Page 21 of Fall Before Her Throne

Ciel cleared his throat and spoke first. “I would have.”

Wynn nodded.

Cas wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. “You know I would have, princess.”

“I would have tortured him slowly instead of shooting his brains out,” Ryu answered. Volpe rolled his eyes.

My gaze went back to Leona. Possession swelled inside my chest. She was ours. Death would come to anyone who threatened or harmed her. The Albanians deserved far more suffering and pain than they got in the end, especially Arion Vokshi.

I walked around the couch until I stood at her side. My palm found the back of her neck.

“I would have skinned him alive.” I gripped her firmly. Her golden brown eyes bored into mine. “And then I would have taught you how so you could exact your own revenge.”

She pressed her lips together before she gave me a tight nod, moisture beading at the corner of her eyes. How could we blame Volpe for Vokshi’s death when my brothers and I would have done the same?

“Fine, we will put that matter to rest.” I brushed my thumb over her cheek. “What’s done is done. We must focus on the Camorra.”

The rest of my brothers were quiet until Caspian cleared his throat.

“Giulio was asking for orders,” he said. “Do we want our men doing recon, too?”

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to center myself again. “Yes, get as much information as possible. I want eyes and ears on all movement throughout the boroughs. Caspian, talk to Enzo Rossi as well. I want to know if they pressure him or try to take over his territory. They’re going to increase their smuggling operations and probably start pressuring local businesses to pay the pizzo, the tithe for their protection. If they get control under our nose, and we lose our territory, we will have nothing.”

Caspian nodded. “I’ll start moving our men around. Quiet to start, but if we can get a sense of their patterns, we can start hitting them where it hurts.”

“I’ll call Kostya and the Russians, too,” Ryuji said as he pulled out his phone. “Warn them about what’s coming. The Russians have always clashed with the Italians. I bet Greco will go after him just for the hell of it.”

“Agreed,” I said. “Our alliance still stands, and we need a united front against them.”

“What about the Camorra’s money?” Leona asked.

“They launder money for rich businessmen, and they smuggle weapons. We’ll try to undermine both.” I looked to Volpe, and he stared back, eyes shadowed by his bruises. “What do you know about either?”

He wrung his hands for a second and then leaned back in his seat. “I know what ports they use for the guns, and who else buys from them. I also know a few of the businessmen they’d probably try to get control over for laundering. Rich, shady men.”

I paced the room again, letting my fingers brush across Leona’s back as I passed. “I want a report immediately. Work with Ciel and Wynn on their shipping habits, their transportation routes from here to the rest of the eastern seaboard, and the ports they use. Then make a list of the businessmen and provide it to Leona and me.”

We would need to increase our supply of weapons to keep up with theirs. After this, I’d get in contact with Anton Felix, our dealer out of LA, and our Chinese suppliers. Once we had the capacity, we’d try to interrupt their flow of money.

“What about the MTA director?” Wynn asked. “Can we use him for some of this?”

I smirked while nodding. We’d caught the Motor Transit Authority Director, Sean Porter, partaking in trafficking operations at the club in Philadelphia, The Obsidian. We’d let him live, knowing that we’d probably have use for him again. It would pay off now.

“Yes, exactly, Wynn. I want you to put pressure on him to monitor two things. First, try to limit the Camorra’s numbers. They’ll send their men in waves, probably through false travel documents or underhanded travel methods. We need to stop them. Use the Director’s contacts and influence to manage customs and deny entry to the Italians Greco brings over—whether through boat or air travel. Second, use him to give us an advantage with the ports. We need him to stop or reroute shipments of guns so we limit their firepower.”

Wynn nodded. “I’ll pay him a visit in person.”

“Take Ryu,” I said. “Both of you will be sufficiently intimidating. Remind the Director of the immense amount of blackmail we have hanging over his head.”

Ryu snorted. “Oh, I won’t let him forget.”

“What do we do then, Obi?” Leona asked. She started ticking off on her fingers. “Information. Money. Guns. Should we hit them back?”

“Yes,” I replied. “But Greco won’t bleed out. Not like how we attacked Volpe and drained his resources. Greco will just replace the men we kill.”

“So we need to go hard at his weaknesses,” Leona said. “With a bang.”

The problem was that Greco didn’t have many.