The Blackthorn Syndicate

Chapter 8 - Noah

"They were ready for us at the warehouse. Lost two good men, but the job's done," Jovan muttered, his voice weighted with the toll of the night's events. Blood speckled his olive skin.

The Italians had attacked yesterday. As our spies had reported, two snipers were ready to aim at the location where Guino Scardoni, head of the Italian mafia, had invited him to 'parley'. I had not gone and had sent Jovan there with reinforcements. The first shot that rang had signified the start of this war.

Today, I retaliated. While I was busy with Henry Callahan, I had ordered men to burn down the warehouse, along with anyone inside, where the Italians were keeping their latest shipment of arms.

Security had been doubled, we just needed to minimise our losses.

I nodded at Jovan, taking another sip of whiskey from one hand then a puff of smoke from the cigarette lit in the other. Loss was an inevitable part of our line of work. War dictated sacrifices, especially against adversaries as formidable as the Italians. But every setback only made our eventual triumph all the more satisfying.

"I need to know who we lost," I asked, bracing myself for the answer.

"James and Carlisle," Jovan replied with a grim expression.

"Fuck." I whisper and close my eyes for a brief moment. Both of them had just turned eighteen. Those boys were young, but they had chosen this path.

There was no time for pity or remorse.

"Tomorrow, visit their families. Assure them they'll be looked after," I instructed.

Jovan nodded in acknowledgment before changing the subject.

"And the girl?" he inquired, his gaze piercing through the haze of smoke and liquor.

"Yeah, got her," I confirmed, a twisted smirk dancing across my lips.

"By force?" Jovan questioned, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Daddy's little princess thinks she's here for protection. Kept calling me Mr.Richardson like a posh little girl.," I chuckled darkly, relishing the deception.

"When she finds out?" he probed, his curiosity tinged with a sadistic edge.

"Her fate is inconsequential. We'll deal with it," I replied.

She was a pawn afterall. Her compliance benefitted her, not me. Right now, she is spending her days as my guest. She has been given a decent room and her needs will be tended to as any other guest albeit in moderation and perhaps with a much more closer eye.

Should things change, I will not hesitate to treat her as my prisoner.

Jovan's laughter filled the room as he tipped the contents of the glass and got up. "Always the puppet master, aren't you, Noah? Pulling strings, weaving webs."

I raised my glass in acknowledgment, the amber liquid swirling hypnotically with a smile on my face as I watched him leave.

I stared at the papers on my desk, lighting a fresh cigarette.

As the smoke curled around me like tendrils of darkness, I allowed my mind to sink into the abyss of my thoughts, where morality was a distant memory and ruthlessness was the only currency that mattered. It was a game, a sinister dance of manipulation and control, and I was the puppet master pulling the strings.

And yet, even as I revelled in my victory, a gnawing sense of emptiness consumed me. It was a hunger that could never be satisfied, a void that threatened to consume me whole. But I pushed it aside, drowning it in a sea of whiskey and cigarettes, unwilling to confront the demons that lurked within.

"It's late, Noah. You should probably sleep."

I don't bother looking up. There were very few people who were allowed to come unannounced and only a single woman.

"Why are you out of bed?"

I don't bother looking up as I continue to rummage through the papers. I hear the soft pitter patter of footsteps as they advanced towards me.

The seat in front of me is occupied in the next few minutes.

I sigh loudly. Why couldn't this wait for tomorrow. I did not want to hear my sister's view of things today.

"Willow, I am tired. Today has been a long day." I looked up.

My sister and I didn't share much of a resemblance. Her hair was lighter, her eyes brighter, her skin unblemished. I had sacrificed so much of myself to keep it that way.

"Why is there a girl in the guest room? You never bring girls home."

I raise an eyebrow.

"Esmeralda is not my whore. She is Henry Callahan's daughter and is here as collateral for the time being." I replied, extending the contract to my sister.

She might be young but I didn't hide anything from my family. Even my sixteen year old sister. I watched as her eyes skimmed the document and a frown settled on her face.

"Don't you ever get tired of doing this, Noah?"

My eyes narrowed at my sister as I put out the cigarette. Anger consumed me as I slammed my hand on the table.

"This kept you fed. This put clothes on your body when you were a baby. This is how I raised our family."

Willow flinched but didn't back down. Good. Just because I raised her to be vocal never meant I would tolerate it.

"We have more than enough, Noah. You know that's not what I meant. I just meant we are living like royals, if you retire-"

"If I retire we will all be dead!"

I hadn't meant to yell but today had been a long day and I had enough of it.. I didn't want to hear about my life choices from a sister I had to raise like a father. Besides, she understood I wasn't a doctor, an engineer or having any other respectable profession. I was a fucking gangster, an animal barely made civil. I was not raised with the privileges I had raised her with.

The only way you retire from this profession is with a bullet between your eyes.

I stare at my sister. So many nights I had stayed awake during those early days hearing her screams of hunger, a baby starving. Never again.

"I am sorry for yelling." I say softly.

"I know you gave up so much for me. I just want you to be happy." Willow sighs.

I nod. Just because he didn't want to hear it, didn't mean it was ill intentioned. However, she was old enough to understand how things worked. She was the sister of the head of The Blackthorn Syndicate, safety was above all else. When the time comes, he would ask her to choose one of his capos for marriage. She would stay near him where she can be protected. No honorable man would possibly be able to protect her from the enemies he had made over the years - if an honorable man chose to marry her, that is. The minute people heard who her brother was, they were bound to think twice if not disappear completely.

Willow might not understand this now, but she will. Happiness was a luxury which his line of work did not provide. Not for him or his family.

"Esmeralda is a guest. She thinks we are a respectable business family-"

At that Willow snorts and I glare at her.

God damn teenagers.

"As I was saying, she thinks we are a respectable business family. It will do you well to keep up this lie. Befriend her, keep your eyes on her. If she suspects anything, you come straight to me."

Willow stares at me, I can see the disappointment in her eyes but I could care less. I personally found it hypocritic from a girl who was raised on blood money but I was in no mood to go into a screaming contest with a teenage girl.

The family came first, she didn't have to like it as long as she got what I said done.