Authors: S.K. Lessly
I folded my arms in front of me. At this point, I was livid. I know for a fact they didn’t have shit. They kept me in that room to show face, that’s all. From the looks of these two idiots, they were trying not to demonstrate that they were defeated.
“Mr. Leonetti, explain these transactions.”
I didn’t reply, nor did I look at the papers they pushed in front of me.
Both men as I said were big. One was a black man and the other was white. Neither one introduced themselves to me, but I could tell the black man was in charge. He had this air about him as if he was used to getting his way because of his status. He had dark, hard eyes, and a round face with a small mustache. His hair was black and cut low to his head. The jacket he wore hid his bulk well, but I could tell there wasn’t much muscle under his fat.
I also deduced that if this one was in charge, then the other was muscle. The white guy had black hair and beady dark eyes. He was equally round and bulky, but I could tell he tried to work on it. He still looked stuffed in his clothes, though. When the white guy rose from his chair and walked around the table, I had a feeling this was a good cop bad cop type of scenario.
The black man smiled. “Understand something, we’re not with the FBI. So we have our own set of rules.”
With that said, the one behind me grabbed me by the back of my neck and forced my eyes down on the paper.
“There you go,” I heard the man still seated across from me say. “Thank you for your cooperation. Would you now be so kind as to tell us about the transactions you forwarded from your business accounts to the account highlighted in yellow?”
When my neck was released, I took a few seconds to calm down. I wanted to snap this motherfucker’s neck behind me, grab his weapon that I knew was off safety, and put a fucking bullet in this fat piece of shit in front of me. I could complete this in less time it would take for the fat fucker behind me to get his meaty fingers around his own weapon.
But I kept my mouth shut and looked down at the papers. A smile suddenly creased my face, despite the fury flowing in me.
I looked at the man in front of me. “If you’re not the FBI, we have nothing to discuss.”
The man folded his hands on the table in front of him. “See, Mr. Leonetti, this case is now ours. The FBI is no longer involved. So you
will
speak to us.”
I slouched in my chair and smiled. “Well, in that case, you’re fucked.”
Doughboy One met my smile. “Really? And how do you figure that?”
I sighed exaggeratedly and folded my hands before me. “Shit, I have to do your fucking jobs for you too? Okay, listen up. These accounts are bogus. Someone opened them in my name probably to set me up. I don’t know who it was. What I can tell you with confidence is that you’re shaking the wrong tree. That’s not my fucking money being sent to shit knows where for shit knows what.”
Doughboy One and Two found that shit to be funny. They exploded with laughter and looked at one another.
“Did you get that shit?” the one seemingly in charge asked the one behind me.
“Yeah, I got it.”
The one sitting across from me shook his head. “Boy, that is a great story. One that we have never heard before. ‘It’s not mine.’ Whew…”
“Yeah, I’m sure you did,” I said as I leaned closer to him. “Did you also hear this one? Call the SEC. They will tell you that I have filed a complaint with them about these accounts several weeks ago. Actually, my financial advisor did it for me when she realized that these companies were trading under my name erroneously. They have all the information that you have. Probably more at this point. You should give them a call, lean on a little interagency cooperation and shit. I’m sure they would be willing to help you with
your
bullshit ass case.”
I leaned back. “I have not consorted with terrorists. I don’t have drugs in my warehouse. If you would have asked me nicely, instead of keeping me cooped up in this fucking icebox wasting both our time, I would have told you this. Stupid motherfuckers.”
The man in front of me looked up and behind me before he rose from his chair. They left the room without uttering another word to me. An hour later, I was walking out of the building with my lawyer next to me threatening to call some official he knew to complain. I was narrowing my sights to a much smaller goal, however.
I told him to go home, and I called for a ride. Apparently, Hugo and Darrell were released hours ago and were close by.
Twenty minutes later, Darrell pulled up in front of the Federal building, and I climbed in the back seat. I didn’t utter a word to them at first. I was trying my best to calm down. Never in my life had I wanted to kill in cold blood so badly as I did that very moment. In fact, I’ve never wanted to annihilate everyone around me, leaving only me standing. I’d been channeling my anger all day, but now I was at the point of exploding.
