Page 82 of Vicious Vows

"Look, you can come with me, but I don't want to see no John Wayne shit out of you. Stay at the back and let me deal with our father and Kumar. The last thing I need is for you to get caught up in a shootout when you can barely stay on your feet."

"I hear you, brother. Don't worry about me; I just want to make sure no one tries to pull another fast one on you. Besides, I'm sure the second our father sees you coming, he's going to be worried about making you look like a fool. He's not going to be paying me one bit of mind."

I nod my head and gesture to the car that Yuri already had waiting for us. "You know that's the truth." My father wasn't going to waste any time making me look like a fool. My only hope is that I get to the meeting before he puts everything through with Kumar. If I can get Kumar to honor our deal, then maybe I'll be able to salvage this. If not, then I'm going to be forced to start all over.

"Let's get a move on." I gesture to everyone around me, and we quickly pack up the cars and the truck with the items Kumar is waiting on. It took me calling in every favor I had to get the merchandise all over again, but I was able to pull it off. I just hope it wasn't all for nothing.

* * *

Rage pulses through my system as we pull up to the nearly abandoned warehouse where my father and a few of his goons set up to meet with Kumar and his men. Seemed like we showed up a few minutes too late because the second I walk into the door, I see my father handing over a large duffel bag I'm sure is stuffed with the currency that Kumar had been looking for in the first place. The deal is done.

"Would you look at what we have here; it's not just one snake in my midst, it's two." My voice booms through the nearly empty area, and everyone turns in my direction, guns drawn and ready to take me out.

"Boy, what do you think you're doing here?"

"Well, father, it seems like I need to be asking you the same question." I glare at him, hoping to see even an ounce of fear in my father's eyes. Of course, there's none.

"What am I doing here? I'm taking care of business, something that you weren't able to do."

"Is that so? Last I checked Kumar and I had an arrangement." I jerk my eyes over to Kumar, who has already stepped back and is looking between my father and me with nothing more than mild amusement on his face.

"Oh no, you don't. Our arrangement only came to play simply because you couldn't deliver on your first promise. It's not my fault that your father is quicker than the son. I told you before this is about business; I go where it makes sense. Why the hell would I wait for you to bring me my guns when Antonio has them ready for me?" Kumar laughs before he pulls a cigarette out of his chest pocket and places it to his lips. "Don't be too upset about it, seems like you still got a bit more to learn from dear old daddy."

"I don't have shit to learn from that old dog. Like I said, we had an agreement, now I need to know if you're going to back out of it." I take a step forward, making sure to look around at the opposition. I've got a few people with me, but there's no way I'm going to be able to take on all my father's people and all of Kumar's people with the few guards I have. If this turns into a bloodbath, I'm not completely sure I'll come out victorious.

"Are you threatening me, boy?" Kumar takes a long drag on his cigarette before he takes a step in my direction.

"Why would I have to threaten you, Kumar? I'm just trying to figure out what kind of honor you've got. I'm sure the other people in our world would be happy to find out that you can't be trusted to honor your deals."

"You're the one that reneged on your deal in the first place!" Kumar spat in my direction.

This was worse than accusing him of being a thief; if I were able to tarnish his reputation by saying he didn't honor his deals, no one would want to work with him, and then he'd be stuck trying to get what he needed from either me or my father. I'd never work with him again, so he'd be dependent on my father. That wouldn't be good for him because if I had anything to say about it, my father would be out of business in the coming days.

"I have my end of the bargain right here. So either you hold up your side of the deal or you take your chances with my father. That's all I can say right now."

"This is absolutely ridiculous, Dominic. You know what I'll do to you when we get out of here. This is my world, I'm just allowing you to live in it." My father hissed at me, but I wasn't going to pay any attention to him.

He's the one who decided to try and undercut me. Sure, I'd tried to undercut him first, but sometimes it's just better for the old bastards to make way for the new king.

"Look, I don't know what kind of problems the two of you have in your family, but it has nothing to do with me."

"I bet this is going to have something to do with you." Lionel's voice bounced around the room, and I grimaced as I turned back and saw him walking in our direction.

He was told to stay in the car. He'd be around if anything popped off, but I didn't want him to be seen. He was a wounded animal; it'd be too easy for one of them to take him out.

"You don't fucking listen, do you?" I whispered in his direction as he came to a stop right next to me.

"Don't worry, brother. You're going to want to see this too. I knew I was right."

"What are you talking about now? Shouldn't you be in the hospital somewhere?" My father snarled at my brother.

"You would've liked that, wouldn't you? If I were to stay in the hospital, and you'd get away with what you were doing to us and to Kumar here."

My eyes darted to him, and I could feel my eyebrows scrunching inward. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he was throwing around a lot of accusations.

"I've done nothing to either of you. Of course, you'd find a way to blame your shortcomings on me." My father shook his head, but Lionel didn't take the bait. Instead, he focused his attention on Kumar.

"Kumar, tell me what happens to the ones who tried to double-cross you. Last I heard, you weren't too fond of people trying to get over on you."

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