Roman nods, deep in thought, his lips pressing into a tight line. “Keep tracing it,” he tells the guy. “As for the shipment, I want you to handle it. Personally set it up with the client, don’t even tell the driver where he is going or what he’s carrying until after he’s left my warehouse.”
Mick’s brows furrow and something flashes in his eyes. “Your warehouse?” he questions. “Is something going on that I need to know about?”
Roman glances at his brothers before turning back to Mick. “Changes are coming,” he says. “Keep your head down, and everything will be fine. I like you Mick. I don’t want you to give me a reason to have to replace you. Is that understood?”
“Crystal clear,” he says, nervously glancing my way before returning back to Roman. “Now as for your … personal stock?”
Roman’s lips twist into an amused grin as my brows shoot up, realizing that this is the inside guy who’s been switching out all of Giovanni’s labeling for the boys’. “It’s fine, she knows all about it,” Roman explains. “But these are some of the changes we were referring to. We’re running our father out, so we’re going to need every last one of these products rebranded as our own.”
Mick’s eyes widen and seeing the high racks stacked to the brim with product, I can only imagine just how big of a task they’re asking of him.
“You … you want me to rebrand all of it?” he questions, watching the boys cautiously, making sure he heard Roman right.
“That’s exactly what we’re asking of you,” he says. “No more hiding. Every client now belongs to us, every dealer and run will have our names on it. I want every account payable to us. Hell, I want the fucking factory transferred into our names. Can you do that?”
Mick nods and it’s clear from the hesitation in his eyes that he knows just how dangerous a move like this could be for him.
“You now work for me and my brothers,” Roman tells him. “Look out for us just as you’ve always done, have our back and I swear to you, we will have yours.”
“You know I’ve got you covered,” Mick says. “But your father—”
“My father can’t do shit,” Levi says, stepping back from the glass and crossing his strong arms over his chest. “Though I suggest you watch your back for a while. There’s only so much we can do to help you, but he will know it was you, and while we can update the security and lock him out, there’s no stopping him from getting vengeance some other way. Don’t assume that we can always be there to save your ass, keep your eyes open.”
Sweat coats his forehead as he moves back around to his desk and drops down into his seat. “Alright,” he says, pulling up some kind of fancy system that I can’t even begin to understand. “Let’s make this happen.”
He starts madly typing away at his keyboard, and I can’t help but watch over his shoulder as he pulls up the boys’ branding and sends it directly to the printer. All shipments are put on hold, and I don’t doubt the second we leave, a shitload of workers are going to be called in to get everything ready and rebranded.
The order goes out and I watch through the glass as the workers look over their new instructions and immediately get to work, tearing off the old branding with their brows pinched in confusion. “I hope these guys are going to get some kind of bonus for this,” I mutter under my breath, imagining just how pissed I’d be if I’d learned that I had to rebrand millions of little pills, baggies, and who the hell knows what else, after spending countless hours doing the job in the first place.
The boys awkwardly look between each other before Roman rolls his eyes. “Fine,” he grunts, clearly not thrilled about it. “The workers can get double time as long as it is completed by this time next week.”
Mick’s eyes widen with surprise and he nods, more than down with this plan, though it’s clear by the look on his face that he hadn’t expected this, not in a million years. He gets busy, and as I watch the warehouse workers kick into gear, my brows furrow. “Wait,” I rush out. “If you rebrand everything, your father is going to know that you guys were the new dealer stealing his clients all along. I thought you wanted to pin it on Antonio.”
Levi shrugs his shoulders. “Plans change, babe,” he says. “The fallout from Antonio’s death is too good to change the story now. All eyes are on Louis, and I don’t intend on bringing the attention back to us. With any luck, they’ll all be dead before they can put the pieces together and realize it was a perfectly planned series of executions.”
“And as for the branding?” I question, pointedly glancing toward the glass wall.
Marcus steps in behind me, his arms curling around my waist. “Rebranding everything was going to happen at some point, so why wait? Our original plan has already gone to shit and our father was going to figure out it was us eventually. Plus, he’s not exactly in a position to stop us. Now’s the time to make our move. Besides, don’t you think it’s a little thrilling, knowing he’s about to feel the sting of our knife in his back?”
I scoff and a grin pulls at my lips. “I think he’s already feeling it,” I laugh. “But as long as you’re sure, then I’m down.”
Marcus grinds against my ass. “You’re always down.”
I roll my eyes and once the boys have finished their business, we make our way back out of the impressive tech room, leaving Mick to get busy calling in all his workers.
Marcus drops his heavy arm over my shoulder and leads me back out the way we came, keeping us concealed from all of the night shift workers. Levi stops to haul a big bag of pills over his shoulder and grabs a few stacks of dirty cash.
We reach the first exit, and as Marcus stops to hash in the code that Roman had only used twenty minutes ago, I hear the telltale sound of a big roller door opening and can’t resist turning back.
A black Mercedes pulls to a stop outside the roller door and the boys slow, turning back to see who’s coming. Roman’s shoulders tighten and for a brief second, I wonder if it’s Giovanni. Hope surges through me, and as much as I never want to see that man again, if it is him, it gives us a way to locate Roman’s son.
The four of us pause and Marcus discreetly pulls me behind a big stack of dirty cash that’s wrapped in plastic, keeping us hidden and out of sight. Though if someone were really looking, they’d be able to find us.
Roman and Levi move in front of the stack while keeping themselves discreetly tucked away. I can only see the top of Levi’s head but there’s a morphed reflection of Roman in the plastic wrap and I’m able to make out the way he slowly pulls a gun from the back of his pants.
All eyes remain locked on the black Mercedes, and as the door opens, I hold my breath. If it’s Giovanni, there might even be a chance that the baby is tucked away in the back seat.
My heart races. I’ve never wanted to see that asshole more in my life.