“Have you found him yet?” I asked, closing my eyes, trying to count to ten and calm down.
“No, sir, but we have some leads. We’re on his tail.”
“Have you spoken to Russo?” I looked at Darrell through the rearview mirror.
“Yes, he’s relayed your message to your father. He’s not happy with the events of today and wants you at the house now that you’re out.”
I grunted and moved my eyes from his. “That’s not going to happen. Where’s Raquel?”
“She’s at your apartment. She’s been calling for you nonstop.”
I raised my eyebrows in question. “You told her where I was?”
Darrell and Hugo exchanged looks with each other before Darrell, for some reason, rotated his shoulders.
“As I said before, she’s scarier than you,” he told me.
I shook my head. “Pussy.”
We drove on in silence, with my mind putting everything I needed to do in order. First, I needed to deal with Raquel and, depending on what she said or how much she pissed me off, I’d go see my father.
I knew I still needed to get with Drake. I had a feeling I was going to need him before this day was through. Eddie tried to put this case on me, one that would’ve put me away for the rest of my life and then some. I guess he figured that was showing me leniency. After all, he could have just put a bullet in me and called it a day. However, I wouldn’t be that lenient. I was going to kill him. It was just a matter of how and when.
I told Darrell to take me to the warehouse. I wanted to see the damage the Feds had done and retrieve my weapons.
When we got there, it was a mess. They were still on the scene, so I took this time to see if Lincoln was home. The sooner I brought him in on this, the better. We needed to squash our beef and get to business.
Of course he wasn’t home. I did hang out with Georgia, but I didn’t stay long.
When I got back to the warehouse, I was ready to go. The Feds were still trying to get me on something, and they still didn’t let my guys through. This was bullshit at its finest, and I really thought about going to war with the Feds. But I calmed down and told Darrell and Hugo to take me home. I needed to get ready for this meeting, and I needed to deal with Raquel first.
Darrell pulled up to my building and as my eyes fell on my darkened windows. I could feel the anger building within me.
“Go back to the warehouse and wait until the Feds clear out. If they haven’t in about an hour, call that money sucking lawyer of mine and get his fat ass on it. We need to make sure our shipments go out as scheduled,” I barked.
Darrell nodded, but Hugo asked, “How come they didn’t find anything?”
“Because I’m not stupid,” I said quickly, then added, “Call Russo and tell him that I have some fires I need to put out before I see Pops. Also, did you find out when the meeting tonight is and where?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Send someone out to the site and have them sit on it. Make sure there isn’t any shit happening.”
“Yes, boss. Already done,” Darrell replied, and I nodded. I knew I was wasting my breath. I didn’t have to tell Darrell the obvious. He knew what needed to be done.
“Do you need one of us to stay here until you’re done with Ms. Waters?”
I shook my head and got out of the car. “No, Junior is here. He’ll take me to my father. You two have shit to do. Besides, as you mentioned before, there’s some shit going on behind my back. I can’t have people doing shit for me that I can’t trust.”
I closed the door just as Junior emerged from my apartment building. He looked solemnly at me, then watched the surroundings.
I took the time to do the same, and it was that moment that something hit me.
Shit, I have been out of it.
I looked up and down the street, letting everything come back to me.
“What’s wrong, boss?”
I heard the alarm in Darrell’s voice, but I didn’t reply.
Damn, how could I have missed that?
Hugo got out of the car and started around to me. He pulled his weapon, and so did Darrell and Junior.
“You see something, boss?” Hugo asked me.
I couldn’t talk at first. Then I smiled.
Son of a bitch.
I looked at Hugo’s still slightly bruised face, then looked at Junior.
I am losing it.
My eyes settled on Hugo. “Get on the phone and tell Lincoln his brother is sniffing up his ass again for something. Tell him we’re not sure what it is, but to keep his eyes and ears open. I would do it myself, but our conversation would last more than a minute.”
Hugo tried to feign surprise on his face and seemed to protest my request, but I waved him off. “I know he was the one that put the bruise on your face,” I told him. “I also know he was the one that put Junior on Raquel. He was here this morning. He’s been watching Raquel. Not sure for how long, but I know he has.”
