Chapter 20
Marcel
When I arrive back in New York City I land to a text message to meet up at Ion and Mariana’s house. Supposedly Christian Steele and the Skulls are going to meet me there. It calms my nerves a bit to know we have an army of our own, made up of the best allies we’ve ever had. I would never say the Steele family has been an ally of ours, but times seem to be changing when it comes to that. However the Skulls have been for a few years now.
Thankfully New York drivers are the craziest, and quickest on the damn planet. Within thirty minutes I’m pulling up to the brownstone where our King and Queen live with their two children and run up the stairs, not even bothering to knock as I approach the door. I simply open it and walk right in.
I’m met with one of the security guards watching over the Petran family, “You’re lucky I knew who you were and didn’t shoot you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Save me the speech and tell me where everyone is.”
“They were upstairs shuffled out of Ion’s office.”
I know my way around the house at this point so I go up the stairwell and head toward Ion’s office, seeing a long line of rugged men in cuts as well as our men who are in full suits. Not only do I see our hired help, but three more men who stick out from the crowd are here as well. Two of them are practically identical, and then I see that from the side theyareidentical. Although, one has a beard which sets him apart from the other. These two must be the famous Logan and Jordan Steele. The man in the middle with his hands on Ion’s desk isn’t a Steele brother, though.
No. He’s different and the way he carries himself proves that.
“Fuck waiting for your man. Mypregnantwife is missing. We know where she is and both of the women could be in danger. My son is at home asking me where his mother is and I can’t give him an answer. Fuck this!” He turns toward Christian, “We move in now. Madigan could be dead.”
“Bothof the women could be dead, Reggie. We needed to wait for the manpower so we did.”
“No. You waited for one fucking man. One man isn’t going to save these women. We should’ve moved in an hour ago but we’ve been twiddling our thumbs while two ofourpeople are going through God knows what.” Reggie screams into the room, looking to Ion, Mariana and then to the Steele brothers.
“Calm your man down, Christian. We have more to discuss before we charge in against a common enemy like Franco Falcone.” Ion states in an authoritative tone. Our king is no one to fuck around with.
“There is nothing more to discuss. We go in rescue the girls and pop a few bad guys.” Reggie argues, which causes him to get the bearded man’s hand placed on his chest, pushing him back.
“Reggie, we all want Madigan home . . . but you can’t act like this. If we do something wrong she will die. Surely you understand that.”
“Fuck this, Jordan. Fuck all of this.” Reggie shoves the brother down onto the ground, causing the entire room to shift their focus on the fight breaking out in front of us. The Skulls back up against the wall, keeping out of this personal matter and all of our hired men look to our king for his order. Ion lifts his hand, which means he’s allowing them to play it out.
Jordan brings his fist up and slams it against the side of Reggie’s face, causing there to be a decent sounding pop coming from the man. Reggie cranks his neck and stares blankly at him. “Is that all you got, bitch? This is my wife you’re talking about. If this was Lacey you wouldn’t be acting like this. You’d be in that fucking meat locker, rescuing your woman.”
“Lacey isn’t my girl.” Jordan fires back, causing him to land a punch again into his brother-in-law.
“Enough!” Logan roars out, silencing the two men in the scuffle. “We’re going to move forward and stop wasting precious time. Two of our people are taken and we’re going to get them back. Now, Ion, what’re we doing?” Immediately I can tell which Steele brother is the one in charge.
“We’re ending Franco Falcone’s life here and now. Today, the head will be chopped off this infectious snake of a man.” A round of applause comes in from the bikers. Of course it would be those rowdy bunch.
“Reed, can you send four or five of your men to the Falcones family estate? You can be a welcoming present for any of them who dare cross us. Make it known New York belongs to the Romanians now. If you have free time, feel free to fuck everything up in that luxurious home of theirs.”
I see a late-thirty something man nod. He has a black shirt on under his cut, but you can tell the man works out. He’s pure fucking muscle, a beast. But then again, there’s a red headed man in his group who’s twice his size. Now he’s a fucking monster. “It would be my pleasure. Seamus, Dmitri, Butch and Pain, come with me.” Four men fall out after their Prez, following a few of the Clans hands. They know where the Falcones live and will lead the group straight to them.
“Now, as for the rest of you. We’re all going to the meat locker, locked and loaded, ready for action. We’re ending Franco today. Take no prisoners. Shoot them all down. I’m done playing mister nice guy. War is not the time to show your heart, it’s time to show your iron fists. Godspeed, and good luck.”
Ion’s eyes lock with mine for a moment. Silently, he’s wishing me the best in getting to Isabella as soon as possible. I take his slight nod as my authorization to move ahead of the group and rush to get my woman.
It’s showtime.