Legend shook his head at me, and I felt even worse because he was still studying everyone.
“Well, we’ve got plenty of solutions for those sorts of issues,” Mack said, leaning back in his chair. He narrowed his eyes at me as if I was a stupid kid.
I sighed.
“We knocked the Italians out of North Queensland years ago. They’re Calabrians, unlike the mob you have in the States. The ones there are mostly Sicilians. The Calabrians have been salty about getting out maneuvered ever since, with good reason.” Legend chuckled and winked down at me, and I sank lower in the seat. “But they’ve been struggling to regain their footing here recently. Trying to pay off people we’ve already got in our pockets, those types of things. It’s been a steady annoyance. We attempted to negotiate with them, but they won’t have it. I’m done.” Legend strode over to stand near his mother and glanced down at her. “I miss anything, Mum?”
“No, that about sums it up.” She shrugged and smiled at everyone. “They’re not nearly as powerful up here as they used to be. At one time every bit of produce in the country came with a tax that went directly to the Italian mafia, but the authorities finally busted that up a while ago, and it’s been downhill for them ever since.”
Cillian whistled. “That’s a big loss. How the hell did they set that up to begin with?”
She nodded. “Lots of threats I’d imagine. Some good old-fashioned bribes. So, they came like rats, hungry for what we have, trying to get everything they’d let go because it was too much trouble to defend when they had money pouring in. Well, they’re not getting what my Legend has worked so hard to establish.” She smiled at him, every bit the proud mother, and it made me sort of miss my mom.
Legend nudged her shoulder with a grin. “The old man in charge, Federico Padulano, wants to restore the glory of the good old days, but we’re not budging. His son, Ario, would like to negotiate with us.” Legend spread his arms. “So, our choices are to wait for nature to take its course or help it along. Federico is sixty and by all accounts healthy. He could live another thirty years at this rate.” Legend sighed, and chuckles raced around the table.
“Why don’t we just go shoot him?” Fallon asked, glancing around. “Easy enough, right?”
Shrugging, I glanced at Legend. “Yeah, I agree,” I said, even though maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut.
Mrs. Sweeney laughed. “Oh, darl, you’re precious. We can’t do that.”
“We do that at home,” Cove Ryan said. He beamed back at Mrs. Sweeney, and I hated him a little—which made me feel like a jerk. He was attractive and everyone seemed to want to be nice to him. He had long brown hair that brushed his shoulders and looked like it would be soft to touch, along with a thick, trimmed beard. Cove would’ve looked too serious, but his smile made him approachable and won everyone over. “In fact, that’s half of everything I do for Mr. Killough.”
“They don’t want to bring the heat down,” Cillian said, nodding at Legend to see if that was correct. “A frontal attack on a boss can open a whole can o’ worms no one wants to deal with.”
Legend pointed at him. “Yes, on both counts. We want the Italians to know it was us. Hell, no matter what they would get that, I think, but we don’t want the coppers to figure it out. We need to be a bit sneaky. Things don’t work here the way they do in the US. There’s violence, but not quite the kind you all have. It needs a more subtle hand. We can’t walk in somewhere, guns blazing, because that will bring in too much heat. We need to take out Federico, and Ario’s two cousins as well, and it must all happen on the same night, and it has to be nice and quiet. Preferably no guns. Guns draw too many questions.”
“Oh, it’s like a riddle,” I said, sitting up straighter in the chair. “How do we murder them without weapons?”
“Anything but guns is fine.” Legend rubbed his chin in thought. “M’not asking you to use your teeth and gnaw them to death.”
“But still, it’s kind of like one of those games. Who murdered Colonel Mustard in the library? Just in reverse.”
Mack rolled his eyes at me, but Legend bounced on his feet as he nodded. “Yes, indeed. And while I do have several hitmen, we’ve never coordinated anything this intense on our own. It’s never been necessary. This is why you’re all here. We need an airtight plan to take out all three men on the same night at the same time.” He nodded once.
Cillian rubbed his hands together. “No guns, you say?”
“I suppose that means no bombs, either?” Cary Ryan said. He leaned forward and rested both elbows on the table, then pouted at his twin brother, Cove.
“No bombs,” Legend said with a laugh. He paced around while everyone tossed ideas back and forth, but no one had a perfect plan right out of the gate. Tension crawled through me as Legend walked behind my chair. He hadn’t said anything, but he’d sat me downin his own seat. My fingers itched to touch the scar on my cheek, but I refused to allow myself to do it. Maybe I was stuck in a suit, but I could look good. Checking my posture, I rested my clasped hands on the table.
“Once Mr. Killough ordered us to bury a man alive on the beach. That’s it. Just dig a hole and put him in it. It was that simple.” I glanced at Legend—he’d moved far enough to the side of my chair that I could catch him out of the corner of my eye—and my cheeks burned again.
He smiled at me. “That’s an idea. Then when the bodies eventually are uncovered and pecked at by animals, it would be gruesome, and who’s to say how they got that way? It would send a message.”
“Maybe we could gut them, then bury them,” Cillian said, and he seemed far too excited about that idea.
Legend nodded enthusiastically. “That’s the ticket.”
“Well, all we would need to do is coordinate three kidnappings then. You barely need us for that.” Mack sat back, scowling.
Legend shrugged. “What I wanted was some experienced guys at each location so my men can see how it’s done. I’m glad to have you on hand. What happened in Miami, Cillian? Heard something went down.”
Cillian grunted and twisted his mouth in irritation. I tensed, hoping he wouldn’t bring up my accident. Everyone in the Company knew about it, and I didn’t want these Australians to hear the story, too. “The Reyes Cartel. Those bastards have been moving in on our territory. It was a bloody shitfight. Me and Aspen were sent down with our lieutenant, Jamie, to get rid of Reyes’s cousin, Joaquin. Those bastards took out our de facto boss down there, so we had no one to liaise with. We’re about to instate a new lieutenant, though. Think Ransom would be interested?”
The last bit was clearly a joke because they chuckled.
“Nah. He’s too busy living his best life as a club owner and being a connection for hitmen. And you. What do you do for the Company?” Legend barked, and it took me a second to realize he was staring at me.