Damn straight, I knew he had. He’d told me so that morning. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t concerned about Raquel when Darrell called. Now, I knew why. I’d heard Lincoln outside of my place that morning. He revved his engine, signaling he had my woman. I’d done the same thing for him when he and Georgia had that argument at my parents’ house almost a year ago.
The men around me remained silent. Hell, what could they could say?
I looked at Junior. “Have you checked on her recently?”
I noticed nerves attack him as his eyes shifted from Darrell to Hugo then back on me.
“What!” I admonished tersely.
Junior sort of snapped at attention. “Nothing, sir, and to answer your question, no, I haven’t. I can hear her though.”
I nodded wondering,
What
in the hell was going on with these idiots
?
Then I headed to my building.
I inhaled deeply and stood at the bottom of the steps that led to my front door. This was going to get nasty, I knew it. She was going to come out fighting; it was her way.
I was at my wits end with everything. I had never been this fucking pissed in my life. The winds around me were getting stronger. I just hoped that after the storm settled, shit wasn’t destroyed. The aftermath of a storm can be a bitch to clean, and sometimes the damage was so irreparable that you couldn’t rebuild.
“Oh, baby. Oh, Eddie. Right there. Yes!”
Eddie grunted his reply.
Yeah bitch this is my pussy,
he said to himself, smiling and looking down as his shaft moved in and out of her.
Eddie wiped the sweat from his brow as he continued to pound against her ass, trying desperately to relieve the tension and stress of these last few weeks.
At first, she protested their position, claiming it was going to hurt. After he talked her into it and lubed up, he knew she would be willing to do it again.
Eddie smacked her ass for the tenth time, gripped her hair, and pulled her to him. “Tell me how good this feels. Tell me.”
He grabbed her breasts and squeezed.
She moaned her satisfaction in his ear.
Oh, yes, just what I wanted to hear
.
“Oh, yes, baby! Fuck me, please! Fuck me good. Just like that. Harder…”
Eddie let go of her breasts and gripped her hips. He picked up his pace and moved in and out of her, faster and faster. Just when he felt his balls tightening, he screamed out his release and collapsed on top of her. He closed his eyes as he pulled out of her and laid on his back.
He smacked her ass again before he rubbed it. “That was incredible,” he breathed.
She smiled at him and cuddled closer.
“Ummm,” she purred. “Yes, it was. I never thought it could be like that. You are so much better than him.”
His eyes shot open. “What the fuck did you say?” he spat as he pushed her off him and got out of the bed.
Lucy quickly added. “I- I didn’t say anything. I-”
Eddie pounced quickly, letting his fury unfurl, and gripped her by her throat pulling her face to his. Lucy fought hard to try to get his hands off her, but the harder she struggled and fought, the tighter his hands got.
“Don’t you ever speak of him in my presence again! Do you fucking understand me?”
He growled when he saw that she was on the verge of passing out and let go.
Lucy collapsed on her bed, gasping for air as she folded herself inwardly.
Eddie, disgusted and full or rage, wanted to do nothing else, but kill her. He would have done it too, if it wasn’t for her father, Don Ducci. Don Ducci was a very powerful man next in line from Eddie’s father. He would rather have Ducci as his ally after all of this, instead of an enemy. He also knew that deep down Lucy wasn’t the true cause of his rage. It was just the thought of her comparing him to Angel that had him up in arms. He was nothing like that son of a bitch. Angel would never measure up to him as a man or as a leader
.
Soon…Soon everyone will know that I am better. I’ve always been better.
Eddie looked down at Lucy and instantly felt guilty as she cried. He knew he’d gone too far. He was actually quite fond of Lucy. He always felt Angel used her and treated her like shit. He vowed many times that if he ever got a chance to be with her, he’d treat her like a queen. She was so beautiful and sexy. Angel was a fool.
She deserves so much better
, he thought to himself.
And it’s high time she gets it
.
He climbed back on the bed and touched her arm softly. She coiled from his touch, but she didn’t say a word. Eddie went to touch her again, and this time she didn’t move. He traveled his hand along her arm to her shoulders, and pushed her hair from her tearstained face.
