Page 1 of His Dark Desire

Prologue

JOE

Twenty-five years ago

Stepping off the plane, my cell rings, yet again. Fucking Christina. The woman is the biggest pain in my ass and if it weren't for her father, Christopher Watkins, she'd have been in the bottom of the South Platte River. I don't give a fuck if she's my wife or not. The only reason we got married was because her dad has money. I was stupid and greedy. I wanted as much power as possible and Christina's father and I made an alliance, one that I have lived to regret every day since.

"Boss, Donavan has a location on Wells. He's at a casino in the north of the city."

I nod as I briskly move toward the waiting car. I hadn't expected to spend my fucking weekend in rainy Manchester, but yet here we fucking are. Wells has been a part of my organization since the inception. He was someone that I thought I could trust, but in recent months I've begun to suspect I've had a traitor in the midst. Someone has been selling me out. I've lost too many men in deals that have gone bad. Deals that shouldn't have gone south. Deals that only the closest of my men knew about. It took me six weeks to finally uncover who the fuck the rat was, and to say I was shocked when I uncovered it was Wells was an understatement. The second that fucker knew I was onto him. He ran. He's now hiding here, in Manchester, and today he's going to finally understand what it means to cross me.

I'm known as ‘The Snake', I strike without warning, and I'll swallow you whole if need be. I'm not a man to be challenged. I hold grudges and I never forget someone who's slighted me. Wells knows this. He's seen me kill countless men. I just have one question for the fucker. Why? Why did he do this? He was well paid and well looked after. Working for me holds a lot of standing, he's given a lot of respect. Why would he give that up?

"Let's get this done," I say, pissed that we've had to come this far to seek justice. Over four thousand miles to find Wells. Had I not sought him out, it would spread the wrong message. It would let people believe they could take certain liberties regarding me, and that's just not going to fucking happen.

Donavan slides into the front seat of the car. He's my right-hand man, always at my side if I need anything. He believed that I could grow to become the biggest organized crime boss in the US and he was right. I've played it smart, made the right alliances—except with Christopher—I've rewarded my men that have shown me loyalty. It's taken years, fucking years to make sure that the Denver Mafia is one of the most feared in the world.

"Boss," he says quietly once I'm in the back seat. "I’ve rented a house for you to stay in while we're in Manchester."

"Where has that fucker been hiding?" I ask, needing to know what else that fucker Wells has been up to whilst in the UK.

"Lucas has been keeping an eye on him while he's here," he tells me, his voice darker than it had been. "From what Lucas has told me, that cunt has been using your influence to get what he wants."

The anger I have swiftly rises. In the past two months, my anger has been bubbling inside of me. Not only has Wells betrayed me, he's put my men at risk, I've lost men due to his fucking stupidness. That's why he'll be dealt with swiftly and I'll be ensuring that he'll be in a world of pain when I finally get my hands on him.

"What has he been doing?"

His pause has me wondering what the fuck he's done.

"He's caught up with the Henderson mob."

My pulse skitters at his words. "You're telling me, that fucker is close with those sick bastards?"

The Henderson mob run a trafficking ring. A profitable one at that, but those fucks are sick and twisted. They take women by any means they can. It's sickening and nothing a true man would ever do. The fact they have men on their side who have families makes it even worse. I did a lot of research about The Henderson mob, especially when I found out that Wells was here. I need to know what I'm getting my men and I into.

"Yes," he says harshly. "From what I understand, he joined the ranks of the mob when he moved here weeks ago."

The fuck is going on? "How?" I ask, my voice filled with anger and distrust. "How the fuck did he manage to join the Henderson Mob?" There's no way a boss would allow a turncoat to join the ranks. Not at fucking all.

"That's something Lucas hasn't been able to uncover. Do you think we'll get any blowback when we take him out?"

"Let them fucking come," I snarl. I'm up for a fucking war, I'll happily take them out and I know that my men would relish the challenge.

Donavan chuckles. "He really fucked up. That fucker thought he could betray you and fly across the world to join another organization."

"Stupid people make stupid decisions," I say evenly. "But fear not, Van, that fucker is going to feel the pain for what he's done."

Van, more so than the rest, wants revenge. Due to Wells' stupidity and traitorous ways, Van's brother Sully was killed in one of the deals that went south. Sully was his kid brother, barely of age when he joined my ranks, he was a good kid, a well-liked member of the organization. To lose him the way we did, angered everyone, it was also that deal that helped me uncover it was Wells that had been betraying us.

"We'll be at the house soon. Is there anywhere else you'd like to go before we go get Wells?"

"I want him," I say. "We'll decide after he's dead what we'll do, but that fucker isn't going to live any longer."

I want him dead. I'm not going to hang around and chill out while that fucker is running around and causing havoc by stealing women from their homes. Fuck that. No.

I see Van's smile in the rearview mirror. "Then let's get this done," he growls. "Lucas is in position."

We're both silent as he weaves through the Mancunian traffic. It's dark even at five in the evening, but that works in my favor. Having to off Wells in broad daylight may not go down well. It takes a while to get through the traffic and my anticipation rises as we get closer to Wells' location.

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