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“Hey, bosses,” Joe said, his voice frantic. “Fire at your girl’s apartment. It’s not looking too good. Someone locked down the fire escapes and main doors first. The fire department is working hard, but no sign of her yet.”
“Fuck,” I yelled, taking a side road and picking up speed, the smell of smoke hitting as soon as we got a few blocks closer. “Keep talking, Joe. We need updates.”
“The roof access was open, so they’re getting some survivors down now,” he continued. “Those with balconies are alright, so it’s mainly down to saving everyone else through windows at the moment.”
“I can’t get closer,” I said, pulling into a parking lot and shutting the car off. Keir and Kill were already out of the car before I even unbuckled my seatbelt. My heart hammered in my chest, and I felt terrified, for possibly the first time in my life. Not knowing if she was alright… or even alive. Panic was an understatement.
“Sana! Dani!” Killian called out, the crowd so thick we couldn’t make anyone out. The cops and firefighters were all too busy to stop us, not that they would once they recognized who we were.
“Sana!” Keir’s voice joined in the yelling, but it was impossible to make anything out through the chaos. “Here, let me borrow that,” he said, grabbing a megaphone from a nearby cop without warning. The officer started to protest, but his partner slapped a hand over his mouth. “Dani!”
“Keir?!” Dani’s voice called back, the crowd moving aside as she savagely shoved her way through. “Tell me you’ve got her with you?”
“She’s not here?” I asked, ice running through my veins at the realization.
“You literally took her with you!” Dani yelled, her anger rising enough that her face was turning red.
“Yeah, and I locked her in the fucking basement… but did that stop her? Of fucking course not!” Killian yelled back, Dani’s eyes narrowing dangerously.
“Her phone is either off or back at our place, so we can’t call her,” Keir said, glaring at the burning building like it had personally wronged him.
“Idiots,” Dani growled.
“The shop is closer than here. Maybe we should check there?” I asked, unsure. “I swear to god, if the Lachs got her, then we go to fucking war.”
“Castrate them one by one,” Kill added. Dani laughed darkly at that, the chilling sound a reminder that no matter how much bubblier or outgoing she seemed than Sana, she was a Priamos through and through. A moment later, the amusement was wiped from her face, a furrowed brow replacing the manic smile she’d had a moment earlier.
“You’ve been around Sana too long,” she said, her voice too worried to sound amused.
“Then let’s go fucking find her,” I growled, turning and running back to the SUV, the other three climbing in along with me. The phone started ringing again as soon as the car was on, so I answered the call, nearly holding my breath with hope.
“Get to Sana’s shop!” Joe’s frantic voice cut through. That was all I needed to jump the curb and speed through town.
What the fuck is going on?!
My eyes scanned over the documents in front of me, the missive from one of our intel sessions, showing the Lachs explaining exactly how they planned to take our family down. You’ve got to love the secrets a drunk man will cheerfully spill for another round.
“Uncle Hector?” My nephew’s voice came through the door, followed by a slight knock. And my luck just keeps improving, I thought as I tucked the paper away.
“Come in, Devin,” I called back, happy that at least one of my nephews knew who the real patriarch of this family was. Something I would prove by coming out on top and stopping the Lachs while our “boss” remained ignorant of the whole thing. I still had plenty of people loyal to me, and once they saw who the real savior of our Family was, the rest would fall in line.
“We did it,” he announced, the excitement in his voice making me sit up straighter.
“You found them?” I asked, holding out my hand for the folder he was holding. We’d been hunting a new weapons trafficker for the last year or so, but every time we’d get a lead, we’d hit a dead end. Whoever they were, they were good. But now that I was finally going to learn his identity, I could put phase one of my plan into place.
“It was something we missed from the Lach intel I sent over earlier,” he explained. “The Lachs are working with another Family based out of Chicago, which we’ve heard before, and this connection apparently gave them some kind of tip about the weapons dealer. Why Chicago has their eye on things happening here, I’m not sure, but we followed the lead and now have the code word used to get access to the special stock.”
I glanced down at the first document in the folder, barely managing to hide my shock, but of course I pulled it off in the end. Bosses needed to maintain a cool facade at all times, always letting the Family know that you were ready to handle and had likely even predicted whatever our enemies threw at us. Let’s see how well my nephews can maintain their cool when they find out what their little pet h
as been doing right under their noses. Laughter escaped before I could stop it, the moment too good not to fucking savor it. Nothing would better prove their incompetence than their unhinged plaything undermining their entire empire. Well, I’d get real proof and show the family who the traitor was, because there was no other word to use for her blatant mockery of our name.
“Ready for some undercover work?” I asked, his dark chuckle giving me all the answer I needed. This was the perfect opportunity to take the crown from the false kings.
Otsana
As I sat there in the store, waiting for the guys to finally realize where I was, I forced myself to think about what had been going on lately.. I felt bad enough that Gamester’s Paradise was constantly closed. I might not be drowning in customers, but I had enough steady clientele that I knew I’d be letting people down if I didn’t fix this situation. Maybe I can hire someone to maintain it… if I can convince anyone after the break-in. But having a stranger in the building would mean dropping my side hustle. Choices, choices. Was I really ready to give up on the gun business? All signs pointed to a confrontation between the triplets and me soon, and I had a feeling they’d have some strong opinions on my little secret.
There was one thing I knew with absolute certainty. If the guys thought they’d march in here and make demands, especially after locking me in a sound-proofed room like a naughty child, they had another fucking thing coming. I’d seen just as much as they had in my life… if not more. There was no doubt in my mind that I could more than handle whatever came my way.