“I apologize for losing it. I just get so mad when I think about the way he used to treat you. I’m nothing like him, Lucy. You deserve so much better and I really want to give that to you.” He continued to stroke her hair, as Lucy started to relax.
“I’m sorry too. I was only trying-”
“I know what you were trying to do. Look, let’s just promise never to bring him up again, okay? You belong to me now.” Eddie leaned in and kissed her softly on her head and cheek. Then, as she turned her face toward him, he kissed her lips lightly.
Eddie deepened the kiss and soon Lucy snaked her arms around Eddie’s neck and pulled him down on top of her.
Lucy tried not to think about what happened and tried desperately be into him again. This man was nothing like Angel. He was definitely right about that. She should have known that from the start. It was clear as day, from the way Eddie walked, talked and dressed, that he would never measure up to his brother. Even though she knew all of this, she still went out with Eddie. She was meant to be the wife of a powerful man. She was supposed to be with Angel. Right now, Angel had lost his way. He’d strayed, but she was determined to get him back. Lucy had thought long and hard about ways to achieve her goal in order to get the man she wanted. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and that’s when she came up with the plan to get close to Eddie. She figured if Angel saw her with his brother, maybe it would set Angel off, and he would drop that whore and claim Lucy as his own.
Lucy didn’t believe a word Eleanor said to her about Angel living with someone. Angel couldn’t be living with someone else. That wasn’t supposed to happen. She and Angel had been messing around for years. They had a connection. It was written that they belonged together.
She decided she would do whatever it took to get Angel back. She would swallow the repulsion she felt for Eddie in order to get what she wanted.
Angel is mine.
“Fuck, Lucy you feel so damn good,” she heard Eddie say in her ear, bringing her out of her daydream about Angel to the nightmare with Eddie.
She managed to moan on queue. She could handle Eddie, which she was thankful for. Out of all the men she’d ever dated, this had been the case, except Angel. Angel was different, and as much as she wanted him now, she needed to exercise patience. If that didn’t work, she would do the next best thing; go to daddy.
“Eddie, please let’s do it again,” she purred against his ear.
Lucy pulled off the old condom still hanging on him and started stroking him.
Eddie closed his eyes, feeling heaven overcome him. He’d almost messed up a good thing because of Angel.
That son of a bitch. I can’t wait to get rid of him,
Eddie thought.
“Oh, yeah, baby. That feels good,” Eddie moaned.
“Get another condom, and put it on, baby. I think I can give you what you want before I go.” Lucy fought back an eye roll and bit her lip from laughing. Goodness, he was nothing like his brother.
Just before Eddie got the condom on, his phone started buzzing. Eddie started to ignore it, but he thought better of it as it rang twice, stopped and started up again seconds later.
“Damn it!” he exclaimed and moved quickly to the edge of the bed. He got his phone out of his pants and answered it. “What is it?”
“You son of a bitch!” shouted a very angry male voice.
Frowning, Eddie stood and walked away from Lucy. “You better watch your mouth,” he barked into the phone. “You best recognize who you’re-”
“Save that shit for someone that gives a fuck. You fucked me!”
“How did I fuck you?”
“That bogus tip you gave me about the warehouse was shit…and the accounts. You made me look like a fucking fool to my boss and to my boss’ boss. I could lose my fucking badge because of you!”
Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled. “Hold on a second. Now just calm down and stop with the theatrics, Daniel. Tell me what happened?”
“Oh, yeah, I’ll tell you what happened all right. How about the drugs you claimed were all over the warehouse were nowhere to be found?”
Eddie froze. “What do you mean they were nowhere to be found? I showed you pictures. I showed you proof where they were. There were bricks upon bricks of drugs, and you mean to tell me you didn’t find any of them anywhere?”
“Oh, no, I’m not saying that at all,” Daniel countered.
“Then what-”
“My team went through that place with a fine tooth comb, not leaving anything to chance. We wanted to be thorough, and through our complete search we came up with a boatload of blocks wrapped in brown paper.”
“Okay. Then what-”
“It was flour!”
“Flour?” Eddie whispered in the phone, astonished.
“Yes, that’s right. The clever bastard had flour wrapped like drugs. I don’t have a clue how they got rid of whatever you put in there, but they did. Or, knowing you, it was flour all along.”
