“I’ve upped security in every direction,” Isaak confirms, walking into my office.
“Good. And Alara? Have you increased her personal guards?”
“Of course. And I convinced her to chill at home for a bit instead of going out dancing with friends. Just for a few weeks, at least.”
“The additional security at home carried this morning. And I’ve increased security around the office building as well. Kayla refuses to take any more time off work, so this place had to be turned into a fortress,” I sigh.
“Hey man, we do what we have to do to keep our people safe,” Isaak says.
“True. And now, a bit of a challenge and a risk, I have the West Coast guys on video call at three. I am going to tell them about what’s been happening here. I don’t want to start an alliance with secrets on my side. They have a right to know about the trouble I’m facing, and then they can choose whether they want to continue or not.”
Isaak sighs. “Fuck, I hope they stay in the alliance. I was just looking at buying a beach house in Los Angeles. Man, it’s a beautiful place,” he chuckles.
I laugh too, shaking my head. “Trust you to be house shopping while all this shit is going down.”
“Hey, man, a new alliance means we have freedom in that city, too. I have to go check out the scene, maybe find a beautiful girl who wants to be my wife,” he dances his brows up and down, causing me to laugh more.
“Get the fuck out of here, you moron. I have work to do,” I huff, waving him away.
He laughs as he walks away, but then turns to confirm, “We’ve never had this much security before. Everything is covered, man. You don’t have to worry about your family,” he says with a serious tone and a genuine smile.
“Thanks, Isaak. I really appreciate your help with all of this.”
He waves and leaves my office, and I lean back in my chair, letting out a long sigh of relief. My family is safe. Now I have to deal with the West Coast guys.
I pull my laptop closer and open the video app.
It starts ringing almost immediately, and I press the green button to join the group call.
“Guys! Hi. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to meet with me,” I say.
“No problem, always available to check in for any reason,” Nestor says.
Benedikt nods and waves hello silently. Ardalion says, “How’s the weather there in Chicago?”
"It’s good. Warm. Normal,” I chuckle.
“Normal is good,” Emmanuil muses.
I sigh as they all fall silent. With the pleasantries out of the way, I need to get to the point.
“Gentlemen, I have been having some trouble here in Chicago. And while most of it is of a personal nature, there are some aspects that involve you guys,” I say tightly.
“Alright, well, tell us what is going on, and maybe we can help?” Benedikt says, surprising me with his answer. I expected them to want to hear the details before immediately offering to get involved.
“My main concern here is my wife, Kayla, and my two little girls. Twins. They’re five years old, and they are my world.”
Nestor grins and nods. “Twins, that must be a handful of joy,” he chuckles.
“It is,” I smile. “I have a powerful enemy, Anton Radev, who runs Vancouver. He has been targeting my wife, blatantly threatening her and attacking her personal guards in an attempt to get to me. I have to admit, it worked. I believe that the reason he’s doing all of this is because he doesn’t like the idea of me forming an alliance with your group. He might be concerned about the increase in power it gives me; whatever is bothering him about it, he’s clearly not happy,” I explain. “I wanted to tell you all of this but also reassure you that I am handling it and will eliminate the threat as soon as I can, but in the right way. And I will do everything in my power to make sure it doesn’t affect your business.”
The guys listen with their attention fully on me. They don’t speak until I have explained everything. I watch their faces, trying to read each of them, but all I see is a sense of calm focus.
By the end of it, I can’t say for sure if they are going to leave the alliance or stay.
I finish explaining and lean back in my chair to indicate that they have the floor to speak and say what is on their minds.
Nestor clears his throat.
