. Often silence was the best response. Marzio knew that to wipe out the Anwar family without the consent of the council, he would need the Amurovs. If he informed the council, there was no doubt word would get to the Anwars before they could be taken down. Marzio wouldn’t want that. He wanted to take the Anwars down, to destroy them. He thought the way the Amurov family did.
Gorya’s family had spent a great deal of time gatheringinformation on the otherdonsandpakhanswho had territories in both the United States and overseas. It was a case of knowing your enemies. They’d studied strengths and weaknesses. It was engrained in them. Marzio was close enough and ruled by the same council. They did business with him on a regular basis. He and his sons were men they’d spent a great deal of time studying.
Marzio nodded. “You speak for Fyodor and Mitya? This agreement stands with all three of you?”
“Yes, as well as Sevastyan and Timur. They don’t hold territories, but they are included in all decisions. It was Timur’s decision to remain as Fyodor’s head of security. Sevastyan chose to remain with Mitya.”
Marzio handed the report to his eldest son. Beside him, Bendetto leaned closer to read it as well. Cristo and Donato waited patiently.
Alessandro’s handsome face darkened as he read through the report, and then he glanced at his brother before looking at his father. Silently he handed the papers to his younger brothers.
“You don’t look as shocked as I thought you would be,” Marzio observed. “Did you know about this?” His tone was mild, but there was an ominous glint in his eyes.
Alessandro shook his head. “I suspected something was going on. Remember when one of our crew, Ciro, was killed in an accident near the docks? I never bought that story. Something didn’t ring true. We even discussed it.”
Marzio frowned. “Yeah, I remember. You were insistent, but I told you to tread carefully. Bartolo had been my friend for years.”
Alessandro sighed. “Nothing added up. The accident report didn’t make sense. And when I talked to our cop, he said he got stonewalled. That convinced me someone higher up had been bought off. None of the dockworkers would talk. Not a single one. Didn’t matter how much money they were offered. The only time one came closewas in a bar. Bendetto bought him a few drinks and he was beginning to get friendly, went to the men’s room and never came out. Cops said it was a drug overdose, that he’d shot up in there, but he didn’t have a history of taking drugs. He drank, but drugs were not his poison.”
“You didn’t bring this to me,” Marzio said.
“I didn’t have anything to give you,” Alessandro admitted. “No evidence. Nothing concrete. Only a bad feeling about Ciro and that the Anwar family was up to something. I had no idea what. When Giacenta began coming on to Cristo, we talked it over and thought maybe he could get information out of her. She may have overheard her brothers and father talking, but then Cristo and his leopard were confused. We feared she was drugging him, but we didn’t know how.”
Marzio turned to Gorya. “What’s the plan?”
“We’re taking down the entire ring. All of it, from here to Panama. Shutting it down. To do that, we’re on a very close timeline. We’ve started already, and word can’t get out before we’re ready. That means we hit the Anwar family tonight. We free their cargo, take back your territory and kill their people. If you’re not prepared for that, we ask that you step aside and allow us to handle it.”
Marzio’s features darkened. “Bartolo betrayed our friendship and our agreement. He lied. He did share a very lucrative business with me when he knew my family was in a vulnerable position, but it was to set us up and at the same time make me always indebted to him. All along he was playing me. His family has tried to trap my son.” He stood up slowly, his fists on his desk. “No, we will be part of this. And part of the rest. I ask that you allow me to attend to Bartolo and his daughter.”
“If that is at all possible, just as long as both are dead in the end and it is impossible for them to communicate with anyone.”
“That will be guaranteed. You have my word. Tell me what you need to get this done on such short notice.”
“You and your sons know the docks and the surrounding area better than anyone else. We need detailed maps. One will do. We can memorize the map between all of us. If you have anywhere you suspect they would take prisoners to be held before being shipped out to other locations, those places should be raided. If you find prisoners, they need to be taken back, cared for and kept under wraps until we get this entire thing done.”
“You believe you can take them down tonight?” Marzio asked. “All of the Anwar family and their crew?”
“We’ve got them under surveillance. We’ve been trained for this, Marzio. This is our field of expertise, as much as it pains me to say it. We were raised on it. We can get in and out of their homes without raising an alarm. That isn’t all we want. We want everything they have as well as the key men in their crew. If anyone is left alive to report to someone higher up, we’re blown. We still have two stops to make in New Orleans tomorrow, then Russia and finally Panama. That’s a tight schedule and anything can go wrong.”
“I trust you’re already setting things up ahead of you.”
“This isn’t our first war. When we decide to act, we have all the pieces in place. That doesn’t mean something can’t go wrong.”
Marzio indicated for his sons to begin preparing the information needed for Gorya and his family to raid the docks. “We’ll handle all the possible places they might be keeping prisoners. We have the capability to take out the cameras and phones.”
Gorya didn’t tell him that was already being handled. His family wasn’t about to take any chances. There wasn’t going to be any blackmail. His family was too careful and saw to every detail. If Marzio hadn’t agreed to the deal,they had been prepared for that as well—in a couple of different ways.
Marzio indicated for his sons to begin mapping out the docks for Gorya and his family before he turned back to Gorya.
“You speak in front of your woman.”
