“We go in, we state our piece, and we get them to agree to back down,” I said quietly as we stood outside the huge warehouse entrance, the location in one of the worst sections of Brooklyn. The fact the Luciano family had thought they could attempt to take over even a small portion of our turf hadn’t surprised me. It had been my father who’d ignored my warnings.
Fuck him.
Now his worthless son had to clean up his mess. This would need to be the first of many, but soon I’d make changes. Soon, the empire would be mine and there was nothing my father could do about it.
“I don’t like this,” Daniel stated, scanning the parking lot. “It’s too quiet. This could be an ambush.”
“Using those cop instincts of yours again, Daniel?” I sneered, throwing him a hateful look. In the ugly fluorescent lighting, I could still see his look of disdain. He wasn’t cut out to be on this side of the law.
“He’s right,” Brogan added. “We need to be careful.”
“Don’t worry, guys. I’ll have your back,” Garrison said, grinning as he checked his ammunition, snapping the cartridge into place and heading for the door. “Let’s roll, boys. We can do this.”
Another memory. Fucking fantastic. I’d managed to shove them all out of my mind until recently. Until Cassie had dropped into my life. I should have brought her back, not listening to any of them. Illinois was too far away. No matter if the others believed me or not, she’d become a target the instant someone found out who she was.
Unless I handled the bastard who’d threatened us and killed Garrison first. I had no intentions of leaving business from years before unattended.
Rocco Luciano would die by my hands.
I thought about everything Cassie had told me. Then I picked up my phone, dialing my attorney. Things had to change. It was past time to make that happen. I was done living in the shadow of my father. This would be the first day of a new outlook. “Jeffrey. You and I need to talk. I’m thinking about doing something entirely different with Paradise Island.” After providing details, most of which seemed to shock him, a warmth swelled in my system, the feeling pretty damn good. I was doing the right thing. When I ended the call, a smile crossed my face.
Then I heard a knock on the door. I leaned over the desk. “This had better be good.”
As Steven walked into the room, I could sense he’d found what I was looking for.
“You found him,” I stated the obvious.
“Didn’t need to, boss. He requested a meeting.”
CHAPTER 16
Alexander
The restaurant was crowded, which was what Rocco had intended. I wasted no time going inside, both Steven and Brogan by my side. As we were taken to Rocco’s table, I scanned the facility, chuckling under my breath. Rocco had obviously been afraid of what I might do. Good for him for being so careful.
However, at the end of tonight, his blood would be on my hands.
When I spotted him, I realized it had been years since I’d seen him, the pictures flashed across certain news programs unable to do him justice. He’d certainly changed over the years.
Then again, so had I.
I eased into the chair, Brogan beside me. It was obvious by the smug look on Rocco’s face that he recognized Brogan after all these years. He calmly took a sip of his wine then motioned as if looking for his waiter.
“You brought one of your lackeys. How interesting,” Rocco dared to say.
While I sensed Brogan tensing, I smiled. “Brogan is actually my VP of business development.”
He shifted his hard glare toward my friend, chuckling for a few seconds. “So you’re expanding. Good for you. Anything you gentlemen would like to have is on me. It’s the least I can do.”
I glared at him, leaning over the table. “Unfortunately, Rocco, this isn’t a social visit. We’re here on business, which is what I assumed was the reason for your call. So, let’s conduct business.”
“Very well, Alexander. We’ll skip the niceties, although allow me to say that it’s good to see you out of prison, Brogan. I know you were just covering for your boss here.”
Brogan knew better than to take the bait. He merely smiled, reaching across the table and grabbing the man’s glass of wine. I had to give my friend credit. He had style. After he consumed the glass, he pushed it back in Rocco’s direction, keeping the grin on his face.
Rocco looked the other way, annoyed but not stupid enough to react.
“Fine. I can see we’re not going to make significant ground today so let me say this.” Rocco snapped his head in my direction. “You killed my father. You were always the bully, the big man on campus. Well, no longer. In retaliation, I took one of your own. Garrison’s death was… sweet. Now we’re even.”
