“If we can sow dissent, we can speed this up and let his own guys bring him down,” Benedikt said.
I nodded, but argued that we should still be ready to fight. He and the rest of them eagerly agreed, more than ready to give these assholes back some of the grief they had been taking since uprooting their lives for the American dream
I was still getting intel on what in the hell the group heading across the Mexican border were up to when Luigi and his men finally arrived.
“Nice of them to show up,” I said sarcastically as my guard let them in. “Remember the days when all we did was fight?” I asked fondly. Benedikt and a few of the older guys laughed appreciatively.
It had been a long time since we started out, scrapping for territory, eager to build on what my father had left me. Now everything was so damn strategic. My fists almost ached to hit someone.
It was a poor distraction for what my hands really yearned for. Lilia’s soft skin and lush body.
“Once we get these numbers up, it’s on.”
I nodded, getting my head back in the game. I’d have a better chance of getting Lilia to forgive me right now than I did at flushing Luigi and his men out of the Collective. At the moment, I was currently outnumbered, even though I was supposedly in charge. It wasn’t a great feeling.
I regretted many things about taking over the Collective, but as a whole, I still believed the organization was worth saving. There was no way I was giving up on something I had invested so much time in, and it was making me a ton of money. The opposing side’s unwillingness to listen was what was trashing what I had worked for so far, and soon enough, they’d pay for it.
Luigi and his guys sauntered in as if they weren’t late, or more likely, that they didn’t care. We exchanged tense greetings as he sat at the table, his men lounging around near the bar. If I flat-out confronted him about his secret excursion, he would know I had snitches working among his people, so I didn’t want to lose that upper hand.
He gave me his report as if nothing was wrong, certain I had no idea about the things he was leaving out. When the final numbers came out, he snidely let it be known they could be higher if he was allowed to go through with the warehouse attack.
“If that succeeded, do you really think we’d be able to offload all those guns?” I asked. He knew as well as I did that thePetrovs had too many allies and no one would buy them at risk of their own skins.
“There are other markets outside of Los Angeles,” he said. “A simple matter to get them to Russia or Italy.”
I wasn’t going to quibble with him when the matter was already solved. A glare shut him up, and we finished up the business part of the meeting. Luigi looked as pissed off as I felt, but didn’t dare say a word when he was currently running a shady operation.
It was customary to have coffee, some of us choosing it to be laced with vodka now that all the boring stuff was out of the way. If it had just been my men, I might not have minded a little idle chatter, but since half the people at the table despised each other, the tension was thick.
All I wanted was to get home and make amends with Lilia. The fact that the urge was so strong kept me in my seat. These men didn’t control me, so how could a shy slip of a girl have so much power over me? It was untenable.
“So, what’s going on with the little cousin?” one of my top advisors, Pieter, asked, as if sensing she was in my thoughts. Benedikt cleared his throat awkwardly, but looked interested in my answer. Of course, Luigi perked right up.
“Are you asking because you have a suggestion? Or because you’re worried about what Luigi wants?” I asked coldly. Surely they weren’t conspiring with him?
I wasn’t in a great mood to start with. The meeting had done nothing to improve it. Talking about my wife had made it plummet to the depths of hell.
“Both,” he said imperturbably. Granted, his cool head under pressure was something I counted on. He had long beenadvising that we find a way to work together instead of staging a coup. He was treading on dangerous ground. What seemed like a voice of reason at one time now threatened a hint of dissent.
“Go on,” I said. Maybe I’d get the chance to punch someone today after all.
“We need to put her to use immediately,” Luigi piped up. “I still think we can cause a distraction—”
“Not going to happen.”
“Right.” Pieter gave Luigi a harsh look to shut the hell up and let him speak. “But the fact remains that the Petrovs will grow more unhinged the longer they don’t know where she is. Word will leak that we have her. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask what your plan is.”
“Spit it out,” I said. “You’re practically dancing around something.”
Benedikt sighed and took over. “No one in this room is accusing you of anything, but there are some who think you’re going soft.”
“Or that you might be planning a double cross,” Luigi said.
Way too close to the truth. There was no way he should know anything about that.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I roared.
I had never been disloyal in my life. Not to anyone who was loyal to me, anyway, which Luigi was not. And this wasn’t just the Collective assholes hounding me this time, it was my own men. I trusted them and believed they wanted the same things I did. More money, uncontested power, and to plant our feet on the necks of our enemies. Now they were siding with Luigi? It was suddenly beginning to feel like I was very muchalone in this fight. A fight I didn’t have to have at all. There was one very simple answer to everything.
