Billy, who worked under Mr. Andrews, nodded. "Fifty-seven, to be exact, if seven more showed up. I've been counting."
"So, when are we going to attack? When we're completely outnumbered?" Thomas "Blazer" McKinny asked and the agitation in his tone was evident.
Billy snorted, insulted by the question. "Do you have a death wish?"
Blazer shook his head. "Just ready to get back home to my old woman and put another baby in her."
"That's all you had to say with your impatient ass." His brother from the same chapter, Eric "Jazz" Jackson, patted his back in an attempt to calm him down. "Cool it, brother," he said in a hushed voice.
"I'm cool," Blazer replied as he crossed his muscular arms over his barrel chest.
"Getting back to the issue at hand, we have forty; we can take him," Cenzo said.
"We need to be careful about this," Nine Iron said. "Yeah, I don't doubt that I will kick ass in there, but we don't know what skill level their people have."
"I think it's safe to assume that most of those men are mid-level at best. I mean, how many people in your mafia are on the level of Sergio?" Dragon asked Enzo as he pointed to the teenage bodyguard and assassin.
"Not many are on his level. He was trained by Akari," Enzo said.
Dragon nodded. "Exactly. Same with our club. Everyone can throw down, but only a select few are trained for the dirty work, and even though every member of our club will fight for it, not everyone wears this badge of honor." He pointed to the patch under his "Enforcer" patch labeled "Man of Carnage."
Enzo looked from Dragon's cut to the others to see how many had the same thing. Nine had it; Bulldozer and both Jazz and Blazer donned the two combined patches. Burger didn't have one. "What does it mean?"
"Man of Carnage is given to those who killed for the club. And not just once, but enough to be drenched in the blood of our enemies," Nine said proudly, with his whole chest sticking out.
"Hasn't he killed for the club?" Enzo asked, pointing to Burger. He remembered the Lords being attacked by their rival bike club, and Akari mentioned how Burger could handle his own.
"I have, but it's more than just killing some idiots who've fucked with our club. It's about carrying out missions and also bleeding for the club, risking life and limb to protect the club. I don't doubt that I'll earn that badge of honor one day, but every man you see here wearing one fucking earned that shit," Burger said.
"I see," Enzo said with an appraising nod.
"My point in bringing that up is that even though we're outnumbered, we may not be out-skilled. Your dad and uncle have been dealing with them in Chicago, and according to the intel we got from Wolf and Al, the triad has heavy hitters, but you can count them on one hand. Li will give us trouble, but who we need to watch out for is his twin sister, Xiù. Leave that bitch to me," Dragon said.
"Mmm, I don't know about that, Dragon. A bad bitch like that, I don't know if your gay ass can appreciate that kind of woman," Jazz teased.
"Suck these nuts, Jazz," Dragon said, grabbing his crotch for emphasis, causing the other man to laugh.
"Your time in prison got you thirsty for some pussy?" Bulldozer asked Dragon, joining in on the joke to tease his fellow brother.
Dragon laughed and shook his head. "The only thing a slice of pussy can do for me is point me in the direction of a man's cunt."
Several of the gathered men laughed, which thawed the ice that had been a bit frozen between them. A few of them even did the Lord's handshake in agreement. Enzo took it all in; the banter between the Lords was more like family than his own outfit. The Lords respected hierarchy, but their bond was deeper than rank-and-file loyalty, and he liked that.
"What you said makes sense," Enzo stated, getting the conversation back on topic. "I'll go after Li. Sergio and I should be able to handle him together. The rest of you focus on taking out their people. Leave none alive."
"Shit, I'm ready for this action. When do we do this?" Nine asked.
"Tonight, under the cover of darkness, we will strike," Enzo said.
"What about their surveillance?" Dragon asked.
"We've got something for that. Once we get close, this little device will block out all of their equipment that isn't on the same frequency as ours," Cenzo said and held up a little black box with a few buttons on it.
"Is that from Chelsey?" Burger asked.
Cenzo nodded. "Only the best. All of our shit is from her."
"Aren't you ever worried that she'll make the same thing for someone else, like your enemy, rendering your shit useless?" Dragon asked.