“I didn’t see anything on the security feed showing they were tampered with. There was no way he could have-”
“Yeah, well apparently you don’t know shit about your brother.”
Eddie headed back to the bed quickly, his mind going a mile a minute. “Okay, what about the accounts? Clearly that-”
Daniel laughed, humor nonexistent. “Clearly what? Those accounts were bogus.”
“No, you are mistaken about that.”
“Oh, I wish I were. Your
brother
sent us to the SEC. He said he had an active investigation open for these exact accounts. Apparently, his financial adviser, someone by the name of Waters, identified these accounts as fraud and contacted the SEC. My bosses contacted them and sure enough, they are doing just that. They claim they are close to finding the person, or persons, responsible. They have already contacted Homeland Security.”
Eddie was no longer listening to Daniel. He was too busy seeing his life pass before his eyes.
This can’t be happening,
he paled.
Lucy, seeing the grave look on Eddie’s face, sat up, asking, “What’s wrong, baby?”
Eddie didn’t respond. He couldn’t. Everything he had planned for almost a year was falling by the wayside.
How in the hell could Angel move all those drugs without me knowing? How could he do it without his men knowing it too?
He could hear Daniel’s voice grow in his ear. “Are you listening, you piece of shit? I’m coming for you. Do you understand? I’m finished playing this game with you. I’m handling this my own way. I’m coming for you and your whole fucking family.”
Eddie frowned. “We’ll be waiting,” he answered, trying to save face, and hung up his phone.
Lucy moved closer to the edge of the bed. “What’s going on?” she asked again.
Again, Eddie didn’t answer.
He had to gain some type of control. No way was Angel that smart to know what was coming. No way.
Eddie pulled on his pants and grabbed his shirt. When he looked at Lucy, he stopped. The concern on her face he paid no attention to. What had him captivated, what made him smile as a new plan came to mind, was the bruise that was now prominent on her neck.
It’s time for plan B.
It wasn’t a solid idea, but as he thought about it more, it was better than nothing.
Eddie continued to get dressed then pulled out his phone.
He searched for the number he wanted and hit send.
It rang a couple of times before someone picked up.
“Are you still sitting on her?” Eddie asked into the phone.
“Yes, I am. Also, surprisingly, so is Angel. I thought he would never see the light of day. Do you mind telling me how in the hell that happened? Wasn’t he picked up by the Feds for the drugs and accounts stuff?”
Eddie snorted. “He was. However, when the warehouse was searched, they came up with nothing.”
“That can’t be. I saw the bricks myself,” the caller replied.
“No, what you saw was flour. My clever brother switched out the drugs somehow.”
“No, that can’t be. All of that shipment you placed in there; there’s no way he got it out under our noses.”
“Yeah, well, it happened.”
There was a pause, then the caller asked, “So is that it?”
“Fuck no, that’s not it. You say Angel is at his apartment, right?”
“Yeah?”
“Good. It’s time for plan B.”
“Plan B?”
“What the fuck are you? A recorder? That’s what I said; plan B. You get ready on my mark. Shit’s about to go fast and quick. It’s up to you now. Do you think you can handle the job?”
The caller smirked. “You should have given me the job to begin with. You know how difficult it is for anyone to get close to Angel, except his trusted circle.”
“Yeah, well, don’t move until I give you the signal. I have to get everything running on my end, then I’ll let you know when you can move in.”
The caller smiled, thinking,
Finally
.
“Oh, and one more thing: Take care of the bitch too and anyone else around. You need to make this smooth, understand?”
“Yeah, I got it,” was the caller’s reply as Eddie hung up his phone.
Eddie smiled at Lucy and moved to sit next to her. He took her hand, kissed it, then caressed her face with his fingers before traveling down her cheek to underneath her chin. He lifted her head and once he saw the well-defined bruise, his smile broadened.
“I need your help, darling.”
Lucy looked in Eddie’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what Eddie had planned, but she knew that it wasn’t going to be good. Angel was in danger. Oh, she didn’t care too much for the girl, but Lucy loved Angel. How could she stand by and let Eddie harm the man she loves?