Page 70 of Dangerous Silence
I railed a fist at the table, instead Wil’s head. The wood cracked in a loud snap.
“All right,” Wil whistled. “Point taken.”
Right then, Gerard entered, running a hand through his peppered hair. I clenched my fists all over again, the blood pounding hot in my ears. If it wasn’t for his stupid ass, we wouldn’t be in this war. And then, maybe then, I could…
But what could I do? What would protect Demi?
I needed to focus. My family’s legacy was at stake, and until we took down Muro, nothing would last. Gerard may have aggravated the situation by fucking Muro’s wife, but Muro always had it out for expansion. It was simply more personal now, for all of us.
Including me. Our family was on the line. And if a person wasn’t family, they were no one. Like Shep had taught me.
What was Shep teaching me now?
“All right,” Derek said. “The politicians aren’t on his side,” Derek made eye contact with Wil and me. “But the police are still an issue.”
“Is that only in Brackston or surrounding areas too?” Gerard asked.
“We have Brackston confirmed,” Wil said.
“And his source of funds are locked out,” Derek nodded at Wil and me again, referring to the man Demi had decapitated in the hotel, “Now, we’ve taken over the warehouses,” Derek said. Wil nodded. “All that’s left are the headquarters and Muro himself.”
“Do we still have enough people?” Wil asked. “I thought they were all killed the last time we tried to take them down.”
“Not all of them,” Derek said.
“I told you three I didn’t want a blood bath,” Gerard said.
I turned to him, my eyes bulging from their sockets.
“It’s too late now,” I said.
He stared at me. “Watch your tone, son,” he said.
“You fucked Muro’s wife,” I said. “Watch your dick.”
Gerard raised the back of his hand to backhand me and I blocked it, about to punch him in the face. Derek jumped in between us and Wil pulled me back.
“Damn it, you two!” Derek said. “Enough! We’ve got too much shit to deal with to add family problems on top of it.”
“You’re a piece of shit leader,” I shouted. “You’re a joke. Derek runs this place better than—”
“And I can end you as easily as I created you,” Gerard said.
“And I will kick the shit out of both of you if you don’t get it together,” Derek said. “You,” he pointed to Gerard, leering into his face, “Own up to what you did like a man. And you,” Derek turned to me. “You know better. We’ve got a war to win. Get your shit together.”
Gerard and I stared at each other. I knew he wouldn’t kill me; he was too much of a coward. And when it came to blood, I knew to respect our family’s name, even if it came down to a stupid dispute. But I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to showhimhow to respectourfamily, one agonizing torture at a time.
Derek looked at both of us individually. “You good?” he asked. We both nodded. “All right. As I was saying,” he paused, “not all of them were killed. Zaid agreed to find more and meet us back here in time. And thanks to Ethan, the neighboring states are sending reinforcements now. But we’ve got to work together. All of us.”
“Zaid?” Gerard asked. “I haven’t seen him in ages.”
I wanted to point out that he hadn’t seen Zaid because he was hardly involved in the family business, but I held my tongue. For Derek’s sake.
“We have intel that says most of his men are down, save for a handful still left in the main building,” Derek said. “If we take down the building while Muro is there, that will effectively wipe him and the men out. And we’ll still have the full operation of his warehouses.”
“And the GPS?” Wil asked.
“I’ve been watching it,” Derek said. “He goes to the headquarters, goes back home. That’s all he does now.”
