He’d better enjoy every day of his freedom because it’s coming to an end soon.
We stop outside of the warehouse that we use for meetups like these. Our army has instructions to surround the area, with fifteen men coming inside with us. Just because Rizzo has eight at his side doesn’t mean he hasn’t given similar instructions to his own men.
We could be walking into an all-out battle.
I check both my sidearms and the knives on my belt before stepping out of the vehicle.
Julian, Mateo, and Carson are ready as I join them, and the four of us walk through the doors side by side.
Rizzo leans negligently against a crate, his arms folded over his chest. His dark hair is slicked back, and his eyes are hard and calculating as our men file in behind us.
“So much for a friendly meeting,” hesneers.
“We don’t have a friendly relationship,” Julian reminds him, taking the lead. Rizzo thinks we’re here because of the man’s attack on Julian’s port. We don’t plan to tell him about Eloise’s whereabouts. “You made sure of that when you killed my men and stole from me.”
Rizzo shakes his head. He’s not quite fifty, less than ten years older than any of us, but he likes to talk down to everyone around him.
He’s annoying as fuck. I want to send one of my knives right through his throat. It would be so easy. So fast.
Too fast.
“Now, Julian, I didn’t know the port belonged to you.”
“That’s a crock of shit,” Mateo says with a scoff. “The entire West Coast knows. You thought you could swing your dick around and get away with it.”
“Did you get my package?” Julian asks. Suddenly, weapons are cocked and pointed at us.
I grin.
This is the part I enjoy. Threaten me. Fucking threaten me and see where it gets you.
“Listen.” Rizzo holds his hand up, and his men stand down. “I got your message, Julian, and you have my apologies. Like I said, I didn’t know it was your shipment.”
Carson growls.
Mateo scoffs.
But Julian and I simply stare.
And Rizzo’s eyebrows pull together, just long enough to show that he’s rattled.
“I want my diamonds back,” Julian says. “With interest. And I want your men off my turf.”
Rizzo doesn’t speak for a moment, and then says, “I can agree to that, with a condition.”
“I don’t really think you’re in a position to demand conditions,” Mateo mutters, but Rizzo keeps talking.
“My daughter is missing,” he says, and my hands ball into fists. “The last I knew, she was here in Las Vegas.”
“The last you knew?” Carson asks, tipping his head to the side.
“The man I sent to collect her has gone missing,” Rizzo replies. “And there has been no news. That was days ago.”
“Send men into our city without talking to us first, and bad things happen,” Mateo says.
“I was trying to rescue my daughter,” Rizzo says. “I love her so much and just want her home with me.”
My jaw is clenched so tightly, it’s a wonder my molars don’t break.
