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“Fuck. I’m setting up a sit-down. They’re gonna pop his ass if I make a wrong move. Bring the car around and take me to the Doghouse.” I end the call and dress in my best suit, strapping a .22 on each inside pocket and clipping my gold-crusted folding knife into the inside of my belt.

I keep a couple of extra rounds in my pants pockets and head to the elevator with security tailing behind. The cars will be full tonight, judging by what Lee texts me on my way down. All he had to say was we were extricating Antonio from Warui, and half the gang volunteered to go.

My brother is a little shit most of the time, but he’s well-liked by everyone, so much so that our best guys are willing to put their lives on the line for him.

“Two cars full of us. They won’t see what’s coming.” A rookie, Jameston declares from the back, and the boys get rowdy.

“Relax. We’re not bustin’ anyone's nuts tonight, just attempting to carpet this little dispute.”

The car goes silent, and I know they disapprove.

“We turn to violence if it’s needed; otherwise, we stick to my plan and get him out in one piece. Capeesh?”

“Capeesh.” They chorus, and I take a breath to calm down. I still want to put an X on Warui, but I won’t risk acting out of emotion. That’s sure to cause a bloodier battle than the one that almost transpired between the 6TTs and Sigue-Sigue.

We arrive just before dark, and both cars file out, heavy and ready for the worst. The abandoned parking garage of a demolished building might not seem like your typical gang meetup spot. Still, it’s serviced them well, so I don’t judge them for that. However, I despise them for their lack of taste and originality. Taking my brother was the wrong move.

I tip my head to the line of armed guards outside the entrance as we approach.

“Evening, boys. I need to speak to Datoshi Tamaguchi-umi.” When they don’t move an inch, I pull back my jacket to reveal I’m armed. The boys follow one by one, the metal of their weapons clanking like wind chimes.

The guy in the center cocks his gun.

“Who’s asking?” He barks.

“Vincenzo San Giovanni.” He smirks at my name in the most crooked way and steps aside. Behind him is a much shorter man, completely covered in tattoos. The whites of his eyes are black with tattoo ink, and his shirtless skin is host to graphic drawings of brutal killings.

“I was waiting for you.” His face is flat, but the slightest smile twitches over it for half a second before falling blankly once more.

“Bring him out!” He yells, veins popping and spit spewing. It echoes for many seconds after, like we’re in the valley of a cannon, and his men zip down black strings to our level. One of them holds my brother; I can tell from where I stand he’s been badly beaten and see that he’s tightly restrained with thick rope from his mouth to his knees.

“I don’t want any trouble.” I look to my brother, then back to Datoshi.

“Oh!” He breaks out into a fit of laughs, and his goons join in. The moment he stops, they shut up. He pulls out a 6-inch blade from his pocket and takes slow steps towards me.

“You want… peace,” He speaks softly, but his words are seeping with a sickness I could never possess even if I killed a million men. But he isn't on top. I am. I continue to remind myself as he approaches.

“Yes,” I grit through my teeth. “If I recall, you started creeping in on our territory.” I give him a forced smile, and he leaps forward, nearly touching the tip of his knife to my eye. I don’t flinch, but I sense my men wanting to defy the non-violence order I gave them to regain control.

We have the upper hand— I repeat in my head as he pulls away and begins to laugh again. His men don’t join in this time, and he turns to them, speaking something in Japanese before facing us again.

“You want him?” His eyebrows rise and fall with his words. “Come and get him.” He holds out his knife, and I trace my tongue over the back of my teeth.

Fucking asshole. I flash my guys the hand signal they’ve been waiting for, and they begin shooting from all sides. More of Datoshi’s men start to crowd the base level, and it’s a bloody, chaotic sea of violence. I go straight for Datoshi, whipping out my knife and swiping at his face but missing him by a millimeter. He swings back at me, but I grab his wrist before he can get any closer.

From the corner of my eye, I notice one of my men shooting the guard who was restraining Antonio. Both of them fall to the ground, and I begin to panic. Have they also gotten Antonio? By the time I glance back at Datoshi, he’s taken out an even bigger knife with his free hand and slices it across my chest. I feel the hot blood instantly begin to seep from my wound.

“That was a warning.” He snarls and pulls his knife back again. I grit my teeth and whip out my gun in one swift movement, shooting his arm twice so the splashes of blood and searing pain would incapacitate him long enough to get my boys out. I run to my brother and sling him over my shoulder.

“GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!!!” I scream over and over as I push through the bodies. My men begin to respond and file out to the cars hidden around the bend of the road. I’m unsure how many people we lost tonight, but Lee is helping unbind my brother as we wait for more to retreat.

“He’s not bleeding anywhere. Just bruised. The gunshot probably stunned him. He’s fine.” He pulls the ropes from him, cutting them away with a knife and setting him upright against the seat.

“Thanks.” I begin to feel lightheaded and remember my injury. I’m calm, but I know I don’t have long before I pass out. It’s not my first injury, and it won’t be my last if I can get the words out for Lee to stitch me up.

“Lee.” I breathe, and he looks at me with urgency, noticing my wound before I say another word. He springs into action, pulling out a bottle of vodka along with the first aid kit from under the passenger seat.

“I’m on it.” He opens my shirt and uncaps the vodka, pouring it over my chest and making me want to scream bloody murder. But I won’t. We can’t afford to make any noise that will attract the vengeful Warui to our concealed vehicles.

I bite down so hard I think I might pass out, until he blots at the wound and begins stitching. Oddly, this is always the least painful part of the procedure, and I’m sure I can hold it together more easily now.

By the last stitch, I’m told both cars are loaded to the max, so we head back to our building. Though our mission is a success, the way it has turned out is not. Because of the bloodbath, I have to crack down harder and really deal with the Warui before I lose my crew’s respect.

Or before I lose the respect I worked so hard to gain from Capo. I won’t let them down. I can’t.


Tags: Sophia March Billionaire Romance