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"That's why you're here. To show you what your warehouses will eventually become. Where do you think she will turn to next when she can't find any more of our storage facilities?"
Darius grunted but remained silent in thought.
"All of our products have been relocated to more secure locations. She won’t find them, and soon, she will be coming for yours." Nico added.
"And how do I know that she will target us? Maybe she has some kind of vendetta against your triad, and you are solely the focus of her tirade."
Atlas scoffed, "We don't have any disagreements with the Phoenix’s mafia. This is not fucking personal. It's a money grab. Plain dirty and simple. Trust us when we say that she won't differentiate between making money from our demise or yours."
Darius nodded thoughtfully, the smile disappearing from his face. "If you are right, then we both lose. What will our 'cooperation' entail?"
"Nothing more than information. We keep our ears close to the ground and share anything that arises that impacts either of our dealings." I studied his face closely. I wanted to know what kind of man he was. His brother Mateo was the devil, and deserved everything that came to him. We would never deal with him in a million years. His brother though, to our knowledge, had never been the decision maker, and possibly could be a better, albeit crooked man, than his brother ever was. We had decided together we would give him a chance. Maybe a small part of us wanted to give him a chance for Catalina's sake, and this small outreach was a test to see how he'd fare.
Darius held my gaze silently, and eventually a smile curled his lips. "I don't see why not. Maybe we can work together on this one." He walked forward, closing the space between us. Around us, men tensed, hands hovering above their weapons as Darius put out a hand. "A show of faith. We need to at least be able to not kill each other, if we are to work together."
I forced a smile on my face and took his hand, shaking it firmly. "Of course."
He shook Atlas's hand, cringing slightly at Atlas's tight grip, before turning to Nico and holding out his hand. "I apologize for the attempt on your life, Nico. The opportunity arose when you were vulnerable in the hospital, and we took it. We were still working off Mateo's legacy, but when you and your brothers reached out to me yesterday, I knew then that perhaps there is a better way forward than Mateo's way."
Nico eyed his hand, not making a move for some time before he reluctantly shook it. "We are even. Your attempt was rectified when we executed your cousins," he smirked with a smile. "Let's call it water under the bridge."
Darius's smile faltered, but he quickly recovered, nodding in apparent agreement. "Yes. Let's leave the past in the past and start fresh. We need to-" A vibrating sound made him stop and reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. He frowned as he quickly raised the phone to his ear, listening intently. "Yes." he said curtly. "Who are you and what do you want?"
I watched as his eyes abruptly dropped to the floor as he listened. "Yes. I'll be right there." He hung up, breathing heavily for a moment before his head snapped up to look at us. "I'm sorry boys. I have to cut our meeting short."
I shrugged, "It's no problem. We have said what we wanted to say, and we seem to be on the same page."
A man who had not been introduced to us, came up behind Darius and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"What is it, Darius?" he said.
Darius turned to look at the man, then back at us uncertainly. "It's my niece. She's in the hospital."
I felt my heart jump at the sound of her mentioned in conjunction with a hospital.
Had she fallen into some trouble? Was she okay? Did someone hurt her?
The thoughts tumbled through my mind, and I tried to keep my face stern and unreadable. The last thing I needed was Darious suspecting that we knew her.
The man beside Darius frowned. "What happened? Is she alright?"
Darius shook his head, "I don't know. They said she was in an accident last night. I need to head to the hospital now and find out." He turned back to me. "You have my word. If we hear anything, we'll let you know." I nodded as he turned abruptly and strode out of the warehouse, leaving us to stare after him. I looked around at the men and nodded towards the door. They relaxed their hands off their weapons somewhat and spread out to the building entrances, taking watchful stances. I turned to Nico and Atlas who were just staring at each other, too dumbfounded to speak. It was Atlas who finally broke the silence.
"I don't get it. You were with her last night Nico."
"I was. This must have happened on her way home. I offered to escort her home, but she refused." Nico looked crestfallen as he spoke. "I should have just followed her to make sure she got home safely. She even told me she thought she was being watched."
I squeezed Nico's shoulder. "You can't know for sure that it wasn't a plain accident."
"That doesn't make me feel any better. She's obviously hurt either way."
"Agreed." Atlas chimed in. "We've gotta go to the hospital after Darius leaves and find out what's happened to our girl."
"Our girl?" I raised my brow at Atlas as he nodded matter-of-factly.
"Oh, come on brother! Don't act like you don't care about her. I know beneath that grumpy exterior of yours that you're practically in love with her, and Nico's crushing badly. Not to mention you've both had some sexy time with her," he smirked. "And as for me. Well, I've gotten close with her over the past few months, and I kinda see her as the baby sister I never had. I like her, and I need to know she is okay. Okay?"
I looked over at Nico whose eyebrows had gone sky high as he listened to Atlas's outburst, and I held my hands up in surrender.
