“What in the actualFUCKhappened?”I demand as I walk into my warehouse, Mateo, Carson, and Rome right behind me.
Jack’s already here. He was closer when the call came in.
I left my wife, asleep in our bed, so I could get here too fucking late.
“They took it all, boss,” Jack says. He’s pale and shaken, and my number two isneverpale and shaken.
“There’s no way,” Mateo says, shaking his head, but I move to where three of my men are standing at attention, clearly shaken up.
The other three, including Draco, are fucking dead.
“Report.” I sound calm. Ialwayssound fucking calm. When in reality, I’m ready to blow the whole world apart. The guys shuffle and look at each other, and I yell, “REPORT!”
“We were ambushed,” Tony says, shaking his head. “The product arrived, on schedule. We accounted for everything. It was routine, nothing out of the ordinary.”
“We had just finished inventory,” Shawn adds. “Moved everything to the containers you specified, and then suddenly,smoke bombs rolled in through the big doors and filled the room fast.”
I can still smell it in the air.
“About a dozen men, all in black and armed to the nines, ran inside,” Tony continues. “Shot Draco first, then the other two. They were out the door, with the shipment, in less than five minutes.”
Motherfucker.
“What did they look like?” I ask them.
“They were in gas masks,” Shawn says. “Black clothes, like special ops or some kind of professionals. These guys weren’t foot soldiers, boss.”
I glance over at Carson, and he’s already making calls. He has contacts with exactly the kind of professionals Shawn is describing.
“I need to get to my office so I can watch security cam footage.” I pace away and drag my hand down my face before I kneel next to Draco.
This man served under my father. He’d been with our organization for decades and dedicated his life to us. He had no wife or children and always said that the job was his life. He didn’t have room for anything else.
He was a good friend and someone I respected.
The motherfucker behind this is going to pay dearly.
“Clean this up,” I say to Jack. “Pay the other two’s families.”
“I’ll handle it,” Jack says with a nod, and I walk over to where my brothers stand talking.
“No one knew about this,” I tell them and feel exhaustion settle in.
“It’s just like LA,” Rome replies. “Someoneknew, Julian.”
Shaking my head, I run it down for them. “Obviously the men in this room, along with the supplier. That’s it.”
“Then you have a mole,” Mateo says grimly.
“Fuck no, I don’t.” The mere thought of it makes me want to come out of my skin. “My men have been with me for years.”
“How careful are you about what you say in front of your pretty little wife?” Carson asks.
“That’s out of the question.”
“Why?” Rome counters. “Because she’s beautiful and young? Listen, I’ve been in your position. My brothers insinuating that my wife was a plant. But you don’t know her well, and although her father is a grade A piece of shit, he’s still her father. Is she funneling intel back to him?”
“Absolutely not.” I laugh at the absurdity of the idea. “She’s not a plant for her father. She hates his guts.”
