Page 35 of Wicked Tricks

Chapter 10

Antoni

“She agreed?”

“Yes, mother,” I sighed.

I stood at the end of our large dining table, checking out the latest shipment of weapons that were about to be sold on. I picked up a black 38 super, admiring it, and considered keeping it for myself. Angel also admired the weaponry, with a small, satisfied smirk on his face as he ran his fingers over the metal and occasionally picked one up.

Angelo - or Angel, was my personal bodyguard, and the top enforcer in our ranks. A skilled marksman, and loyal. He was a quiet man, reserved, but thorough and meticulous - exactly what I needed him to be.

When he completed a job, he didn’t leave a trace.

“You need to find an excuse to spend more time at Lilith’s. If this girl doesn’t know anything, maybe Diana is hiding something bigger. Maybe you should be focusing on her instead.”

“Mum, I was in Diana’s office just the other night. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I really think you’re being paranoid here.”

“Paranoid?” she scoffed, “I’m not the only one who has seen Diana’s girls or even Diana herself, talking with known members of the Redliners! They’re getting into weapons, and Diana already has close ties with a lot of the buyers.”

It was true.

It had been reported to me many times about these meetings.

We had eyes on the members from the Redline Angels for months now. A local motorcycle club that had only been growing, and spreading all over Australia. While we had no evidence that Diana herself had met with any of them, some of the girls from Lilith’s were connected with them in one way or another. The rumours were that the Redliner’s were undercutting us, and selling weapons much cheaper - well, at least someone was.

“You’re the Don now Antoni, you’re the Boss. This is your family’s business that they’re disrespecting. This girl, she -”

“Enough,” my fist came down hard on the table.

My mother jumped back and I instantly felt the guilt form in my chest.

I didn’t want to scare her.

I took a deep breath, and softened, Angel quietly left the room, “I’m seeing her again tonight. I’m doing the best I can.”

Mum smiled slightly, and rubbed my back.

Without a word, she left the room and I groaned, rolling my eyes. She wanted so badly for me to be like my Father, and I so badly wanted to be the opposite. I didn’t like the unrestricted rage and misdirected thirst for blood.

I preferred to operate using logic and careful tactics, rather than making business decisions out of anger or for the sake of revenge. I had done terrible things, sure, and I was far from a good or moral person. But my father was a bully. He bullied my mother, my siblings, and me.

Though I never got close enough to him to know the man well on a personal level, I knew that he had no remorse about it either. He had always treated his men better than his family, and was obsessed with his image and how he seemed among the city.

The man revelled in the infamy of himself.

He thrived off of people flinching around him, his ego was boosted with each man dead under his order.

I did what I had to do, what was expected of me, I just wished that I could do it my way.

Ren knocked on the door, sticking his head in.

He was holding a file, and let out an impressed whistle while looking at the shipment. Throwing the file at me, he then rubbed his hands together with excitement before picking up the biggest gun and examining it.

“What’s this?” I asked, catching the file.

“Everything there is to know about a certain Miss Rome Dawson, real name Remy Vane” he said.

I flipped through the first few pages, skimming the words.

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