no control

• forty three •

elijah

Closing my eyes, I slowly released the cloud of sweet smoke through my nostrils.

The nicotine pulsed through me and relaxed the tension coiled in my body. Slow, erotic music thumped around me in the dark room.

I didn't want to be here but my angel was finishing up her last exam and my office was the last place I wanted to be. I'd already spent the morning at the warehouses and things were back to operating smoothly.

Since I'd added more cameras and tighter security, my employees were afraid to even breathe there without permission. They heard enough stories about the gruesome fate met by the drivers. I'd be all too happy to cut off more dicks if I needed to.

A hand clamped onto my shoulder. Without opening my eyes, I spun and gripped my assailant by the throat. My eyes peeled open and the familiar smirking face of Marco's younger brother entered my vision. I sighed, releasing his throat. Luca coughed but chuckled.

"Shit, man," he gasped. "Someone's tightly wound today."

I rolled my eyes. "Baby Bambino. Thought you were still in Harlem."

"What can I say? I missed your grumpy ass." He patted my shoulder and plopped onto the bar stool beside me.

"Did everything go as planned with the shipment?" I asked.

"Yup. We took care of that Crips crew who been messing with our clubs up there. I needed a god damn break after that shit. They're like fucking ants. Keep coming and you don't know where from."

I threw back the rest of my whiskey and wiped the residue with my sleeve. "LA was the same way. They're not worth the time unless they're working for me."

"Man, fuck LA," he scoffed. "Some rando bitch tried to mug me when Marco and I were there for a deal a few weeks back. No fucking respect, I swear."

The bartender came by, refilled my glass, and brought Luca a drink.

"So," he said, swirling his drink around, "I hear some shit went down with Raman."

I just nodded, shrugging.

"He gone gone, right?"

"Last time I checked."

"He must've really stepped on your toes," Luca said, shaking his head. "Something to do with your new girl?"

I stiffened.

"She's real cute, I'll give you that." He chuckled.

"Unless you want to lose your fucking eyes, never look in her general direction ever again."

Luca blew his lips at me, waving a hand. "Bro, come on. You know you ain't got nothing to worry about. You might be an asshole but you're like family." He chuckled. "I just gotta stay in the loop about things, you know? And shit, you don't ever say nothing."

The only reason I didn't grab him by the back of his head and slam his face into the bar top was because he had one thing right—we were like family. Practically brothers.

We had a brotherhood that felt more like kin than my own biological family. I didn't get close to people, but Luca and Marco were more like blood to me than Raman ever was. They were some of the very few alliances I had in this life.

My friendship with Luca was nothing new, though. The Zares and Gambinos had been doing business together for decades now. Even so, I imagined slamming his head into the bar stop several times, his dark blood staining my clenched hands.

"Where the fuck'd you hear about her?" I growled.

My fingers drilled a familiar beat into the varnished wood under my glass.