Page 75 of Any Means Necessary

***

The plane sways slightly as it turns to redirect us away from Chicago back to the east coast. When I’d left Matteo’s office and gone back to my room, Lexie had already showered and gotten dressed—another mark against Matteo. We took off back to New York City less than an hour later.

A comfortable silence fell over the plane after takeoff, allowing me to get some clerical work done. My records are meticulous, each job logged in detail before being heavily encrypted onto a private server that’s backed up in three separate locations. I know exactly who’s calling when my phone rings. I’m almost looking forward to this call.

“Don Manici,” I say, pressing the phone to my ear.

“You threatened Matteo and my family. You have a death wish?” Fredrico’s dark tone is much more practiced than his son’s, having been perfected over decades of delivering threats and other intimidation tactics. It’s pointless with me though, I’ve already seen the man behind the curtain. It’s proved impossible to fear a man once you’ve slain the demons that keep him up at night.

I glance across the aisle at Lexie where she’s curled up in the lounge chair, a blanket tucked under her chin. Her eyes are closed, she’d drifted off listening to something—either her gruesome murder podcast or a raunchy romance audio book.

“He forgot his place and went after something that belongs to me. I was simply reminding him where he stands. Maybe Matteo needs to be put on a shorter leash.”

“You forget that everything you have on us also incriminates you.” He has a point.

“I’m not considering taking the shell company I use to hide my illegal empire public, Frederico. Your five year plan could turn into twenty-five to life with one phone call.”

“You’ve been a valuable asset for many years, Callum. My son can be reckless, you know that.”

“You should teach Matteo to respect the man who scares away the monsters under his bed and buries the bodies. It’s not very smart to test me when I’m keeping the demons from haunting your family.” Lexie stirs and her eyes open slowly—blinking the sleep away once, then twice—before her gaze connects with mine. “This isn’t a conversation I’ll be having again.”

“You won’t,” he assures me before I end the call. Lexie stares at me, far too observant for her own good. Even as she pulls the headphones from her ears, I know she heard me.

“You’re having a problem with Matteo.” She doesn’t ask a question, but I still answer.

“Yes,” I say simply, watching as she lets the blanket fall to her lap. Her tank top is stretched so tautly across each of her ample curves, it leaves very little yet so much to the imagination.

“Because of me.” Smart girl.

“Because he’s an entitled prick.” My response is met with a put-off expression as she rolls those beautiful eyes at me.

“Oh please, you’re mad because he hit on me and now you two are in a pissing contest trying to prove who has the bigger dick.”

“You know exactly how big my dick is. Or do you need a reminder?” I offer her a salacious grin, my eyes heated with intent. Lexie laughs and rolls her eyes again, but not before I’ve seen the desire flash in them as the heat of need flushes her cheeks.

“You’re such a horn dog,” she scolds, making me want to lick the sass right out of her mouth.

“When it comes to you, Dewdrop, always.” I’m tempted to invite her to join the mile high club with me. But the next time I have Lexie, I want her laid out for me on a bed where I can take all of her.

“Matteo is repulsive. He’s not a threat to you, he never was.” Lexie’s assurance rushes through me, untying a knot in my chest before traveling straight down to my cock.

“I know that. Now he knows that too.”

The bed in the back of the plane calls to me, but there’s not enough time left in this flight to fuck her the way she deserves to be fucked—so thoroughly and deeply that she’s branded by me and I’ve ruined all other men for her. And after having her in my bed, I’m going to devour her perfect pink pussy like the feast it is on my pristine white countertops. I plan on having her everywhere I can get her, I’ll figure out where the plane fits on that list later.

***

If there’s one think you can bet on with low-lifes, it’s that they’ll be greedy motherfuckers who don’t know when to stop while they’re ahead. These freight workers should have taken their payday and done their fucking job. But they didn’t. So now I have to send Liam out to pay a few home visits with envelops full of photos that could make a grown man cry.

If I’d never left the Outfit, Liam would be armed with more than a few pieces of paper. And he wouldn’t be alone. It’d be easy to beat the fear of God into these leeches, but that’s not the smart play here. I need something more reliable, we can’t afford to take any more chances.

The thing about fear is that it’s unpredictable. Its power is only relative to proximity. The further you get away from the thing you fear, the less it controls you. Leverage, on the other hand, never fades. Paired perfectly with fear, leverage is the key to power and control. What they should really fear is me, and I’m everywhere.

Call me when it’s done.

Pressing send on the message to Liam, I tuck the phone into my pocket and focus on the scene in front of me. Lexie’s set the table for two, one of her signature steaks plated between green beans and roasted potatoes. It’s the same meal she made the first night we met. She’d walked around the corner and changed everything.

A force of nature.

---