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I stomp away from him, wondering what’s going through his head. It’s true. Of course Castor involved some of his crew in stopping the Russians because of me. It scares the shit out of me that my brother can sense all the little shifts.
Whatever, I’m done with that now.
Normal night at work. That’s all.
Chapter 18
Castor
I’m in the basement of one of my gold shops, staring at the severed head in the freezer. His mouth is still wide open and filled with solidified gold. The business side of me wants to carve out the block and repurpose it. But the cynic in me wants to deliver him as is, so Yuri knows my signature.
I slam the door shut and pace in the closed-off room. Bringing Gia in was a huge mistake. I tend to do that sometimes, even with my crew – thinking they have the same desire for revenge that I do. The fuck was I thinking? Pride blinds me when my blood’s boiling. Now I ruined an amazing thing for nothing.
No… it’s not nothing.
How could I really be with a woman if she doesn’t know what I am? Had I not shown Gia, she would fall into the category of surface-level. And she’s far too good for that. But she can’t handle the business. It’s obvious. She literally shunned her brother for the same type of shit.
Me and Marco aren’t so different after all, I guess.
Now how the hell am I going to make it up to her? I spooked her good. Definitely got carried away.
I kick a bucket hard into the wall and curse to myself. It’s been a few days since the incident. Catching up with all of my crew gave them relief I hadn’t flown off the handles.
Yet while they calm, my anxiety rises.
The clock’s ticking.
Every day this Russian is missing, is another Yuri has no answer. I have to make my move soon if I’m going to fill the don’s needs.
More importantly, I have to win Gia back. Two goals. Two priorities.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
There’s angry slamming on the door upstairs, then the ‘pmf!’ of a body rolling down the steps. My delivery is here.
“He’s all there,” a deep voice I don’t recognize growls before slamming the top door shut.
Was that… Leandro the Hook? I wonder to myself, staring up at the closed door. Did they actually find a damn ghost to do the job?
Looking down to the hefty black garbage bag at my feet, I wave the possibility away and get to work dragging it inside. I rip it open to the clean-shaven face of Salty Dominick from Martino’s old crew. Don Shadow kept his word. Now it’s up to me to close.
That’s my specialty.
I’m going to need my whole crew to make this one work, but I’ll do it. I’ll get it done without a hitch. Doubling our income will put us literally on top of the Valentino family, right beside Don Stallion himself. That’s where I need to be. I vowed it since the day I saved Marco from the Colombians. I told him as much as I told myself – this gangster’s life isn’t worth it unless we sit on the throne.
While Marco was all ‘hell yes’ then, I’m not sure if he even remembers the moment now. It’s like I lost him on the way up a mountain. He fell and cracked his head… became some special type of rabid territorial animal.
After an hour, I head upstairs to call Ace and Ratchet to come to the Jackson Heights location so we can discuss logistics as I work. They show up with big smiles on their faces, which in turn yanks me out of my mood a bit.
“We’re really doing this, huh, Bull?” Ratchet rubs his hands together.
“Damn right,” I growl, wiping the sweat from my temples as we all head down the stairs. Neither of them know my full plan, but they’ll get the gist as I dictate. “Listen up. Yuri is going to be antagonistic in our meeting. It might even turn ugly. So all the pieces have to be in place night of. Got it?”
“Oh, we’re going to be pulling out silver teeth again?” Ratchet smiles. “Sign me up.”
“You know, you’re a sick fuck.” Ace flicks him. “My eyes light up with slot machines and card games. You? We have to pull a corpse’s pants down to get his juices flowing.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Ratchet pushes him, and we all laugh.
