Roberto pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket, and Rheagan nearly thought he would give it to her, but instead, he plucked a few bills out and passed them to her.
“This will be enough to get you a new phone,” he said before he closed the door on her, and again, Rheagan heard her sister’s voice, telling her that she was stupid, and for once, Rheagan couldn’t help but agree because she knew Raelyn would havenever come here, and she would have done exactly what Roberto had said.
She walked away, feeling alone and dumb, wondering if she had made the wrong decision. But at least she knew she had reaped one benefit— making Nikos regret not choosing her.
C H A P T E R
43
NIKOS SIGHED AS HE STEPPED OUT OF THE CAR, SLAMMING THE DOOR BEHIND HIM. He used his hand as a shield against the sun that beamed down on him this sunny afternoon. He walked over to his uncle, who stood along with thirty of his men, waiting outside of his enemy’s home. Melvin Cook had made the wrong choice in not paying Antonis once he returned to commission, even going as far as to shoot at Antonis’s men when they came to collect, which was an act of war in itself.
They now stood outside of the storage center they had been tipped off about, ready to end Melvin and collect the debt that was owed. But Nikos had to admit he was surprised to see hisuncle here. Though it had been a month since his return, he was still recovering and still walked around with a cane. Although he did not walk around as haggardly as he had before as though he was one step away from falling on the ground, he still wasn’t fully back to health.
“You know, you could have left it to me or Christos,” Nikos told Antonis. “That’s what you have men for.”
Most people would take their time to recover after being shot multiple times, but it seemed his uncle was on edge and felt the need to prove himself, even by doing things that he wouldn’t normally do. Melvin Cook was no Ricardo, and his uncle usually didn’t lead in these events and left it to his men to handle.
The one time he had gone to be the person to put a bullet in his enemy, it resulted in him being in a coma for months. Nikos was certain that it was something Antonis probably regretted now.
“This is nothing,” Antonis said, tapping his cane against the pavement. “I have survived plenty of bullets with your father before when I was younger. My enemies thought this could stop me, but no one could. No one can stop me from what I want.”
Nikos arched a brow, feeling there was something hidden in those words, but he decided to make no mention of it, knowing fully well that he was on his uncle’s enemy list now. Although, he wondered if he was on it after his uncle came out of his coma or before. It was hard to tell.
“It’s clear,” Christos said as he walked over to them. “He’s in that building and the rest of his crew is in the warehouse.”
Antonis nodded before he clacked his cane against the pavement twice, gathering the attention of every man there as he turned to speak to them all.
“You know the drill. All of you go in there. Shoot first and ask no questions later. Anyone in that warehouse is an enemy of mine. Destroy everything and anything valuable you find, bring it to me.”
Everyone nodded, heading to the warehouse with their weapons in hand, and Nikos and Christos followed, knowing that it was their job to lead the charge.
“Not you, Nikos. You’re coming with me,” Antonis said as he stayed behind with Roberto, Georgios, and six other men. It looked like there were more than enough of them to handle Melvin, who probably had no more than five other men with him, but Nikos didn’t question it. He wasn’t in the position to.
Christos, who had been walking to the warehouse, also paused in his steps, a question in his gaze. Nikos nodded, and Christos hesitated before he continued forward.
“Theo,” Nikos called. His cousin jogged back to them. “Come with me and leave it to Christos. He can handle it.”
“You’re sure?” Theo asked, and Nikos nodded. If Antonis had a problem with Theo coming along, he made no mention of it as they headed inside the building. As they did, Nikos pulled out the necklace beneath his shirt that Honey had given him, kissing the Jesus piece as she always did before she performed. He tucked it back beneath his shirt as he pulled his gun out from behind his waistband.
It was as Christos had reported, and Melvin Cook was in the warehouse with three other men. Melvin barely had the time to register their presence before he was shot down along with his men. It was anti-climactic, but it was as Nikos had expected. Melvin Cook was no Ricardo and did not have nearly enough resources or men to have gone against Antonis or anyone in their brotherhood, for that matter.
“Is everywhere clear?” Antonis asked as Roberto came back into the room, and Roberto nodded. Nikos stepped to the side and pulled out his phone, seeing that he had received a text from Honey. When he opened it, he smiled, seeing a photo of Kai wearing a Captain America costume.
The real Cap will be coming back to you soon, Nikos texted back with a grin, thinking to himself that he couldn’t wait to get back home to them, so he could eat Honey’s amazing food, and play a game with Kai before he spent the night with Honey in his arms.
Nikos put his phone back in his pocket, laughing to himself when he imagined the eye roll Honey would make when she received his text. He turned around ready to ask if everything was wrapped up, but to his surprise, his uncle pointed a gun at him instead.
“I thought you already killed your enemy,” Nikos joked mildly, wishing that he hadn’t already slipped his gun back into his pants.
“The only enemy of mine is you,” Antonis said and nodded to his men. “Beat him.”
Nikos barely had a chance to move before the first punch was thrown, and immediately he threw one back and another and another, knocking the closest one to the ground, but also leaving himself open to take a jab in the gut. Growing up as the younger brother of two older brothers made it so that he had to know how to fight. But there was a difference between fighting a few men versus fighting six and it wasn’t long before Nikos found himself on the ground, getting kicked and stomped down by six grown men.
“Uncle, stop this. You can’t do this! They’re killing him!” Nikos heard Theo yell.
“Shut up, Theo.”
“But Uncle—”
