Page 95 of Down & Dirty: Rage

“More Sicilians?” Chill asked.

Indie shook her head. “No. I couldn’t find any other Sicilian crime families within a reasonable distance. Since no one would normally be going up against the Russos—at least from what I could find—we’ll have to manufacture a war between them.Ifthat’s the direction we go.”

“Between who?” Rage asked.

“I found a Chinese drug cartel in Ohio, believe it or not. They’re manufacturing and selling fentanyl, as well as shipping that and some other drugs to different countries, too.”

“How’re they gettin’ away with shippin’ it to other countries?” Chill asked.

Indie shrugged. “Beats the shit out of me. Ask the DEA. Anyway, that part wasn’t my focus. I was looking for an organization similar to the Mafia that would realistically see a financial benefit to either taking over the Russos’ territory or stopping the Russos from selling so they could grab that market.”

Rage had to admit his beast of an uncle produced some damn intelligent women. Everyone underestimated Diesel by assuming he wasn’t smart because of how he acted, but he was a goddamn genius, and he certainly passed that trait onto his daughters. Their mother, Jewel, wasn’t a dummy, either.

“The Chen family is like the Russos, but instead of being labeled the mob or Mafia, in China, they’re called a Triad.”

This was more shit than Rage ever wanted to know about crime families. “Do these fuckin’ Triads normally go head to head with the Mafia?”

Reaper’s first word uttered since the meeting began was a simple, “No.”

“What d’you know about ‘em?” Rage asked him.

“Not much. But like Indie said, their organization is similar to the Mafia. Triads will do whatever makes them a shit-ton of money. Whether it’s fraud, extortion, money laundering, drug or sex trafficking, illegal gambling, or counterfeit goods. Just like any other criminal organization.”

It sounded like he knew more than what he’d implied.

“Right,” Indie said. “What I discovered about the Chens was they’re also helping a Mexican cartel launder drug money.”

Damn.They had their fingers in every damn pie they could stick them in.

“That typical?” Chill asked.

“It’s not unheard of,” Reaper answered for Indie.

The VP then asked, “Same Mexican cartel that the Russos are dealin’ with?”

“No, another one,” Indie answered. “If it had been the same, using this Chinese crime family might get too fucking sticky, but because they’re not, it could work in our favor. One, because the Russos are also trafficking fenty, so that makes them competitors, and two, the Mexican cartels probably want to fuck each other, and not in a good way.”

“Gives us more options to create havoc,” Vi said. “We can set it up so the Russos think the Chens are fucking with them.If done correctly, itshouldstart a war between those two families. We could also get the cartels beefing, too. If the cartel that the Russos buy from no longer exists, then that will kill their supply. No supply, no need for the mules to haul it.”

“They’ll just find another supplier,” Zeke mumbled.

“Maybe. Maybe not. Again, the ultimate goal is to wipe out the Russos and cut their ties with the Twisted Souls. Meanwhile we certainly don’t want the Chens taking over Pittsburgh. But if they do, they most likely wouldn’t want to deal with those asshats. Plus, the Chens aren’t transporting fenty from Mexico, they make it themselves, which makes it more profitable. They’d have no use for mules, especially since they’d have to share a cut of the profits.”

“Great,” Chill muttered.

It all sounded like a big fucking cluster to Rage, but his focus was on the Souls. He wanted every last one of them wiped off the Earth after what they did to the Angels of Fury. “We get the cartels fightin’, the Russos and Chens fightin’, then after that’s finished, we can take out those motherfuckin’ Souls.”

“There would be no reason to take out the Souls if the Russos are wiped out,” Vi mentioned.

“Bullshit. They disrespected us by usin’ our goddamn territory without our fuckin’ permission,” Zeke reminded them.

“And fucked with our women.” Rage’s blood pressure was rising. He needed to rein that in.

Both Vi and Indie had visibly tensed when Rage said “our” women. He didn’t give a fuck because it was true. If they had a problem with it, that was their problem, not his.

“Need to also mention that they sent one of their members into Heaven’s Angels.”

“For what? A lap dance?” Indie asked Rage.