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“Not a clue. My friend here told me that he wanted me to fly to the States on urgent business, so I did.”
“No questions asked?” Victor asked. “That’s some friend you have there, Bowie,” he teased.
“I know and I’m hoping that we can become besties too,” Bowie said. Victor wanted to laugh, believing that Bowie was joking, but when he looked over at him, he realized that he was quite serious.
“Okay, so you weren’t joking,” Victor said. “Why are you here making new friends?”
“Because I think that we can help each other out,” Bowie said. “You made it very clear that you want things to change with your syndicate.”
“Right, but you’re wrong about it being my syndicate. It’s my father’s and I have no say in how it’s run,” Victor reminded.
“Unless you take over for your father,” Carter said. The waitress came back over with their drinks and Bowie asked her to give them a few minutes before they ordered. She nodded and went back into the kitchen.
“You and I both know that I won’t be taking over for my father until he’s dead,” Carter said. “And no offense, but I don’t think that the Gluttony family will be gunning for him like they did both of your families.” Yeah, saying that out loud made him sound like a complete ass.
“Not while your family is still aligned. But what if the Gluttony family believed that your father was out to bring them down? What if they thought that he turned on them?” Bowie asked.
“And just how will we make them believe something like that?” Victor asked. “My father’s loyalty runs deep for the Gluttony family, and they know it. We’re their only alliance left in the syndicate families.”
“Right, but what if they thought that wasn’t true anymore?” Bowie asked.
“We’d be signing his father’s death certificate,” Carter whispered. “That’s cold, even for us,” he said. “I thought that we were trying to do things a new way because this is sounding a lot like something that would have been done in the old days.”
“Calm down, man,” Bowie insisted. “I’m not going to go and get Mr. Sloth killed. I just need the Gluttony family to believe that he’s turned on them. When they think that they have no more affiliations or allies left, they might rethink coming for us all. None of us are safe now, don’t you both want to change that?” Bowie asked.
“Sure,” Carter agreed. “But how do we keep Vic and his father safe?”
“Victor,” he said, “my name isn’t Vic.”
“Don’t get your shorts in a bunch, Victor,” Carter chided. “I give everyone nicknames.”
“Can we stay focused here?” Bowie reprimanded them.
“Let’s say that we can come up with a way to make the Gluttony Syndicate believe that my father has turned his back on them. How will you keep him and the rest of my family safe?”
“If we can convince the Gluttony family to wage war on the Sloth family, hopefully, your father will take the threat seriously and go into hiding. He’ll see the Gluttony family for their true colors, and you’ll have your in. He’ll back your wanting to join the rest of the syndicate families,” Bowie said. Victor doubted that was going to be the case. His father would never see the light, no matter how the Gluttony family treated him or the rest of the Sloth family members.
“I’m not sure that’s how things will work out, but it’s better than my plan,” Victor admitted.
“What’s your plan?” Carter asked.
“I was just going to wait for my old man to die. That could take forever. Your plan is better,” Victor said.
“He’s right, it is better,” Carter agreed.
“So, how do we do this?” Victor asked.
“I have a plan mapped out, but it’s not safe to go over it here. How about if we take this meeting to my house and hash out the details?” Bowie asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Victor agreed. “I’m going to hit the head and then, I’ll meet you both at your place, Bowie.”
“See you there,” Bowie said. “And Victor—pay the bill on your way out.”
Victor didn’t bother to turn back to look at Bowie and Carter as they had a good laugh at his expense—literally. “Assholes,” he mumbled under his breath as he walked into the men’s room. Assholes or not, he was going to have to try to trust them because honestly, he had no other options left if he wanted to be the head of the Sloth Syndicate.
Trisha
Trisha Gluttony wasn’t sure how she was going to pull off warning Victor Sloth, but if she didn’t, he’d be dead by nightfall. Her father had ordered the hit on him, and she knew that tonight was the night. That gave her about eight hours to find him and warn him to get out of town before her father’s goons did their jobs.
