“I’m capable of finding my own spouse, Father.”
Shaking his head, he sighed. “Maybe Hallaway will be open to marrying you. Two families joined in marriage here in Trenton. We would give even Vispania a run for his money.”
I doubted that. The Vispania and Velarde families had been running this town since the eighteen hundreds. With Max Vispania’s wife now pregnant with the next generation, the next century had also been secured.
My phone rang, and I answered it. “Talk quickly.” I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit. That woman had me on edge.
“Sir, the latest shipment of snow and psilocybin was hijacked in Barstow,” the voice on the other end reported.
Growling, my father snapped his head toward me as I pinched the bridge of my nose and asked, “How do you hire such pathetic carriers, Marchlon?”
There was a tremble in his voice as he answered me, but it was too quiet in the background. “I-I don’t know, sir. My men are looking into it.”
“Are they now? Are they really looking into it, or are they currently tripping balls because they are high as fuck and watching the pink unicorn hippo fly across the living room because they decided to use my shit?” My father’s jaw tightened, and I saw it work back and forth as I continued, “You find them. You kill them. You find my shipment and get it here within thenext twenty-four hours. If you don’t, I will personally take every gram out of your hide. Is that understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
When I hung up, my father’s voice was tight. “Do I want to know how much money he just lost me?”
I ran my hand through my hair. “Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyway. Marchlon’s guys lost our latest shipment in Barstow.”
“Fucking worthless.”
I couldn’t agree more. He’d become an ever-worsening problem, and one day soon, I was going to gut him.
The rest of the drive to the house was in silence, but my mind kept bouncing between the problem with Marchlon and my new blonde-haired bitch of a partner. When we finally got back and inside, I turned to head to my office, but my father stopped me. “Between now and Tuesday, I want you to find out everything you can about that tramp. She was much too willing to pull a gun on us. Find out how we can rein her in. Then, I want you to keep a very close eye on her. I can’t have her messing up things with Juarez.”
“Yes, Father.” When he didn’t move, I asked, “Is there anything else?”
I’d seen the look in his eyes before, and it usually ended in me coated in blood. There was cold calculation that had my fingers itching.
“Marchlon. I think the Owl’s Talon needs to pay him a visit. If he can’t get the shipments back on track, replace him.”
Excitement ran through my veins as I nodded. “As you wish. I’m at your service.”
Iwaitedthetwenty-fourhours for Marchlon to get his shit together, spending that time researching my new partner, Elin Perkins. Twenty-eight years old, she was doing well financially, and the fact she graduated from Pepperdine at 25 with honors was impressive. She’d worked part-time for a bit, but then her tax records only provided that she was self-employed as a consultant, which I remembered her father telling me about. Only, I couldn’t find anything on where or who she was consulting with. I’d checked with all the local hospitals, charities, and private firms in the city, even in Sacramento. Hell, I’d even had one of my guys scour the internet for her. Nothing.
She had a couple of social media accounts, but they weren’t all that enlightening. Other than a few pictures of her and Joel and a couple vacations, there wasn’t much. It was almost too clean. There was a lot more information since Joel’s death—his obituary, news articles, and a blurb about her taking over the club. Staring off at a dent in the wall, I wondered if Joel had brought someone on his payroll to scrub her from the internet.
I closed my laptop, deciding Marchlon’s time had run out. After grabbing a couple of knives, my special ring with a hook, shaped to look like an Owl’s Talon, and a full assortment of guns, I stepped out of the office. One of my guys, Harley, looked up in question.
“Feel like getting wet?”
An evil smirk crossed his face. “Hell yes. Haven’t spilled blood in days.”
He was on his feet and heading toward me, practically bouncing on his toes. “Meet me in the car.”
Harley nodded and bounded upstairs. I, on the other hand, stepped up to my father’s study and knocked.
“Come in.”
Turning the knob on the dark wood door, I pushed it open and found him with his phone at his ear. “Yes, yes. Of course. Just get it done.”
When he hung up, I smirked, feeling anxious to get on the road. It had been a hot minute since I’d spilled blood, and with as much money as Marchlon had cost us, I was going to have a lot of fun. “My talon is sharpened and ready to shred. I’m taking Harley.”
“Very well. Put Rojas in charge. See if he can do any better.”
With a nod, I turned and headed out.
