Page 2 of Wretched Choices

Drip, drip, drip.

The sound of water dripping from the old water pipe in the corner of the room brings my attention back to the son of a bitch hanging from the ceiling in the basement of my club.

My thoughts drift back to the days when I dealt with people like him. To the days I worked hard to build all I have today.

Nothing comes easy. Everything has its price, and I paid mine.

I worked hard to not be in this situation again, so the question is who the bastard in front of me is working for.

This man was found snooping in the storeroom in the back of my club, for who knows what. Or maybe he put something in there.

Dante, my enforcer, and Mike, my bartender, are looking for anything suspicious in there. I, on the other hand, have my hands full with what I thought was a man but is, in fact, just a boy.

He is tall, but his body is malnourished. His green eyes are full of the desire to live. Even so, he didn’t beg me to spare his life; he raised his chin high as he looked me in the eye, challenging me.

“I see fire in you, young man. You can avoid death by telling me who sent you. And what were you searching for at the back of my club?”

I grab his chin when he lowers his head. I need him to look at me. I need to see what emotions besides pride are behind those green eyes. But he doesn’t speak. Only a small flicker of fear passes through his eyes before he shuts it down and glares at me. That is enough for me to know there is something he fears. I just need to find out what it is.

“I have men sweeping the room, and eventually, they will find what you were doing there. I’m giving you the chance to tell me first, and if you do, I will spare you.”

He looks at me, scanning my face. Seconds pass before his shoulders fall and he exhales.

“They will kill my family. They have my sister. She’s only six.” His voice shakes when he mentions her.

“Who are they?” I ask and let his chin go. I stay calm, never showing my emotions in situations like this. That is, after all, what I learned to do.

“I don’t know who they are, but two guys took my sister and brought me here. One of them called the other boss.”

“What did they want?”

“They wanted me to insert a listening device in your office. I tried, but I couldn’t get in. I wanted to hide in the storage room until after hours, so I could try again when everyone was out.”

He couldn’t do that; the alarm would be turned on.

I can see the sincerity in his eyes, the pleading. He is still an innocent boy, but not for long.

“Where is this device?” I ask, thinking of a plan to kill two birds with one stone.

“In my tooth.”

“Which one?”

“Right side, last one. They had my wisdom tooth pulled out and put it inside it. I just need to activate it when I install it.”

I take pliers and motion for him to open his mouth and pull the thing out. Son of a bitch.

I take my phone and call Dante. “He talked. Come back.” I end the call, not waiting for him to respond. I leave the boy hanging and go to my office. It is time for a meeting and new strategies.

“So, I tracked the IP address, but I could only get the general location,” Marco says. He’s my fixer. He does all kinds of jobs for me, mainly because he has a lot of skills. One of them is that he is very good with technology. I gave him the device I pulled from the boy’s tooth, and he’s working on it.

“Where?” I ask, taking a sip from my drink.

After I got the information from the boy, I called three men I’ve known for years, ones who have stood by my side through everything. No matter what, they are the only ones I trust with my life.

“Here in New York.”

I don’t need to ask if he’s sure; I know he is.

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